A short vid of a Female Violet Oil Beetle eating a Celandine flower

Learn more about the Oil beetle family at BUGLIFE.ORG.UK

It is a female Violet Oil Beetle in the video, she has a swollen abdomen as she has just emerged to find a male and is full of eggs. If you look carefully you'll see little flies on her body, they're feeding on the oil she exudes. When she's mated she digs a nest and lays her fertilised eggs, up to a thousand of them!

When those eggs hatch the larvae set about finding a solitary bee by climbing into a flower and waiting. When the bee arrives to feed on the flower the larvae hop on to it's back and get a lift to the bees nest. In the bees nest the larvae pupate and begin to feed on the bees eggs and food stores. Quickly growing and pupating again. They stay in the bees burrow until emerging in the spring the following year as adults like the female in the video.

An amazing life cycle!


hen xx

A quick catch up.. broody hens and springtime in the woods

 Here's my gang of broody Cuckoo Marans hens and the tiny wee lavender bantam Heidi. It's all very serious but I haven't got enough eggs for them to sit on yet so I'm having to chuck them out of their nests a few times a day... kindly of course.

Here is an angry broody...

Just had to share this close up of the really titchy tiny Heidi...

That's all I've got to say right now. Life's crazier at the moment than I've ever experienced in my ENTIRE life. Up and down and chaotic but headed in the right direction! Oh, I nearly forgot.. here's a few photo's of Spring in the woods :)

For the past two yrs there's been only one Wood Anemone growing under some of our oldest Ash hedge trees. This year there was FOUR flowering stems!

Badger badger badger! [please note: this isn't at Stock Wood...]

Moschatel... one of my all time favourite woodland flowers.

hen xx

Spring Equinox on Exmoor and How to tap a Birch tree!

It's been a glorious Spring so far! I wrote a wee poem on Facebook earlier to celebrate the Spring Equinox...

Dear Spring, 

I love you very much. 

So much you make my heart leap and my belly flutter. 

I love you so much I spend weeks searching for you and then weeks watching you emerge, stretching out of your buds, leaves unfolding like a dragonfly's wings. 

Spring, when I wake up I grin at the feel of you. That unmistakeable energy you bring as the sap shoots up the tree and nests and dens are filled with the sound of the young. 

I love you for having the greatest soundtrack of all. Birds singing, bees humming and woodpeckers keeping the beat...

Dear Spring, I love you!

...It's been a tough winter ;)

I went for an explore of the wall at the top of one of our regeneration areas. I found many wonderful things. Like this Apple Moss... (thanks to David Spain for ID help!)

Lots of pennyworts, nettles and whispers of ferns too and many scuttles and shadows. 

I'm still blown away by the amount of work that's gone into building these hedge banks, miles of them! 

This beech tree is a really old hedge bank tree. It's girth at the base is 5 hen hugs. Which makes it.. erm... oh, it's just very old indeed.

This is the first bud burst of 2012 for me! Wonderful, gorgeous Hazel! This one is on the track, so it's really sheltered. I reckon it's another week yet before any of the other's start bursting properly. Can't wait!

One of my favourite wee flowers, the female flower of the Hazel. It's the colour I love and the joy at trying to spot them in the tree is one of my Spring treats, they're so tiny!

The farm is covered in barren strawberry. Absolutely beautiful but incredible disappointing for me... no strawberries... gah! 

I present to you, my wonderful beans, the Bluebell... throughout the coppice there are more and more bluebells appearing! In some areas there's a carpet of them. It's such a wonderful change and has taken 4 years to start to come back. The issue before, I think, was heavy grazing and erosion on the slopes. 

This is the leaves of Common Valerian. A beautiful plant that flowers later in the year. This is also growing in ever greater numbers in the single area that it lives, at the end of the river meadow on the edge of the coppice.

One of my favourite plants at this time of year is the opposite-leaved golden saxifrage. There's carpets of it down in the valley. 

It's an incredible sight at the moment!

The photograph above is of a mix of wild plants.  This is how I learned to identify some wildflowers by their young leaves, before they flower. Not including the grass, I can name 4 plants in this photo. How many can you name?! : ) 

Birch Tapping

Today I did some Birch tapping. The sap is just right and was flowing freely! Here's how I did it..

What you need: 

• An old water bottle, sterilised (I soaked it in a light bleach solution for a few hours).
• Thick string (I use old baler twine)
• A strong, sharp, CLEAN, knife. (I used my Chris Grant knife)
• Bit of solid wood about as thick as your arm, for a mallet. (I used a seasoned length of hazel I found near the Birch tree) 
• A green twig as thick as your pinky finger. (I cut a fresh hazel twig)

How to tap a Birch tree:

• Choose a Birch tree that looks strong and healthy, with no visible fungi & with buds that look ever so slightly 'awake' or swollen. The girth of the tree should be over 25cm. I like to make my incision on a clean bit of bark (not knobbly).
• Taking the middle of your length of twine, make a clove hitch, slip it on to the neck of the bottle and tighten. Tie the twine around the tree, securely.
• STOP

Now you need to make your peg:

• Collect a fresh, green twig from a nearby tree, that's as thick as your pinky finger. Here I used a Hazel twig.
• Carefully, cut the twig to size, about inch or so is normally ok and scrape off the bark. This will give you a good clean bit of wood. 
• Carefully cut both ends to a slope (in basketry we call it slyping). Make one end flatter than the other, this will be the end that goes into your incision. The flatter end of my peg is on the right of the picture below.
• Carefully cut yourself a small channel in the middle of the peg.

