I sometimes wonder what the immediate impact on wildlife is when I spend time down there? (Longer term I'm hoping it is positive, although some of the hedgerow and grassland work is bound to have caused some compromises until re-established and stabilised. I do look into and assess what is around a while, before doing work).
Anyway, almost a week in a large tent and the daytime has birds from robins to buzzards and at night time there are about 5 owls, bats, badgers and foxes.
The bees in the hollow tree are still active on warm days and something has pawed up an old honeycomb of ground nesting bees.
I still wonder about the possibility of dormice - an old birds nest was full of dry hawthorn leaves and 'ropes' of twisted hay in a ball - unfortunately full of dry silt too as it was below the winter river flood level.
A diverse range of fungi have started to appear in the grass.
I didn't manage to get the 'thatch' from the scarifier removed as quickly as I'd have liked, due to rain as I was finishing the task and for most days I was free afterwards.
The Wessex collector works fine, as long as the surface debris isn't sodden.
Somewhat hurriedly, 150 metres of wire stock fencing has gone up (with very handy help from my Uncle), due to sheep reappearing for winter 2 fields away. Last year I'd have been happy for them to have stayed and grazed when they strayed in, but not now with the orchard and young native trees in.
The wire fencing is temporary and positioned to allow enough working space for filling gaps in the hawthorn and for work with a post borer on the tractor for a long term livestock proof fence along the hedge boundary.
Some interesting and good natured talk with local folk and interesting to consider the range of views of people who live and work in the countryside as well as the various walkers along the track. (A large walking group on Saturday were doing part of the Marches Way).
My first night in the tent last week coincided with a ground frost overnight, fortunately the woodburner kept the chill off until about 4am, although a Cadbury's Wholenut bar managed to melt some distance away from the stove.
I was quite pleased during the recent tree work to get a birds-eye view from the hydraulic platform.
Maybe more than coincidently, a carved pumpkin I left on the gatepost for a couple of nights seems to have kept some of the less desirable visitors at arms length.
For the next few months I'll have to be more mindful of the risk of flooding from the River Dee (the daily height trends are on the Environment Agency website and I get alert and warning notifications).
The next areas of work are hedges and ditches and planting clusters of native trees at either end of the field.
Dandelion reduction is back on track with a replacement removal tool swiftly sent from Fiskars.
Now the darker nights and less clement weather are here, a bit of catching up of paperwork and planning ahead, as well as delving into surrounding history.
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