April Fools–A Blog Across the Ages

Pablo’s Wildlife Notebook – 1988

New Forest – Saw young fallow also yellow fungi(?) on leaf carpet. Stone chat.

Pablo’s Wildlife Notebook 1989

Long field wood – Zephon, Crookham - Hampshire. A lot of bluebells coming out. Saw wood anemone amongst them. Also wood sorrel, garlic mustard and ladies smock also flushed out female pheasant. Heard several GS woodpeckers. Very pleasant sitting in the wood. Green buds on the leaves are coming – very pale green.

Pablo’s Wildlife Notebook 1990

Hindhead, Surrey – 0715 – frosty night but lovely dawn. Managed to get close to Linnet. Plenty of deer around. Temps have been very warm over the last week. Up to 22 degrees C during the day. Last two nights have been frosty.

Pablo’s Wildlife Notebook 1991

Have seen Tawny owl hunting around the churchyard and a couple of foxes. Damp weather brought out some wood mice scurrying across the road. Days have been warm. Saw a small tortoishell in the garden last week. Jays battling around the pond today. Usual birds and squirrel on the bird table. Pond life revealed 3 newts. Pond skaters beginning to come back.

Pablo’s Blog April 2006

At last, the late frosts have finally gone it seems and as predicted, a few warmer days, a few rain showers and the ground and trees seems to have sprung into life. Of course the wakening of the woods starts far earlier but it isn't that obvious on the surface. There is actually growth to see now on the trees and on the floor of the woods.

Today's walk found me batting away flying insects, coming across two bumblebees and a fritillary butterfly. I also noticed a nuthatch and a willow tit. I even heard the sound of spring. The woodpecker's hammering echoing through the wood. Before I settled down for a brew, I noticed a movement in the undergrowth and came across a young rabbit trying hard to remain camouflaged in the leaf litter. It remained stock still as I approached and I was able to get very close to take some photos. This moment was spring personified. The sound, the smell, the visions of spring.

Pablo’s blog 2007

I thought it would be fun to do a post from the woods. So here it is. No pics as this is email to blogger and not a mobile blog. I’ll cheat and add one later.

Pablo’s Wildlife Notebook 2007

Southern Spain – Red crested pochard; black-winged stint; Mandarins; Purple heron; Sedge warbler; Egret; dunlin; coot; swallows.

Pablo’s Blog 2009

For the last 8 days I've been in the beautiful country of Portugal. Although I wasn't as mobile as I wished [recovering from Achilles tendon rupture], I did manage to see quite a bit of the countryside by going on a jeep and boat with a guide.

The guide, Jose (they pronounce the "J's" in Portugal) was the Portuguese version of Bill Oddy, but much more entertaining. He also had an excellent knowledge of the wild plants and what you could do with them.

The first area we visited was a natural salt marsh where hundreds of migrating birds can be seen at the right time of year. We spotted Great flamingos feeding in the shallows.

Pablo’s Blog 2010

I hate travelling during a Bank Holiday. You tend to spend more time in traffic queues than you do at your destination, so we tend to stay local.

On Friday, we visited Cambridge where the parking fee was more expensive than the mini-trangia I picked up in a sale. More about the trangia later.

On Saturday I went into Poor Park woods and, apart from a squirrel feasting on some bird seed somebody had left, I saw very little in the way of mammals.

Pablo’s Blog 2011

Although Woodlife Trails has carried out some day courses already, this weekend was the first weekend course of the year.

It couldn’t have been better weather-wise as the sun shone throughout the weekend and in the main it was warm and sunny.

The temperature dropped a little at about 3am on Sunday morning, just to remind us that spring has only just begun – and perhaps the choice of the thin, summer sleeping bag was still a bit premature.

April Fools–A Blog Across the Ages

Pablo’s Wildlife Notebook – 1988

New Forest – Saw young fallow also yellow fungi(?) on leaf carpet. Stone chat.

