Let There Be Life

I realised that it was before Christmas since I was in Poor Park wood. My excursions have been mainly in my immediate area, chasing fallow deer, trips to Hatfield forest and, at least in the last week, nursing a bad back at home.

It was nice to get out today. The temperature was hovering just above zero as I walked slowly through the woodland. I am now so used to this woodland, I can tell the difference even in a few winter weeks when all is meant to be quiet. The wood is now virtually see through and as I wandered through it I thought that it would probably never get any more transparent as today as soon, early spring growth will start to appear.

No sooner had I thought this, I saw a nice show of hazel catkins. They won’t be ripe quite yet, but already they are turning yellow.

All over the woodland floor, there were small sproutings of Dog’s mercury – one of the first woodland plants to emerge. Don’t enlarge the picture. It’s blurred but gives you an idea.

Squirrels are now digging up their reserves of nuts and the woodland floor is full of little excavations. The fruits of their labour was evident on one of my favourite areas where I normally have a cuppa. I call this area Muntjac camp as it seems to be a favourite area for them. This was again confirmed by the droppings in the area. A couple of summers ago, I was charged by a Muntjac here. It was probably defending a youngster – an act that isn’t uncommon. They aim to miss,of course, but it’s a really unnerving experience.

The main paths had quite a bit of human activity and this was mixed with fallow and muntjac tracks.

As the sun tried to breakthrough the cold looking clouds, I decided to check on the nearby badger sett. Again, there was plenty of activity with old bedding bundled into large balls outside the entrance hole where the badger had been clearing out the sleeping chambers. In fact this might possibly be a clean out in preparation for new arrivals which will be born underground very soon.

Please check in mid week for a ‘good news’ post about my local woods. Hope the see you then.

Let There Be Life

I realised that it was before Christmas since I was in Poor Park wood. My excursions have been mainly in my immediate area, chasing fallow deer, trips to Hatfield forest and, at least in the last week, nursing a bad back at home.

It was nice to get out today. The temperature was hovering just above zero as I walked slowly through the woodland. I am now so used to this woodland, I can tell the difference even in a few winter weeks when all is meant to be quiet. The wood is now virtually see through and as I wandered through it I thought that it would probably never get any more transparent as today as soon, early spring growth will start to appear.

No sooner had I thought this, I saw a nice show of hazel catkins. They won’t be ripe quite yet, but already they are turning yellow.

All over the woodland floor, there were small sproutings of Dog’s mercury – one of the first woodland plants to emerge. Don’t enlarge the picture. It’s blurred but gives you an idea.

Squirrels are now digging up their reserves of nuts and the woodland floor is full of little excavations. The fruits of their labour was evident on one of my favourite areas where I normally have a cuppa. I call this area Muntjac camp as it seems to be a favourite area for them. This was again confirmed by the droppings in the area. A couple of summers ago, I was charged by a Muntjac here. It was probably defending a youngster – an act that isn’t uncommon. They aim to miss,of course, but it’s a really unnerving experience.

The main paths had quite a bit of human activity and this was mixed with fallow and muntjac tracks.

As the sun tried to breakthrough the cold looking clouds, I decided to check on the nearby badger sett. Again, there was plenty of activity with old bedding bundled into large balls outside the entrance hole where the badger had been clearing out the sleeping chambers. In fact this might possibly be a clean out in preparation for new arrivals which will be born underground very soon.

Please check in mid week for a ‘good news’ post about my local woods. Hope the see you then.

A Cold Day at Hatfield

Even though the temperature was about 4 degrees C, there was a biting northerly as we trooped up to Hatfield Forest yesterday (Sunday).

The idea was to talk to people about our Countryside and Woodland Awareness course and generate some interest. If it had been last weekend, I think we would have had a larger audience as, by all accounts, it was mobbed because of the good weather.

Nevertheless, after setting up my showcase of feeding signs, vials of deer pellets, animal hair and jawbones, we started talking to those who were interested in peering at the contents. Plenty of people were interested in watching JP whittling away at a piece of birch.

We were helped by Mrs P who came out of hibernation especially for the event, and for a time Ken V from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) who will be helping us on some of our planned bird ID and dawn chorus walks.

It was surprising the number of people who did take an interest. If you took away the dog walkers, many families with children and, of course, the children themselves were interested. I think we have away about 100 leaflets, which was no mean feat for a cold and damp Sunday afternoon.

Best of all there was a small surprise waiting for us back at the National Trust Estate office. A small key in a see-through plastic bag was handed to us by one of the wardens. I knew exactly what it was. The key to Hatfield Forest!

A Cold Day at Hatfield

Even though the temperature was about 4 degrees C, there was a biting northerly as we trooped up to Hatfield Forest yesterday (Sunday).

