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Tawny Owl Box

Pretty much every night we hear tawny owls at some point. Recently, they have been hooting all around us as we take the dogs out for their evening stroll. For some time, I have been telling myself I should put up an owl box.

Back when the weather was warmer and the ground not white, I actually constructed one. I looked at a few designs and settled on the one provided by the RSPB. Well, I am a fellow of the RSPB so it seemed only right. Plus I liked the roosting bar. It didn’t take long to make and, with three coats of wood preserver applied to the outside, it was ready. I put it in the shed where it sat patiently as the weeks went by. I kept telling myself to get it in place sooner rather than later as the owls would need time to get used to it. Leaving it to the spring would be too late.

tawny owl boxLast Sunday, I grabbed the bull by the horns, or the ladder by the rungs, and got ready to put it up. I had found the perfect spot, on a large tree trunk at the edge of some woodland. It’s also quite close to the house so easy to monitor, but not too close (tawny owls can be a little territorial in the breeding season). Of course, I couldn’t get the ladder in place, it being heavy and the tree unobliging. Thankfully, our neighbour was on hand to help. Ladder set, I forced my dislike of heights to one side and scurried up. Perched carefully on the top rung but two, I apologised to the tree and put in a nail as gently as I could.

I scurried back down, picked up the box and, a little more gingerly, headed back up. I should point out that the ladder was kind of leaning a little to the right beyond which was a steep slope down to a river. It was also frosty and slippy. These thoughts were at the forefront of my mind as the tree did everything it could to block my progress by snagging the owl box in its branches. Taking deep breaths, I negotiated the three dimensional puzzle posed by random twigs and the long owl roosting bar. It was tempting to lean back, but…

Anyway, that was the easy part. The hard part was getting the owl box in place, i.e. trying to hook it over the nail. Cue much random manoeuvring of said box with increasingly burning arms and interesting vocabulary. Finally, more by luck than design, it popped into place. I secured it, then made my back to terra firma to admire my handiwork.

Now, it’s wait and see, but hopefully it will be used by owls next spring.

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Tree planting underway

planting trees - small area

Every year we have been here, we have planted more trees as part of our goal to rewild large areas of our smallholding. Earlier this year, we created a new wildlife corridor and this winter, our task will be to fill it with (more) trees. This involved a lot of fencing, mainly to stop the sheep from eating all the young trees. They are very partial to anything that’s not grass, our sheep. One small corner was missed out in the big fencing operation. It is nestled between the path the sheep use to come off the hills into the orchard paddocks, the orchard paddock itself and a large area of wildlife corridor. This corner is damp and bramble infested. This week, I fenced it off. In time, we can remove a fence (you can see the tired old posts in the picture above, and it will become integrated with the wildlife corridor.  It is now filled it with willow, pine, alder and rowan trees. All of these, except the rowans, were sourced from along our track where numerous trees have self seeded with the seeming intention of blocking a drainage ditch.

planting trees - small areaThe rowans were also self seeded but in a dark corner next to a mature tree, not an ideal spot for them at all, really. Now they have exposure to sunlight as well as plenty of water.

The picture to the right is the small area in question and, if you look closely, you might be able to spot the odd tree. Not easy, some are quite small and, of course, the green leaves blend in nicely with the grass.

We are looking forward to these trees growing swiftly in the coming years and providing a little more cover for local wildlife.

 

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Wildlife Corridor

We have planted a lot of trees here and those planted a few years back are finally starting to establish and grow taller than me. But what was missing was connecting the various patches of woodland. So, we devised a wildlife corridor that will connect woods to the north of the house all the way to the new planted woodland that runs along the southern edge.