Pablo’s Wildlife Notebook 1989

Long field wood – Zephon, Crookham - Hampshire. A lot of bluebells coming out. Saw wood anemone amongst them. Also wood sorrel, garlic mustard and ladies smock also flushed out female pheasant. Heard several GS woodpeckers. Very pleasant sitting in the wood. Green buds on the leaves are coming – very pale green.

Pablo’s Wildlife Notebook 1990

Hindhead, Surrey – 0715 – frosty night but lovely dawn. Managed to get close to Linnet. Plenty of deer around. Temps have been very warm over the last week. Up to 22 degrees C during the day. Last two nights have been frosty.

Pablo’s Wildlife Notebook 1991

Have seen Tawny owl hunting around the churchyard and a couple of foxes. Damp weather brought out some wood mice scurrying across the road. Days have been warm. Saw a small tortoishell in the garden last week. Jays battling around the pond today. Usual birds and squirrel on the bird table. Pond life revealed 3 newts. Pond skaters beginning to come back.

Pablo’s Blog April 2006

At last, the late frosts have finally gone it seems and as predicted, a few warmer days, a few rain showers and the ground and trees seems to have sprung into life. Of course the wakening of the woods starts far earlier but it isn't that obvious on the surface. There is actually growth to see now on the trees and on the floor of the woods.

Today's walk found me batting away flying insects, coming across two bumblebees and a fritillary butterfly. I also noticed a nuthatch and a willow tit. I even heard the sound of spring. The woodpecker's hammering echoing through the wood. Before I settled down for a brew, I noticed a movement in the undergrowth and came across a young rabbit trying hard to remain camouflaged in the leaf litter. It remained stock still as I approached and I was able to get very close to take some photos. This moment was spring personified. The sound, the smell, the visions of spring.

Pablo’s blog 2007

I thought it would be fun to do a post from the woods. So here it is. No pics as this is email to blogger and not a mobile blog. I’ll cheat and add one later.

Pablo’s Wildlife Notebook 2007

Southern Spain – Red crested pochard; black-winged stint; Mandarins; Purple heron; Sedge warbler; Egret; dunlin; coot; swallows.

Pablo’s Blog 2009

For the last 8 days I've been in the beautiful country of Portugal. Although I wasn't as mobile as I wished [recovering from Achilles tendon rupture], I did manage to see quite a bit of the countryside by going on a jeep and boat with a guide.

The guide, Jose (they pronounce the "J's" in Portugal) was the Portuguese version of Bill Oddy, but much more entertaining. He also had an excellent knowledge of the wild plants and what you could do with them.

The first area we visited was a natural salt marsh where hundreds of migrating birds can be seen at the right time of year. We spotted Great flamingos feeding in the shallows.

Pablo’s Blog 2010

I hate travelling during a Bank Holiday. You tend to spend more time in traffic queues than you do at your destination, so we tend to stay local.

On Friday, we visited Cambridge where the parking fee was more expensive than the mini-trangia I picked up in a sale. More about the trangia later.

On Saturday I went into Poor Park woods and, apart from a squirrel feasting on some bird seed somebody had left, I saw very little in the way of mammals.

Pablo’s Blog 2011

Although Woodlife Trails has carried out some day courses already, this weekend was the first weekend course of the year.

It couldn’t have been better weather-wise as the sun shone throughout the weekend and in the main it was warm and sunny.

The temperature dropped a little at about 3am on Sunday morning, just to remind us that spring has only just begun – and perhaps the choice of the thin, summer sleeping bag was still a bit premature.

Wilderness Camp Course

The weather couldn’t have been better for a weekend course in Hatfield forest. Cold mornings soon gave way to sunshine as JP and I ran our first Woodlife Trails Hatfield Course of the year in the shape of a Wilderness Camp Course.

This course is designed to show people how to set up personal and group camps in the woodland safely and hygienically. It’s also designed to explain and demonstrate various bits of equipment and clothing from shelters to cooksets that you might otherwise not come across or at least get a hand-on demo.