The idea was to talk to people about our Countryside and Woodland Awareness course and generate some interest. If it had been last weekend, I think we would have had a larger audience as, by all accounts, it was mobbed because of the good weather.

Nevertheless, after setting up my showcase of feeding signs, vials of deer pellets, animal hair and jawbones, we started talking to those who were interested in peering at the contents. Plenty of people were interested in watching JP whittling away at a piece of birch.

We were helped by Mrs P who came out of hibernation especially for the event, and for a time Ken V from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) who will be helping us on some of our planned bird ID and dawn chorus walks.

It was surprising the number of people who did take an interest. If you took away the dog walkers, many families with children and, of course, the children themselves were interested. I think we have away about 100 leaflets, which was no mean feat for a cold and damp Sunday afternoon.

Best of all there was a small surprise waiting for us back at the National Trust Estate office. A small key in a see-through plastic bag was handed to us by one of the wardens. I knew exactly what it was. The key to Hatfield Forest!

Most Used – Most Useful Top 10

This is a quick run down of the top 10 most used and most useful bits of kit I used last year.

1. North Face Cedar Ridge boots

I only use these in the autumn and winter but I certainly look forward to putting them on. They are a technical boot with Goretex lining, but you can actually stand in a puddle and not get your feet wet. For hiking they are wonderfully comfortable and they literally fit like a glove. Not the best bushcraft boot (I’ve melted the toe against the fire) but if you’re walking, hiking or tracking then these are great.

2. Gerber Profile Folding lock knife

Oops! I haven’t done a review on this but I can say if I’m merely out for the day tracking and don’t want to take too much kit, I’ll reach for this handy, lightweight folder. It has a stainless blade that sharpens up pretty well. It has an all plastic but comfortable handle and is great for small jobs if you keep it in an easily accessible place. Extremely cheap at £25-00 and worth much, much more. Be aware that it’s a lock knife, which means you might have to justify carrying it in public in the UK.

3. Mini Trangia

After the local camping store closed down, I had to go for miles to get gas canisters. When I got there, I found they had doubled in price from last year. I picked up a mini-trangia in a sale and, dubiously, set to work carrying it about during the summer. The result is that I’m absolutely delighted with this cookset. You don’t need a billy as it has a little frying pan and an aluminium bowl. As long as you’re not cooking a three-course meal, this set up is fine. You might have to protect the flame in windy conditions as the stand is just that, a stand, and not a wind shield. I just love the shape and size.

4. Snowsled Classic Smock.

I treated myself to this last spring and is currently the most expensive item I own. I like this smock because it gives you great freedom of movement. It’s just so well designed having pockets exactly where I want them (although these can be customised – at a price) and provides enough windproof capability if you have the correct layers underneath. It’s okay in light showers but struggles to keep out heavy rain as it’s only single layer. Even so, this is a great smock to work outdoors with and currently one of my favourite items of clothing. If it’s good enough for Ran Fiennes it’s good enough for me!

5. Maxpedition Falcon 2

I bet you never thought you’d see a MaxP bit of kit making my top 10! Well, credit where it’s due and I do like some MaxP kit as long as it’s used for the right purpose. This is a great day sack and fits extremely well, as long as you don’t pack it to the brim. It’s very comfortable and I can move fast and for a long distance without getting fatigued. I wouldn’t use it for anything but a day trip and the internal organisation is a bit fiddly, but it is a good stable, bomb-proof pack.

6. Karrimor Predator 45

This is simply an excellent bag for use from a day out to a long weekend. Unlike the MaxP Falcon 2 this is a top loader and you can compress stuff right down to the bottom of the bag. I like the square design (as opposed to the Sabre’s round design) and I like the flexibility of adding the 15 litres side-pouches. The Omni pouch is kind of useful for storing odds and ends, but the new side pouches is pretty useless for bushcraft use. The lack of hydration space is slightly annoying, although you can buckle a bladder to the inside back of the rucksack by two internal straps. Apart from this little moan, this is, overall, an excellent bushcraft bag.

7. Leuku/Puuko Combi

This knife pair has again made it into my top ten. I’ve tried many knives over the years but always come back to this set up if I’m going away for a couple of days or more and not taking an axe. I like the flexibility of the longer (7inch) leuko for light chopping and slashing down vegetation like nettles. The smaller and much sharper stainless puuko is good for carving and food prep. This set up is a mixture of a Stromeng Leuku and Jaavenpaa puuko squeezed into a Jaavenpaa sheath.

8. Highlander camp-bed

Okay – now I’m in for a bit of flak!! The purists will say what on earth is he doing with this! Comfycraft at it’s best!! Well, ok. Hands up! I’m not getting any younger and if I can get away with carrying this in, then I will – especially in the winter months! This is the most lightweight folding camp-bed I’ve seen. I still wouldn’t like to carry it any distance, but it is definitely a luxury bonus when you know that you have a flat surface to camp on. Set it up to one side of your tarp and you have a convenient living area where you can sit down and carve or cook – or errr…just lay down and snooze!