It will start with a hedge that will be planted this autumn. This will have the added benefit of screening off a cottage. The fencing is in place (to keep the sheep from eating it), just need to wait for hedge planting season.

band of treesPart two is a band of trees at the end of the lambing paddock. These were panted in May, a last gasp order that was despatched just before the end of season deadline. Unfortunately, the dry weather caught us out and about half the trees lost all their leaves. We have been watering them daily (with water from a natural pond) and all but three have recovered, though one is still in intensive care as it is not enjoying its daily baking by our unusually hot and persistent summer.

recovering tree
Recovering tree

The ones that are recovering are showing new growth at the base and will be watered daily till we are absolutely sure they are established.

Part three runs along what we call the ‘marshy bottom’ field. It’s where water overflows from the pond mentioned above on it’s way to our wee loch. It’s damp and treacherous and we had a constant fear that one of the sheep would get into difficulties. Normally, wouldn’t go there but every now and then, tups from the neighbouring appear in the field the other side of the marsh and they are a huge temption to our girls.

marshy bottom woodland
marshy bottom woodland

This has now been fenced off and planted with about 40 trees, mostly ash seedlings from the ash tree next to our house which, touch wood, seems to be unaffected by ash dieback. The plan is, in late autumn, to transplant a number of self seeded willow and alder trees that are in inappropriate locations into this area and transform it into a vibrant woodland.

thriving transplanted trees
thriving transplanted trees

We did move two quite large trees, over 4m tall, and they are thriving. You can just about make them out in the photo to the right. The bank is quite damp (north facing) and so was perfect for them.

The next part is a small area next to a stone dyke (where we filled in an unused gate) and about 30 trees are thriving there, no tree guards as we built a fence that should keep the deer out.

Finally, there’s a small area where we store our firewood, the stuff that needs a visit from the chainsaw to convert it into logs. That too will be populated with transplated trees.

From there, it meets up with the trees border ing our wee loch. Overall, it will form a ‘U’ all around our patch. The west side is commercial forest, not much we can do about that!

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More Trees planted

trees planted

Since moving here, we have been slowly expanding the woodland coverage. The goal is to create an area that can be coppiced thus providing a supply of wood and also a haven for wildlife. In the late autumn, we took delivery of around 400 trees (bare root) and quickly heeled them in to protect the roots. I got around 30 planted and then the first snow hit. From then, the ground remained pretty much frozen right through till February making planting impossible. On the few days the ground was soft, the forecast was for more freezing weather so planting would have been unwise.

tree planting in progressFinally, the ground thawed and the forecast looked warmer (above freezing anyway), so I got going. I was somewhat surprised to find that many of the baby trees were budding and some were even coming into leaf. I had to get them in more quickly than I had thought. Easier said than done, the ground is quite rocky and each stake needed a pilot hole drilled. For that, it was heavy hammer and chisel. It meant each tree took around 5 minutes to plant.

Also, each needed a tall deer guard as deer are regular visitors here. Even with deer guards, the deer can still sometimes get at and nibble away the young shoots.

trees plantedIt took the best part of a week before they were all in. Of course, the next in line of the recent batch of storms immediately blew some over. As well as rocky, the ground is very soft in places, so the fallen saplings had to be rescued and their stakes made firmer.

We are looking forward to watching them grow over the coming years.

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Tiggy Released

releasing young hedgehog

Four weeks ago, we found a tiny hedgehog that was outside, alone, during the day. Without help, it would have died (see Summer Hedgehog Rescue). We took him in and named him Tiggy. Over the last four weeks, he has grown from 125g to over 470g in weight. As it’s summer, young hedgehogs can be released back into the wild once they weigh over 450g and are at least 8 weeks old.

Though we couldn’t be sure of Tiggy’s exact age, his weight when we found him indicated he was somewhere between 4 and 5 weeks old. He was ready for release.

We prepared the hedgehog house with fresh hay and set up the feeding station. We put in place the wildlife camera to monitor what he did.

Next day, the food was all gone but there were no films on the camera. Most frustrating! I set the camera up a bit closer and refilled the food bowl. The following night, we got a great set of videos. Tiggy was coming out of the hedgehog house, having a meal and heading back. We were surprised, normally hedgehogs disappear off when released.

