Earlier this summer we had the loan of a bat detector from the Devon Wildlife Trust, which was left in Treragin Wood for three days. More regular readers will realise that Treragin is in Cornwall, but the Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat survey includes areas of East Cornwall close to known breeding sites, and we just
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Tag Archives: Treragin Wood
The disease is now spreading rapidly in the south west. I recently attended a Royal Forestry Society field meeting in south Devon where Bob Harvey has the disease through several acres of trees planted around seven years ago. Last year twelve trees were affected, the year before only one. Looking at the Forestry Commission’s latest
Spring is in the air. The end of March signals the end of the tree planting season and the imminent arrival of the survey season. Our daffodils in Treragin Wood are finishing for the year, but primroses are in full bloom, soon to be followed by bluebells. Meanwhile reptiles, amphibians and bats are beginning to
The year end brings me to ponder a few woodland thoughts, which are very much of a personal mature. While primarily a conservationist I was drawn into woodland management because I thought there were too many woods unmanaged and neglected. The theory of the then Countryside Commission was make a small wood commercially viable and
Nature far from what it once was in this country, with the influence of man present throughout. As well as woodland clearance for agriculture, sheep grazing the uplands are responsible for some of our most iconic landscapes, and many heather moors are the result of management for grouse hunting. What are we as conservationists trying
I’ve been doing relatively little for the last two months, having gone down with a bout of sciatica. Too much activity at Chelfham, particularly with a chain-saw, where I have been trying to pretend that I am twenty years younger than I really am! However, I have been mowing the brambles in the last couple
Over the years I have cut and split an awful lot of firewood, but sometimes that can be a waste. For several years I had a small chain-saw mill, which I used to plank up occasional large trunks of timber, chiefly oak. I say small; the bar on the chainsaw (a 95cc Sachs Dolmar) was
I recently joined a Tamar Valley AONB organised woodland day at the local Pentillie estate. The star of the show was not the woodlands, but a Shire Horse called Jack. Horses were of course the main means of extraction for timber, prior to the arrival of tractors and harvesters. In recent years they have been
Kathryn is working 12 hour days at the minute, so I am in charge of walking the dogs, which means a daily trip around Treragin Wood. This gives me time to look and think and plan ahead. And see a bit more of the wildlife, not having a chain-saw going to frighten everything off! This
I’ve been having some fun and games over the winter, some on the ground and also working my way through various different pieces of red tape. We are planning to improve the tracks in the wood this summer, and this has required the following permissions: • Land drainage consent: for two stream crossings. The Devon