9. Silky saw

I have two of these saws – a larger Gomtaro and a folding pocket boy. It amuses me watching people sawing back and forth for all they’re worth at a great rate of knots expending huge amounts of energy, when I merely have to utilise the pull-cut action of the Silky’s backward facing teeth to effortlessly cut through my branch. This saw is especially good on green wood but nearly as good on dead wood. One thing to be careful of is that the blade is a little thinner than say the Laplander saw. Otherwise, this is a fine tool.

10. DD hammock

It’s not very often I go out without a tarp and hammock combination as a matter of course. I’ve been using this same hammock for nearly 7 years now. Barring some replacement tapes, I’ve had no problems with it. It’s the original DD hammock now called the scout hammock and comes in at the princely sum of £25-00. There’s no mossy net or any other frills, just two bits or rip-stop sewn together. Just the job!

Thanks for the visit.

Most Used – Most Useful Top 10

This is a quick run down of the top 10 most used and most useful bits of kit I used last year.

1. North Face Cedar Ridge boots

I only use these in the autumn and winter but I certainly look forward to putting them on. They are a technical boot with Goretex lining, but you can actually stand in a puddle and not get your feet wet. For hiking they are wonderfully comfortable and they literally fit like a glove. Not the best bushcraft boot (I’ve melted the toe against the fire) but if you’re walking, hiking or tracking then these are great.

2. Gerber Profile Folding lock knife

Oops! I haven’t done a review on this but I can say if I’m merely out for the day tracking and don’t want to take too much kit, I’ll reach for this handy, lightweight folder. It has a stainless blade that sharpens up pretty well. It has an all plastic but comfortable handle and is great for small jobs if you keep it in an easily accessible place. Extremely cheap at £25-00 and worth much, much more. Be aware that it’s a lock knife, which means you might have to justify carrying it in public in the UK.

3. Mini Trangia

After the local camping store closed down, I had to go for miles to get gas canisters. When I got there, I found they had doubled in price from last year. I picked up a mini-trangia in a sale and, dubiously, set to work carrying it about during the summer. The result is that I’m absolutely delighted with this cookset. You don’t need a billy as it has a little frying pan and an aluminium bowl. As long as you’re not cooking a three-course meal, this set up is fine. You might have to protect the flame in windy conditions as the stand is just that, a stand, and not a wind shield. I just love the shape and size.

4. Snowsled Classic Smock.

I treated myself to this last spring and is currently the most expensive item I own. I like this smock because it gives you great freedom of movement. It’s just so well designed having pockets exactly where I want them (although these can be customised – at a price) and provides enough windproof capability if you have the correct layers underneath. It’s okay in light showers but struggles to keep out heavy rain as it’s only single layer. Even so, this is a great smock to work outdoors with and currently one of my favourite items of clothing. If it’s good enough for Ran Fiennes it’s good enough for me!

5. Maxpedition Falcon 2

I bet you never thought you’d see a MaxP bit of kit making my top 10! Well, credit where it’s due and I do like some MaxP kit as long as it’s used for the right purpose. This is a great day sack and fits extremely well, as long as you don’t pack it to the brim. It’s very comfortable and I can move fast and for a long distance without getting fatigued. I wouldn’t use it for anything but a day trip and the internal organisation is a bit fiddly, but it is a good stable, bomb-proof pack.

6. Karrimor Predator 45

This is simply an excellent bag for use from a day out to a long weekend. Unlike the MaxP Falcon 2 this is a top loader and you can compress stuff right down to the bottom of the bag. I like the square design (as opposed to the Sabre’s round design) and I like the flexibility of adding the 15 litres side-pouches. The Omni pouch is kind of useful for storing odds and ends, but the new side pouches is pretty useless for bushcraft use. The lack of hydration space is slightly annoying, although you can buckle a bladder to the inside back of the rucksack by two internal straps. Apart from this little moan, this is, overall, an excellent bushcraft bag.

7. Leuku/Puuko Combi

This knife pair has again made it into my top ten. I’ve tried many knives over the years but always come back to this set up if I’m going away for a couple of days or more and not taking an axe. I like the flexibility of the longer (7inch) leuko for light chopping and slashing down vegetation like nettles. The smaller and much sharper stainless puuko is good for carving and food prep. This set up is a mixture of a Stromeng Leuku and Jaavenpaa puuko squeezed into a Jaavenpaa sheath.

