An hours bird watching this morning for the RSPB garden birdwatch. It’s not too late to take part, just spend an hour surveying which birds you see in your garden and submit the results online today.
4 starlings, 2 blue tits, 2 robins, 1 dunnock, 1 magpie and 7 herring gulls.
“Sydney” (on the right in the video) had been a regular visitor for two years. Every day he would knock on the window at 6am. If he was ignored he would go around to the back bedroom and knock on the window there. We watched him change from the speckled brown feathers to the glossy white, but he still retained the scruffy feathers at the top of his head and tiny fluffy feathers just in front of his eyes that helped us identify him from others who visited the garden. The video doesn’t do him justice as he really has such beautiful eyes with a hint of mackerel blue.
Around a year ago he started turning up with a mate. We’re assuming he was a he and she was a she but in reality it’s very difficult to distinguish males from females. He was considerably larger but I’m sure that had a lot to do with my mum sneaking bits of fish scraps out to him.
Every day he’d just turn up and spend the day sitting next to the glass until some time in spring when he and his mate just stopped visiting. A month later, a new brown speckled feather alarm clock turned up.
Anyone else’s vehicle fitted with a water feature? Gotta love a Series Land Rover…
These guys, bank voles, have been my sanity and my nemesis in equal measure this last month. I’ve never known a woodland to have so many voles in such a small space. Sit down anywhere in the woods and within ten minutes you’ll spot one. This particular one comes and sits with me around the campfire everyday and has the same set route it likes to run between the stones. Last year there was a heavily pregnant female who you could just sense was over being so huge. She used to climb up my leg and sit on my knee under the shade of my resting hand. The fire pit family is my sanity. My tent vole family on the other hand are delinquents. One keeps waking me up by nuzzling my armpit. 🤷🏼♀️ One of their relatives chewed a hole in the roof of my tent last year so I’ve put a tarpaulin over the top which they think is brilliant. They now escape onto the tent roof through the hole and I can hear the little pitter patter of their feet as they run to the top of the tent roof under the protection of the extra layer of tarpaulin. When they get to the top, they turn around and slide down the roof. Then pitter patter as they run back up to the top and sliiide back down again. Over and over. Day or night. Keeping me amused but my sleep is definitely suffering! I really do adore them. 😍
Day started out with rescuing a blue tit that had somehow managed to get itself tangled up and was hanging upside down from its nest.
Putting my feet up for half hour now after a productive weekend so far of both tipis finally being up, outdoor kitchen improved and ready for the cob oven to be built and logs cut and started to be peeled ready for the log cabin build to begin in a month. Oh and firewood pile is looking a lot healthier too!
Big thanks to my brother and friend Chris for all your help.
#hammocktime #feralliving #birdsong #definitelyeasierwithmorehands #woodlandtipi #tipilife #
#bluebellwoods
Getting Cecilia ready for her November North Sea, Norway bound crossing
I've been doing a lot of hard graft recently trying to get the new woodland showers built, then pretty much finished my back off on a chainsaw course last week, so it's good to be able to lean back against a large beech, in the sun and watch a Tree Pirate carve an owl for one of my sign posts.
Love being surrounded by creatives!
🦉🌳🐀
#chainsawcarving #chainsawcarvings #woodsculpture #larch #owlsofinstagram #treepirates #woodlandart #woodlandsculpture #chainsaw #creatives #creativescommunity_ #
Exciting day yesterday. The construction of the roundhouse, reciprocal living roof structure began.
This will be a communal space to learn new skills, share stories around the fire, cook up a feast and it finally gives me a dry space to start working on my own crafts again.
Today the roof beams and boarding goes on, then over time it will be covered with soil and become a living structure.
I cannot wait to build a fire pit under there next week and cook in relative luxury!
