Since this block of Rhodi was cleared by the ‘Wednesday Group’, the stems (left so they can be winched out) have started to regrow. We finally got round to winching them all out, which is the only way of ensuring that mature rhodi growth does not return.
Storm Doris brought down several large trees across the main trails, which kept us busy for a few sessions.
A large hornbeam down on the very muddy Blue Trail.
This bench survived a direct hit!
While we were without our chainsaw operator, we were pleased to have the support of the Sharrards park team in felling hornbeams on the Blue Trail near Rowbourne Brook.
Down comes a hornbeam..
Over 3 sessions, a lot of trees were removed opening up this dark and muddy section to more sunlight.
The wood can look very special in mid-winter.
For many years the ‘concrete path’ has become overgrown and this was cleared. On the actual access path by the gate, the ground was cleared for the first time in many years.
All sorts of non-native species can get into the wood from adjacent gardens and a programme of removal was instigated. One of the largest incursions was Box Honeysuckle (Lonicera Nitida) behind one of the houses in Carbone Hill. The photos below show this before and after clearance.
Any storm is likely to cause a few birch to fall and ones across the paths are early targets for clearance.
Phil deliberately fells a birch so as to get ‘hung-up’ on another tree. This was so we could test the winch was working OK after its repair.
In the latest location, there were no foxes or hares – but overwhelmed with squirrels. Of the 200 triggers over 7 days, 97 captured squirrels, while another 71 ‘blank’ sequences were probably squirrels that triggered the sensor but were out of the camera’s view. 15 triggers captured muntjacs. Other sequences were of wood pigeons and dogs (the location was near a path). The compilation here shows a badger by night and a group of pheasants by day.