Three nights later, Tiggy is still around and we are leaving out plenty food for him (as well as keeping an eye on him).

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Summer Hedgehog Rescue

tiny hedgehog

Last autumn, I found a small hedgehog which we overwintered (see Hoggy Released).  This can happen a lot, late litters mean they just don’t have time to put on enough weight to hibernate.  Without help, they wouldn’t make it through the winter.

What’s a bit more unusual is to find one needing help in the summer.  A few days ago, just as I was settling down for the evening, I got a phone call from a neighbouring farm.  They had spotted a hedgehog in one of their fields and were worried about it.  They had heard about us overwintering hedgehogs so we had sprung into their minds as knowledgeable.

tiny hedgehogI pulled my boots back on and set off, grumbling slightly to myself if I am to be honest.  I was expecting to find nothing but as I arrived at the spot they had described, I found a tiny hedgehog just sitting there.  All grumbles evaporated in an instant as I scooped it up into my hand.  It must have got separated from its mother and I think it had been there for hours.  It had done well to survive as the field was small and full of sheep and so it had been at risk of being accidentally trodden on.  It was tiny, but fully formed. By that, I meant it had adult prickles.  That was a good sign, it was likely no longer reliant on its mother’s milk.

It was so small it fit snugly into one hand as I ferried it safely back to the house.  It was perfectly calm all the way, just sitting there quite happily.

On getting back, we weighed it and it was a mere 125g, tiny indeed.  We also inspected it for ticks and fleas and found none, another good sign.

Now, having had Hoggy over the winter, this time we had everything we needed.  I left Tiggy (which is what we named him) with Nicole and fetched the hedgehog rescue kit.  I set it all up in the pantry displacing the homebrew.

That done, I prepared some food.  We had a cupboard full of dogfood so no problems there.  I set out about 100g of food, mixed in a little water and added some dried calcium worms.

As I was placing him in his new accommodation, I was suggesting to Nicole we might need to get a pipette and hand feed him.  She started unwrapping one but before she’d finished, Tiggy had located the food and was tucking right in.  That was a great sign.  Once he’d eaten, we helped him find the bed all filled with fresh hay.

 

That night he ate just over 80g of food and put on a mighty 44g.  He must have been really hungry.  After, 4 nights , he now weighs 200g, so good progess indeed.  He has settled in well and has begun trashing his run, typical hedgehog behaviour (they like to dig).  Another good sign.

At this rate, he should be ready for release late August.

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swallows’ extension

swallows nest

A while back I posted an update on the nesting birds we have here.  One of the swallows’ nests is in our lambing shed and it was looking pretty crowded.  A total of five fledglings were all vying for space.  We kept an eye on it and one day Nicole found a fledging on the ground.  It was fine.  To be honest, it was a miracle the hens hadn’t eaten it as they spend a lot of time in that shed.

The problem we had is that there was no room in the nest.  Even with just four fledglings, it was jampacked with young swallows.

swallow in eggcupInspiration came and I went and got an egg box.  It was quite simple to put a couple of egg compartments alongside the nest and into it went the fledgling.

We checked from time to time and sadly, the poor fledgling was turfed out again and didn’t make it.  Nature can be cruel.  However, even with four, room was at a premium and one moved in to an egg cup (see picture).

They have all fledged and flown the nest now and we sometimes watch them swooping around our house and fields.  There are certainly plenty of flies for them this year.