Making your incision:

• Use your peg to check where you need to make the incision, remembering that about quarter of an inch will be inside the tree. Obviously the peg shouldn't over shoot the top of the bottle!
• Angle your knife upwards, with the blade horizontal. (see the pic below)
• Using your sturdy bit of wood, firmly and in a controlled manner (!) thwack the end of your knife, TWICE. The TIP of your knife should be in the tree up to about 1/4 inch.
• Give the knife a small wiggle, you do not want to break the bark. You should see a bit of sap gather on the knife.
• Remove the knife.

Putting in your peg:

• Gently put the flat end of your peg into the incision. You don't need to shove it in, just put it in a few millimetres till you see the sap start to run down it into your bottle. Make sure it's not going to fall out.

Notes:

• Birch sap is clear. If your sap is yellowy discard it. 
• You can let your tap run for as long as you have bottles to catch it in. It will only stay fresh for a few days once collected and it's not recommended you drink too much as it can give you a bad belly.
• Don't tap this tree for another three years. (Is dependent on how much you take & how big your incision..)
• You can make all sorts of things with it. A syrup, wine, tea, cordial... I tend to drink it straight or make a cup of nettle tea with it & some honey. Quite a powerful energy boost for me that tea!

MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL:

You must show the tree gratitude for the gorgeous elixir you've just taken by making sure the wound is clean, small and will heal quickly. A small slit like this will pose no threat to the tree as long as you follow those small steps. When I'm finished collecting the sap I press down on the slit for a little while and it slows the flow of the sap and finally stops altogether.

Let me know how you get on! 

hen xx

Spring *update!* & a very special gift

There is a wall the full length of our woodland and this is the middle bit. I'd love to rebuild it! Normally I am jarred by the activities of humans in the landscape. However, this wall (along with our stone sided banks)  is a thing of beauty, purpose & strength. The fact that it's made, by hand, from the stone under my feet settles the wall into the landscape, like it grew from the ground centuries ago. 

Old Bert

You've met Old Bert before. He is my favourite tree. Bert is completely hollow inside (but he still has a huge heart), and he's so old he has lots of plants living on him. There's Old Ivy, who loves him so much that fifty years ago she wrapped herself around him and never let go, there's young Campion and Wood sorrel, and many old friend Lichens and Moss. He's a house for lots of little mammals, bugs and birds too. He doesn't mind though, Old Bert loves the company and life by the river is good.

Moschatel (Town Hall Clock) - Flower bud

The other day i showed you the leaves of  Moschatel which excited me enough, well, would you look at this! The flower bud is ready for bursting open! I CAN'T WAIT!

Blades by Chris Grant

http://www.makemethischris.co.uk/

In the post today I had a gift, from a dear friend in Scotland a bladesmith called Chris. I was moved to tears when I saw the workmanship and beauty of these blades. What a gift. Chris also included a selection of wood to make the handles with. I've got my eye on that beautiful bit of Yew! Thank you Chris, you're kindness has totally filled me up and I feel undeserving but utterly grateful. xxx

hen xx

Spring.. oh yes.. I have the proof!

Some things in life trigger such happiness that it doesn't matter you have to wait a year to see them! Two of the many things that make me happy are part of the birth of Spring...

The Willow buds are looking just beautiful at the moment. All fluffy and white. Already the Blue, Willow and Longtailed tits alongside the finches and Dunnocks are busy flittering and chattering away amongst the branches!  

Here, my dear friends, is one of my favourite woodland plants about to unfold into flower. If you look carefully you can see a second bud just under one of the leaves to the right of the central bud. That makes TWO buds... two buds means TWO flowers about to open... ok, ok.. I know you know but it's SPRING! S.P.R.I.N.G!

*beam!*

hen xx

Public Pressure Halts the Forest Sell Off!

An astonishing result to all the hard work by campaigns across England, the hundred thousand people who wrote to their MP's and the half a million people who signed the petition! The government listened to our demands for them to throw out the forestry clauses from the Public Bodies Bill and stop the Consultation Document. 

I want to send lots of love out to Karen, Nick, Lord Greaves, Alex, Tony, Tamsin, Mary Creagh, Casper, Kaye, all you lovely lot on the SOW forum, Save Englands Forests, Save Our Forests, Save Britains Forests, 38 Degrees and all the amazing local campaign groups. 