Everyone was able to try out the kit. Fundamental subjects were covered which will enhance the wild-camping experience, such as knife sharpening…

… and tarpology.

It wasn’t all kit as Scrivy demonstrates natural cooking utensils. Thanks to Scrivy and Trooper who assisted on the course and who between them provided a great stew on Saturday night.

We never miss an opportunity to go for a wander in the wonderful forest.

This kill site was easy. A mallard nabbed by a fox. An earlier cached mouse was a little more difficult to interpret.

We had 8 people on the course, 5 of which were undertaking our Woodlife Trails Diploma. The feedback was great. We will be repeating this course in June if you want to come along.

Our next course in Hatfield is our popular Wilderness Immersion Course (20th April). Have a look at our course list for all details and dates.

Thanks to everyone who came along and a ‘Hi’ to Vicky and Hannah from the National Trust.)

Wilderness Camp Course

The weather couldn’t have been better for a weekend course in Hatfield forest. Cold mornings soon gave way to sunshine as JP and I ran our first Woodlife Trails Hatfield Course of the year in the shape of a Wilderness Camp Course.

This course is designed to show people how to set up personal and group camps in the woodland safely and hygienically. It’s also designed to explain and demonstrate various bits of equipment and clothing from shelters to cooksets that you might otherwise not come across or at least get a hand-on demo.

Everyone was able to try out the kit. Fundamental subjects were covered which will enhance the wild-camping experience, such as knife sharpening…

… and tarpology.

It wasn’t all kit as Scrivy demonstrates natural cooking utensils. Thanks to Scrivy and Trooper who assisted on the course and who between them provided a great stew on Saturday night.

We never miss an opportunity to go for a wander in the wonderful forest.

This kill site was easy. A mallard nabbed by a fox. An earlier cached mouse was a little more difficult to interpret.

We had 8 people on the course, 5 of which were undertaking our Woodlife Trails Diploma. The feedback was great. We will be repeating this course in June if you want to come along.

Our next course in Hatfield is our popular Wilderness Immersion Course (20th April). Have a look at our course list for all details and dates.

Thanks to everyone who came along and a ‘Hi’ to Vicky and Hannah from the National Trust.)

TickWatch

TickWatch is an awareness campaign promoted and supported by Woodlife to try and raise awareness into ticks and the effect of ticks on the human body.

_________________________________________________

For merchandise and Tick removal tools go to:

http://www.bada-uk.org/

Tick Bite Prevention week is 26th March - 1st April

Please read the article below which was put together by Pablo. The article has appeared in “Traditional Naturopathic Remedies and Tips” by Roderick Lane , N.D.)

__________________________________________________

The Trouble with Ticks

by Pablo

What the Problem?

In amongst the wonderful creatures that exist in our woods, forests and fields, there are one or two that are positively un-welcome. Even if we are just going for a walk in the countryside, we could be liable to a visit from one of these uninvited guests. Of course, if you regularly camp out, you are even more vulnerable to these tiny creatures. They are very active this time of year and go by the name of ‘ticks’.

What are ticks?

Ticks are related to spiders and feed off the blood of virtually any bird, mammal or even occasionally, reptiles. There are a number of species depending on where you live. Most can be seen with the naked eye and are generally dark coloured. The nymph stage is the most likely to bite and is the size of a pin-head. It will grow as the blood sac enlarges and its colour will change to a lighter grey. It’s at this stage that people are likely to realise that they’ve been bitten especially if an adult tick bites as they’re more visible. The bite itself doesn’t hurt as the tick anaesthetises the area of your skin before it bites.

Ticks will survive better in hotter weather, but they will actively seek blood during warm weather and can attach themselves anywhere (and I mean anywhere) on the body, especially those nice warm places we have! In our countryside they tend to hang out in damp places like mammal feeding areas but they can also be found in bracken, and long grass of meadowland and parks. There are recognised hot-spots in the UK where there’s a high concentration of farm mammals or deer. It is thought that because of milder winters and other factors, it’s not unknown for ticks to be found even in urban areas.

So what’s the deal?