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Nesting Birds

swallows in the nest

We are lucky to have swallows and housemartins as regular visitors.  The swallows nest in various sheds and the housemartins on the house under the guttering.  They are not the only birds nesting here, there are nests all over the place.  We have left a lot of areas covered in scrub and brambles and these make excellent nesting areas.  In the last few weeks, we have watched fledgling sparrows and blackbirds hopping around on the grass to the front of the house.

swallows in the nestThe swallows like to nest in three of our sheds.  In two of them, the roofs are quite low and you could easily reach up and touch the nests.  They seem quite tolerant of us humans.  The nest in the picture on the right is attached to one of the strip lights in the lambing shed.  We think this could be a second brood because, in other nests, the chicks have long since fledged and flown off.

wrens nestWe also have some enterprising wrens.  They have taken to moving into unused swallow nests and making their own version of home improvements.  This means packing in lots of moss and making a small tunnel for an entrance.  The one in the picture to the left is the other side of the beam from the above mentioned swallow nest.

This is not the only swallow nest that has been taken over, there are also wren nests in the other sheds perched on top of old swallow nests.  Well done wrens, very clever indeed.

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Hoggy out and about

hoggy coming out of feeder

Last November, I found a tiny hedgehog wandering around the garden.  It was too small (less than 300g) to survive the winter, so we took it in (see hedgehog seeks board and lodging).  With a custom built run, house and a personal heater, Hoggy grew stronger over the winter months.

We released her at the end of March (see Hoggy Released).

We set up a wildlife camera to capture what she did and placed a feeding station near the hedghog house we released her into.  In the first week, only videos involving a mouse, a deer, a cat and a robin were captured.

I looked in the hedgehog house and Hoggy had gone.  It’s what one would expect from a hedgehog, but for some reason the wildlife camera didn’t capture her leaving.  Most annoying.

hoggy eating
Hoggy eating

We kept the feeding station and camera in place.  A few days later, we had our first video of a hedgehog.  It didn’t go into the feeder, but it was a hedgehog in the vicinity nevertheless.  It took a couple of days (or nights) before we finally captured a video of a hedgehog in the feeder eating.

We are pretty sure it’s Hoggy because she ate the dog food and dried calcium worms but left the specialist hedgehog food.  This is what she had done in her winter quarters.

We shall keep replenishing the feeder to ensure she, and any other hedgehogs, have access to a tasty snack if they need it.

 

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Duck House installed

duck house

In our smallholding here, we have a small loch which attracts ducks, herons and other water birds including geese and even occasionally, a cormorant.  We also have a duck house that we bought years ago.  This year, we got our act together and rooted it out ready to go onto the loch.

duck house ready to goWe loaded it onto the quadbike and set off.  We had plenty of nylon rope (for securing it).  They can be attached to an anchor, but we don’t have a boat so we couldn’t take it out to the middle of the loch.  Our cunning plan was to tie it to two trees, one on each bank.  I also had to relearn a sheet bend, a knot I had failed to learn as a boy scout, a mistake which nearly cost me my advanced scout badge.  It’s funny what we remember.

duck house getting ready for launchAnyway, first things first, we had to get the duck house on the water.  It comes in two pieces, a floating platform and the house itself.  It can be quite tricky to get this level, but we got there.

This plan started well with us securing it to the first tree.  The idea then was to walk around the bank to the opposite shore.  The problem was that there were other trees in the way making this tricky.  Also, the first think to happen was that the duck house got tangle up in some branches.  We couldn’t pull it free without knocking it and thus causing it to tilt.  Nor could we reach it to push it clear.

duck house - getting feet wetSo, it was boots off and into the water I went.  By judicious prodding with a tree guard, I managed to get it free.  By this time Nicole was half way round the loch and had come up against a rather tricky tree of her own.  This one was in the middle of a marshy area which we couldn’t really walk on.

I nipped back to the house and got a plastic milk carton and some more rope.

Back at the loch, I joined the ropes, attached the milk carton (full of water) and lobbed it over the loch.  This enabled Nicole to fetch it and tie it to a tree on the opposite bank.

The duck house was in place and ready for use.  Now all we have to hope is that the ducks use it.  There are a pair of ducks down there though they are quite nervous so we can’t go and look otherwise we’ll disturb them.

duck house