Not forgetting a massive hug for everyone who wrote to their MP and signed the petition... 

YOU are amazing! 

There's still a lot of work to do, as the government have taken the debate away from the public arena & into closed meetings by an "independent" panel that will conclude in the autumn of this year.

There are so many questions and worries and hopes.. they can wait for another post. For now I want to share with you how I celebrated the amazing result!

I went to find Spring and here is what I found...!

Some brown slime

Ok... so it's just some brown slime BUT I ask you this... What is the brown slime? Where did the brown slime come from? Why was the brown slime in 5 distinct blobs on the mossy, grass, under a very old Birch coppice stool? Ahh.. see.. interested now are you?!

oh...

Yes.. it's more brown slime

Anyway... Please can someone let me know what this brown slime is? :)

Red Pixie Cap, Campion & Ground Ivy

I LOVE finding pixie caps! It's like finding treasure and being wisped away into a tiny World of fantasy!

Campion, Nettle, Golden Saxifrage

That's a salad right there! Just add some juicy Pennywort, wood & sheep sorrel! *droOol!*

Moschatel - Town Hall Clock

This is one of my favourite plants. It's called Town hall Clock because the flower head is like a cube with a flower head on each side. If you're lucky enough to come across a patch of this in flower, get your nose into it, it has the most subtle, beautiful scent of any wildflower, especially when it's mixed with the heady scent of the woodland floor...

Wild Strawberry

mmMMMMmmmm... wild strawberry.... mind you, this could be one of the barren ones, that don't fruit. We do have them here. I call them grumpberries or irrationaldisappointmentberries.

Primrose

Ok, I know they're only a few leaves old, but just look at them... SPRING!! They'd be in my salad as well if I had loads more of them.  : )

Male (catkin) & female Hazel flowers

Spotting the female flower of the Hazel is one of the little games I secretly play when I'm in the woods this time of year. It's not the most exciting of games for most, hence it being a private game between me, the Hazel and Spring.  

Don't you mock me... *fingerwag*

Foxgloves

Ok, now I appreciate that's not the most inspiring picture in the World but I'm afraid it's made it on here because, well, just count how many leafy tiers there are on those bad boys! I reckon 3 more tiers & we'll have a spike! WooOoop!

Pennywort - all fat juicy & yummy!

If you've never tasted a Pennywort then memorise that picture and get yourself outside & scoff a leaf or two. Delicious!

After 6 weeks sat in the yurt at the lap top and on the phone trying to run the Save Our Woods campaign, it was the best of celebrations to go and find Spring. Feels like the woods are celebrating too...


hen xx

Snowline Productions Filming on the Land and Spring came!

Sooo... I helped Snowline Productions last week with their short educational films about camping outdoors.  We spent most of the time on our land but one day we ventured off into the wilds of Exmoor and found the most beautiful little spot by a river near Hoare Oak.

Above is presenter Paul Deegan, freezing cold on a frosty morning waiting for a shot to be set up. It's worth having an explore on his website, he is quite simply one of the most inspiring men I've ever met. He'll kill me for saying that on here but I'm not scared, I can 'ave 'im! Even if he has been up Everest! 'Right, come on Paul.. you & me.. outside... now!'

This is Al of Snowline. He's quite long but extraordinary on a camera anyway.

This is Elliott of Snowline. He has terrible habits but they don't seem to hold him back when he's doing the sound or using the camera. I believe they do hold him back with the ladies though.

There are so many stunning little Hawthorn trees on Exmoor.  Gorgeous, hardy little things.  Pushed and pulled into place by the elements.

We finally have bud burst on our Beech trees! My favourite spring leaves are Beech and it makes my heart sing to see them!  Over the four days we were filming the Hawthorn & Willow hedgerows went from the vaguest hint of bud burst to a bright mist of green. 

 The willow catkins are astonishing this year!  It's almost too intense to stand underneath them there are so many bees feeding! I've seen more bees on the land so far this year than I ever have.  All different sorts too, I even saw a Bee Fly!

 Ridiculously, stupidly & messily excited about the fact that our coppice is FULL of ash tree seedlings! In some areas like a huge carpet of green!  I'm hoping there'll be enough left for me to collect after the red deer have had their way, so I can start my tree nursery!

I also had the chance to properly extend the porch on the bender. I've been pesked by the doorway ever since we built it.  It's still not perfect but it's definitely better to get in and out of!

 We got a visitation from a Homing Pigeon!  She was just wandering around the field so tired she couldn't fly.  Luckily Al spotted her before The Stink did!  We gave her water & some oats & a perch to rest on.  She didn't leave our camp for days! Was lovely to have her mooching around!  I tweeted about it and was chuffed to bits to find out that @Irkafirka had illustrated the tweet! Just looook at this...

So, all in all another fabulous time! I've not even written about the Bushcraft tweetup on the land we had last weekend! No doubt I'll blast you with that soon!




hen xx