8. Highlander camp-bed

Okay – now I’m in for a bit of flak!! The purists will say what on earth is he doing with this! Comfycraft at it’s best!! Well, ok. Hands up! I’m not getting any younger and if I can get away with carrying this in, then I will – especially in the winter months! This is the most lightweight folding camp-bed I’ve seen. I still wouldn’t like to carry it any distance, but it is definitely a luxury bonus when you know that you have a flat surface to camp on. Set it up to one side of your tarp and you have a convenient living area where you can sit down and carve or cook – or errr…just lay down and snooze!

9. Silky saw

I have two of these saws – a larger Gomtaro and a folding pocket boy. It amuses me watching people sawing back and forth for all they’re worth at a great rate of knots expending huge amounts of energy, when I merely have to utilise the pull-cut action of the Silky’s backward facing teeth to effortlessly cut through my branch. This saw is especially good on green wood but nearly as good on dead wood. One thing to be careful of is that the blade is a little thinner than say the Laplander saw. Otherwise, this is a fine tool.

10. DD hammock

It’s not very often I go out without a tarp and hammock combination as a matter of course. I’ve been using this same hammock for nearly 7 years now. Barring some replacement tapes, I’ve had no problems with it. It’s the original DD hammock now called the scout hammock and comes in at the princely sum of £25-00. There’s no mossy net or any other frills, just two bits or rip-stop sewn together. Just the job!

Thanks for the visit.

Fallow and the Fence (Part Two)

Annoyingly, I had to cancel a trip to Mark’s in Reading because of work. This w-o-r-k- is starting to interfere a little too much with my leisure time! Apologies to all concerned.

It wasn’t until today (Sunday) that I was able to get out properly. It was very windy but quite mild with the wind coming in from the South West. I loaded up the dog, some water, an apple  and a cereal bar and went looking for fallow deer tracks.

If you remember, the last instalment of The Fallow and Fence showed that several holes had been found and I had set the camera trap. The camera trap had shown a number of fallow outside the fence and one inside. I had personally seen two herds, a small herd of 3 does and a larger herd of 8 inside of the fence where they weren’t wanted.

Since the last post, I have checked the camera trap every day and… nothing! Not even the lure of apples, vegetables and salt carefully placed outside of the fence showed no activity of fallow going from inside to outside. There was some tracks around the bait site outside the fence, probably just out of activation reach of the camtrap.

On Friday, I made the decision to board up the hole. In all probability, the deer got out before I set the camtrap and the congregation of them I had caught on the cam was possibly the herd still hanging around. It was now a case of checking the main areas again for tracks just to be sure.

Today, after a good four hours of tracking around the fence-line, I started to become quite positive. There was only Muntjac and the odd Badger track about.

On my journey, I noticed something that I hadn’t seen for a while; a Thrushes anvil, where the bird takes a snail and bashes the shell against a stone.

Then… I saw it. A recent, single fallow track! Damn! There must be at least one still left in. This was confirmed a little later when I found some fresh currants. Strangely, I saw no more fallow tracks. Had I seen things?

Only one thing for it. I had to set up the camera trap again. Even though there may be still one fallow still left in, I was still quite pleased that the majority seemed to be out – although how much of that was my doing was debatable!

Next episode next week.

Fallow and the Fence (Part Two)

Annoyingly, I had to cancel a trip to Mark’s in Reading because of work. This w-o-r-k- is starting to interfere a little too much with my leisure time! Apologies to all concerned.

It wasn’t until today (Sunday) that I was able to get out properly. It was very windy but quite mild with the wind coming in from the South West. I loaded up the dog, some water, an apple  and a cereal bar and went looking for fallow deer tracks.

If you remember, the last instalment of The Fallow and Fence showed that several holes had been found and I had set the camera trap. The camera trap had shown a number of fallow outside the fence and one inside. I had personally seen two herds, a small herd of 3 does and a larger herd of 8 inside of the fence where they weren’t wanted.

Since the last post, I have checked the camera trap every day and… nothing! Not even the lure of apples, vegetables and salt carefully placed outside of the fence showed no activity of fallow going from inside to outside. There was some tracks around the bait site outside the fence, probably just out of activation reach of the camtrap.

On Friday, I made the decision to board up the hole. In all probability, the deer got out before I set the camtrap and the congregation of them I had caught on the cam was possibly the herd still hanging around. It was now a case of checking the main areas again for tracks just to be sure.

Today, after a good four hours of tracking around the fence-line, I started to become quite positive. There was only Muntjac and the odd Badger track about.

On my journey, I noticed something that I hadn’t seen for a while; a Thrushes anvil, where the bird takes a snail and bashes the shell against a stone.

Then… I saw it. A recent, single fallow track! Damn! There must be at least one still left in. This was confirmed a little later when I found some fresh currants. Strangely, I saw no more fallow tracks. Had I seen things?

Only one thing for it. I had to set up the camera trap again. Even though there may be still one fallow still left in, I was still quite pleased that the majority seemed to be out – although how much of that was my doing was debatable!

Next episode next week.