The trouble with ticks is that they carry diseases. They pick up the diseases from other animals they’ve feasted on and could transmit these diseases to humans. They can also inherit the disease from the parent tick. The most harmful is Lyme disease or Lyme borreliosis which can be a very debilitating illness lasting sometimes for years if not treated in the early stages.

Early symptoms can develop within days or weeks of the bite which may include tiredness, chills, fever, headache, muscle and/or joint pain, swollen lymph glands and blurred vision. A characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans may appear. It is generally a circular red rash that may be clear in the centre, resulting in a “Bull’s eye” type of appearance. It can expand and move around the body. Medical help must be sought as soon as possible and ensure that your doctor is aware of your concerns of a tick bite. 

How to remove a tick

It’s difficult to avoid ticks with our past-time, so we have to take the risk; it’s as simple as that. There are a few preventative tactics we can employ and I’ve outlined these in Pablo’s Tick Tips below. We can obviously check ourselves thoroughly at the end of the day and use a ‘buddy-buddy’ system of inspection if you’re with a group of people. When you get home after your excursion, check yourself over thoroughly before jumping in the shower. If a tick is found, it should be removed preferably with a tick removal tool. The removal tool instructions will tell you to twist out the tick once you have grasped it with the tool.

The mouth-parts of a tick include a hypostome (rostrum) which is implanted in the skin during biting. This hypostome is fully covered with backward directed projections like barbs; this allows the tick to “anchor” into the skin. If you try and pull out the tick, the spikes may rise and the mouth-parts of the tick can break and stay in the skin, causing pain and infection. With a specialist hook, you can turn the body of the tick; the spikes fold into the axis of rotation, and the tick is easily removed, without traction effort, and decreasing the risks of breaking the rostrum.

If you don’t have a removal tool, use pointed tweezers. It’s difficult to twist the tick with tweezers so grasp the tick as close to your skin as possible without squeezing the tick’s body and pull the tick out gently turning the tweezers as much as you can.

If no tools are available at all, rather than delay, use a cotton thread – Tie a single loop of cotton around the tick’s mouthparts, as close to the skin as possible, then pull gently upwards and outwards. The idea is to remove the whole of the tick from the skin. If a part is left in (if you’re not careful, it’s normally the head) you can still get infected.

The sooner the tick is removed the better, but there’s no set time that a tick has to stay attached to the skin to potentially infect the host.

Don't... be tempted to burn off the tick or use any other methods, for example paraffin, petrol, vaseline or meths. This may make the tick regurgitate the content of its stomach.

After the tick is out, use antiseptic to clean the area; wash your hands (and tools used) and try and save the tick in case later symptoms develop. There’s no need to panic though. Many ticks do not carry the disease. Just be wary and check yourself thoroughly.

Please also bear in mind that the information is for use in the UK and other countries may have different tick types and diseases.

Don't let this stop you enjoying the outdoors... just be aware of the dangers of ticks.

____________________________________________

Pablo’s Tick Tips

· Clothes - Wear long sleeved shirts and long trousers. Tuck trousers into socks.

· Use a good insect repellent. It’s not 100% guaranteed but it will help prevent ticks. Ensure you read the label and instructions for use.

· Carry a tick remover and antiseptic wipes. Tick removers are available from websites and some veterinary surgeries and pet stores.

· Avoid over hanging vegetation at the edge of paths where ticks may be waiting or use a stick to shake ticks off vegetation before walking through.

· Check yourself thoroughly at the end of the day or after serious “dirt-time” (stalking or crawling through vegetation.)

· Have a "tick buddy". Pay particular attention to the scalp as ticks can easily hide under hair. Get them to check the belt line, armpits and behind the knees.

· Take off outer clothes before going indoors. Ticks are very intolerant to being dried out and so clothing can be treated in a tumble dryer to kill any ticks that may remain hidden.

Make sure you check over your pets.

TickWatch

TickWatch is an awareness campaign promoted and supported by Woodlife to try and raise awareness into ticks and the effect of ticks on the human body.

