A summer of two halves, wet and cold followed by hot and dry.   This is just a sort of diary update of what has happened in our wood over the last four months.

Well not a lot, I put in my little drinking hole as reported in a former post and recently I have seen it being used. There cant be much water in the vicinity, I know the people living in one of the bungalows have a large pond, then Cleddon bog and falls are not that far away and of course down the hill is the rive Wye. But all are quite a distance for small creatures like mice, voles, hedgehogs etc and small birds.So far I have seen just 3 types of birds visiting. On two occasions recently I have seen Blackbirds taking a drink. I also saw a Chaffinch but on that occasion I did not have a camera, and then on Thursday 26th July I saw a Wood Pigeon.

There are a few droppings close by, probably mouse or vole. I await the arrival of larger mammals, but I am encouraged that if some common birds are using it then in time various local mammals will get to know it is there and especially in long dry spells they will visit. My rough and ready and incomplete ‘hide’ is close by so I should get some nice close ups.

A Welsh gentleman who often stops and has a chat with me and also is quite knowledgeable about the local birds and wildlife, said that he was walking past my ‘hide’ with his wife and she asked what it was and he said he told her that was my office.  I quite like that so I now refer to my rough heap of logs as my office.

The other significant event this summer is that I had notification from Monmouth Council that some of the branches from trees in our wood were overhanging the highway and that I was required to cut them back. There must not be any branches below a level of 16 foot 6 inches.  A rather precise and random height I thought but that is the requirement. They also said that failure to remove them would result in them carrying out the work and charging me for the procedure.

I have cut them back, there was quite a lot but none below about 14 foot, and it has now nearly all been cut into log sized lengths and stored at home to be burnt at some time in the future in our wood burner.  Not really the sort of work you want to do at 30 centigrade, but it is done now.

Now on to  butterflies, still not that many despite lots of Brambles and now a little self sown Budleia which has flowered for the first time this year. I am hoping to see a Frilliary sometime but that pleasure has yet to be realised.

That’s about it the bracken is over 2 meters high in places but the young Silver Birch are even taller so eventually they will overtop the bracken and it should start to decline. My network of paths are essential and do need quite a lot of maintenance to prevent brambles looping across them and Bracken and Birch invading them.

Finally the Corsican Pines in the surrounding woodlands are looking really rough now the Dothristoma disease combined with the hot dry summer is knocking them out fairly quickly. I am so glad we got ours felled and now our new deciduous woodland is well underway.