Where’s the Winter?

It was impossible to stay in this weekend. Not that I wanted to. The mist took a little while to disperse, but when it did, the sun shone and it was yet again a glorious weekend here in the east, without any sign at all of the winter.

I went to Broaks wood to see if there was any remnants of autumn to photograph with the big camera.

It was certainly a bit too late for the spectacular autumn colours, but I did manage to capture some shots of the damp, warm wood.

Once again, I swear I saw some Roe deer on the outskirts of the wood. But it was only a fleeting glimpse and could well have been young fallow does. I tried to follow them but lost them in the dense undergrowth. I really must confirm my suspicions one day.

Another reason for taking the big camera was to try and get some shots of the conifer area of Broaks for an up-coming article in Bushcraft and Survival Skills magazine.

In fact the area is home to some young Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). Even these young trees are impressive as you stretch your neck to look up to their tops.

Once inside the grove, a different world emerges as the temperature rises and the damp under-storey plays host to different mushroom species; but not much else. The top layer full of fallen pine needles provides a dry, soft seating area and it was here I had my lunch.

As I did, a squirrel came along to try and find his lunch!  The photo opportunity was too good to miss and the obvious caption would be something like: “I know I buried it here somewhere!!”

He came closer and closer and didn’t seem too bothered as I snapped away.

 

Eventually, it seemed he was the one studying me. I put the camera down and carried on with my lunch. He sat in front of me and we both enjoyed the sun streaming through the thick conifer canopy.

After a while we went our different ways.

Thanks for the visit.

Where’s the Winter?

It was impossible to stay in this weekend. Not that I wanted to. The mist took a little while to disperse, but when it did, the sun shone and it was yet again a glorious weekend here in the east, without any sign at all of the winter.

I went to Broaks wood to see if there was any remnants of autumn to photograph with the big camera.

It was certainly a bit too late for the spectacular autumn colours, but I did manage to capture some shots of the damp, warm wood.

Once again, I swear I saw some Roe deer on the outskirts of the wood. But it was only a fleeting glimpse and could well have been young fallow does. I tried to follow them but lost them in the dense undergrowth. I really must confirm my suspicions one day.

Another reason for taking the big camera was to try and get some shots of the conifer area of Broaks for an up-coming article in Bushcraft and Survival Skills magazine.

In fact the area is home to some young Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). Even these young trees are impressive as you stretch your neck to look up to their tops.

Once inside the grove, a different world emerges as the temperature rises and the damp under-storey plays host to different mushroom species; but not much else. The top layer full of fallen pine needles provides a dry, soft seating area and it was here I had my lunch.

As I did, a squirrel came along to try and find his lunch!  The photo opportunity was too good to miss and the obvious caption would be something like: “I know I buried it here somewhere!!”

He came closer and closer and didn’t seem too bothered as I snapped away.

 

Eventually, it seemed he was the one studying me. I put the camera down and carried on with my lunch. He sat in front of me and we both enjoyed the sun streaming through the thick conifer canopy.

After a while we went our different ways.

Thanks for the visit.

Woodland Tracker

At Woodlife Trails we rarely stay still. I’ve been dreaming up the Woodland Tracker course for some time, trying to find tracking techniques that would work better for the difficult environment and substrates of the British woodland than those techniques designed for warm climates.

This weekend the dream was realised as ten brave souls came out to trial the course. The result was an unmitigated success, even though I knew there’s a bit more work to be done.

The continuing mild weather made things quite comfortable and tracking on the main pathways of Hatfield forest was easy, which was great to test out a few theories. Unravelling individual prints contaminated by human traffic, however, wasn’t so easy. As we tracked deeper and deeper into the forest, things also got even more difficult; but the feedback was that the techniques worked well.

Following tracks and trail leading to the deeper parts of the forest also produced some stunning close encounters for everyone including foxes and the ever present fallow deer. The techniques from the Immersion course also helped and, for some, it was obvious that things were really coming together.

We also tried out some  new casting plaster from a company called “First Forensics”. We are still trialling this but first impressions are quite positive in relation to the quick-drying properties, although the plaster can’t be spread too thinly or it will crack. It’s also not very easy to separate from the woodland floor.

Thanks to everyone who came along and to Scrivy for being Marigold.

I’ll leave you with a small clip of the fallow.

Thanks for the visit.

Woodland Tracker

At Woodlife Trails we rarely stay still. I’ve been dreaming up the Woodland Tracker course for some time, trying to find tracking techniques that would work better for the difficult environment and substrates of the British woodland than those techniques designed for warm climates.

This weekend the dream was realised as ten brave souls came out to trial the course. The result was an unmitigated success, even though I knew there’s a bit more work to be done.

The continuing mild weather made things quite comfortable and tracking on the main pathways of Hatfield forest was easy, which was great to test out a few theories. Unravelling individual prints contaminated by human traffic, however, wasn’t so easy. As we tracked deeper and deeper into the forest, things also got even more difficult; but the feedback was that the techniques worked well.

Following tracks and trail leading to the deeper parts of the forest also produced some stunning close encounters for everyone including foxes and the ever present fallow deer. The techniques from the Immersion course also helped and, for some, it was obvious that things were really coming together.

We also tried out some  new casting plaster from a company called “First Forensics”. We are still trialling this but first impressions are quite positive in relation to the quick-drying properties, although the plaster can’t be spread too thinly or it will crack. It’s also not very easy to separate from the woodland floor.

Thanks to everyone who came along and to Scrivy for being Marigold.

I’ll leave you with a small clip of the fallow.

Thanks for the visit.

Fallow Camera Trap

On Friday I collected the trail cams from the Woods. One stand had very little activity while the other was reasonably active.

It shows that there are at least four bucks; one yearling, two juveniles and the dominant older buck. As I reported last week the rutting activity is pretty subdued at the moment. This maybe because of the weather or simply that the dominant male has very little competition.

In the clips you can see a stand-off between two juvenile bucks. They seem unsure what to do, so they just stand there! Most activity around the area is at night or dawn / dusk. During the day, they tend to go deeper into the woods.

Next week we’ll be back in Hatfield Forest for our Woodlife Tracker Course. we have ten participants and it promises to be an excellent course.

Until next week…

Fallow Camera Trap

On Friday I collected the trail cams from the Woods. One stand had very little activity while the other was reasonably active.

It shows that there are at least four bucks; one yearling, two juveniles and the dominant older buck. As I reported last week the rutting activity is pretty subdued at the moment. This maybe because of the weather or simply that the dominant male has very little competition.

In the clips you can see a stand-off between two juvenile bucks. They seem unsure what to do, so they just stand there! Most activity around the area is at night or dawn / dusk. During the day, they tend to go deeper into the woods.

Next week we’ll be back in Hatfield Forest for our Woodlife Tracker Course. we have ten participants and it promises to be an excellent course.

Until next week…