_________________________________________________

For merchandise and Tick removal tools go to:

http://www.bada-uk.org/

Tick Bite Prevention week is 26th March - 1st April

Please read the article below which was put together by Pablo. The article has appeared in “Traditional Naturopathic Remedies and Tips” by Roderick Lane , N.D.)

__________________________________________________

The Trouble with Ticks

by Pablo

What the Problem?

In amongst the wonderful creatures that exist in our woods, forests and fields, there are one or two that are positively un-welcome. Even if we are just going for a walk in the countryside, we could be liable to a visit from one of these uninvited guests. Of course, if you regularly camp out, you are even more vulnerable to these tiny creatures. They are very active this time of year and go by the name of ‘ticks’.

What are ticks?

Ticks are related to spiders and feed off the blood of virtually any bird, mammal or even occasionally, reptiles. There are a number of species depending on where you live. Most can be seen with the naked eye and are generally dark coloured. The nymph stage is the most likely to bite and is the size of a pin-head. It will grow as the blood sac enlarges and its colour will change to a lighter grey. It’s at this stage that people are likely to realise that they’ve been bitten especially if an adult tick bites as they’re more visible. The bite itself doesn’t hurt as the tick anaesthetises the area of your skin before it bites.

Ticks will survive better in hotter weather, but they will actively seek blood during warm weather and can attach themselves anywhere (and I mean anywhere) on the body, especially those nice warm places we have! In our countryside they tend to hang out in damp places like mammal feeding areas but they can also be found in bracken, and long grass of meadowland and parks. There are recognised hot-spots in the UK where there’s a high concentration of farm mammals or deer. It is thought that because of milder winters and other factors, it’s not unknown for ticks to be found even in urban areas.

So what’s the deal?

The trouble with ticks is that they carry diseases. They pick up the diseases from other animals they’ve feasted on and could transmit these diseases to humans. They can also inherit the disease from the parent tick. The most harmful is Lyme disease or Lyme borreliosis which can be a very debilitating illness lasting sometimes for years if not treated in the early stages.

Early symptoms can develop within days or weeks of the bite which may include tiredness, chills, fever, headache, muscle and/or joint pain, swollen lymph glands and blurred vision. A characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans may appear. It is generally a circular red rash that may be clear in the centre, resulting in a “Bull’s eye” type of appearance. It can expand and move around the body. Medical help must be sought as soon as possible and ensure that your doctor is aware of your concerns of a tick bite. 

How to remove a tick

It’s difficult to avoid ticks with our past-time, so we have to take the risk; it’s as simple as that. There are a few preventative tactics we can employ and I’ve outlined these in Pablo’s Tick Tips below. We can obviously check ourselves thoroughly at the end of the day and use a ‘buddy-buddy’ system of inspection if you’re with a group of people. When you get home after your excursion, check yourself over thoroughly before jumping in the shower. If a tick is found, it should be removed preferably with a tick removal tool. The removal tool instructions will tell you to twist out the tick once you have grasped it with the tool.

The mouth-parts of a tick include a hypostome (rostrum) which is implanted in the skin during biting. This hypostome is fully covered with backward directed projections like barbs; this allows the tick to “anchor” into the skin. If you try and pull out the tick, the spikes may rise and the mouth-parts of the tick can break and stay in the skin, causing pain and infection. With a specialist hook, you can turn the body of the tick; the spikes fold into the axis of rotation, and the tick is easily removed, without traction effort, and decreasing the risks of breaking the rostrum.

If you don’t have a removal tool, use pointed tweezers. It’s difficult to twist the tick with tweezers so grasp the tick as close to your skin as possible without squeezing the tick’s body and pull the tick out gently turning the tweezers as much as you can.

If no tools are available at all, rather than delay, use a cotton thread – Tie a single loop of cotton around the tick’s mouthparts, as close to the skin as possible, then pull gently upwards and outwards. The idea is to remove the whole of the tick from the skin. If a part is left in (if you’re not careful, it’s normally the head) you can still get infected.

The sooner the tick is removed the better, but there’s no set time that a tick has to stay attached to the skin to potentially infect the host.

Don't... be tempted to burn off the tick or use any other methods, for example paraffin, petrol, vaseline or meths. This may make the tick regurgitate the content of its stomach.

After the tick is out, use antiseptic to clean the area; wash your hands (and tools used) and try and save the tick in case later symptoms develop. There’s no need to panic though. Many ticks do not carry the disease. Just be wary and check yourself thoroughly.

Please also bear in mind that the information is for use in the UK and other countries may have different tick types and diseases.

Don't let this stop you enjoying the outdoors... just be aware of the dangers of ticks.

____________________________________________

Pablo’s Tick Tips

· Clothes - Wear long sleeved shirts and long trousers. Tuck trousers into socks.

· Use a good insect repellent. It’s not 100% guaranteed but it will help prevent ticks. Ensure you read the label and instructions for use.

· Carry a tick remover and antiseptic wipes. Tick removers are available from websites and some veterinary surgeries and pet stores.

· Avoid over hanging vegetation at the edge of paths where ticks may be waiting or use a stick to shake ticks off vegetation before walking through.

· Check yourself thoroughly at the end of the day or after serious “dirt-time” (stalking or crawling through vegetation.)

· Have a "tick buddy". Pay particular attention to the scalp as ticks can easily hide under hair. Get them to check the belt line, armpits and behind the knees.

· Take off outer clothes before going indoors. Ticks are very intolerant to being dried out and so clothing can be treated in a tumble dryer to kill any ticks that may remain hidden.

Make sure you check over your pets.

Current Winter Kit List

Carry

Karrimor SF 75

Shoulder bag (tools and accessories)

Sleep

Alpkit SkyHigh 800

Exped Down mat

Base camp - Highlander camp bed (with tarp) or

DD Scout Hammock

 

Shelter/Rest

Snugpak Stratosphere

Tatonka Tarp 2 (3m x 3m) or

Titanium Goat Vertex 5 tipi

Folding sit mat

 

Torch pack

Alpkit Head Torch

Spare batteries

 

Small Utility pack

6 Alu tent pegs

10m paracord

2 x hi-vis guy lines

Tea light candle

 

First Aid kit

 

Clothes

Harkila Lynx GTX boots

Woolpower 200gr (Base)

Woolpower 400g (mid)

Old button-up Swaandri

Snowsled Ventile Classic smock or

Deer hunter Gamestalker smock

Long Johns (depends on temp)

Surplus Cargo trousers (Outer)

Swedish Army Winter cap

Highlander Cold weather hat

Hat (cap)

Ullfrotte Merino wool balaclava (Hammock)

Spare socks

Thinsulate woollen fingerless gloves

 

Tool pack

GB wilderness hatchet

Spoon knife

Frosts Small carving knife

Silky Pocketboy Saw

Falkniven DC4 Sharpening

Camera

Compass/thermometer

Notebook

Tinder pouch

 

Belt

Custom leather pouch http://www.bushcraftleather.co.uk/

Leatherman Charge

Kuksa

Puuko/Stromeng Leuko Combi knives

Neck Carry

Micro Torch

Jet Scream Whistle

Button compass

 

Cooking

Bushbuddy with Trangia burner with TracPac billy

or

Mini Trangia

Primus Litech Frying pan

Plastic Thermo Drinking cup

Crusader cup

1 litre NATO water bottle

4 litre MSR Dromedary water bag

 

Hygiene Pack

Collapsible bowl

Foot powder

Antispetic wipes

Hygiene liquid

 

Food

Instant porridge mix

Bacon, eggs, tortillas (edible plate)

Mini bars chocolate

Mixed nuts raisons

2 x instant soup

Pre-prepared stew or fresh meat and vegetables or boil in a bag

Tea & sugar

Brandy (Medicinal!!)

 

Additional (Tracking)

Tracking stick; Green torch; Measuring tape