New owl boxes

We have added two (twit two) Barn owl boxes to the wide range of nesting sites we have here, after spotting a hunting owl in the orchid field.

Design of the box was from the RSPB website, and the boxes were made by a local carpenter!

These birds are limited by lack of nesting sites, so we hope for early occupation in Spring, as the boxes have been in place all Winter. 

Sorry for the lack of posts, been busy dealing with Cancer

2014 has been largely consumed by treatment for a malignant brain tumor which was found in January 2014.

Surgery, then radio therapy, then chemo therapy kept the monster at bay until now when it has started re growing.

Just waiting now for the Oncologist to suggest future options!

Then here we go again with the same treatment cycle maybe

So......

Next blog 2016 hopefully?

I hope so.

MASSIVE THANKS AND LOVE TO A VERY SUPPORTIVE SET OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Should the new pond be a wildlife refuge? A decorative part of the garden?

Olly and Mathilda have other ideas!

Well, we made a few new bird boxes last winter, including an Owl box. This ended up a heavy, awkward thing, almost a two-man lift and hard to handle. The basic design was one I found here http://www.lincstrust.org.uk/factsheets
I painted the box with water-based preservative, but only outside.

I had a tree selected, a majestic Oak tree on the edge of a field. It overlooks the orchard, and is in the boundary hedge to the west of our land. It has an open area of main trunk about 10 metres up. The instructions about siting the box were adamant that it had to face East, and this open part did just that.

Fortunately, Pete visited us in early spring, and amongst many other tasks, he helped get the box into position. We wanted it as high as possible, so ended up balancing a ladder, fully extended, on the back of the quad! It was quite simple to fix - we just used a couple of heavy duty 6 inch wood-screws - the sort with a hex head that get driven in with the battery drill. The trunk sloped naturally, so the box ended up at about 45 degrees, and the entrance hole at the end was roughly vertical.

The last thing Pete did before we hoisted the box up, was to fill it with dry bark bits, and dry leaves from the floor of the log store. He filled it right up, there was even some grass waving about in the entrance. He muttered that "You have to give them something to do!" when I asked him why he was filling the box!

We dismantled all the ladders, and basically forgot the nest box was there. The dark green paint made it blend in well with the dark trunk, although it is quite obvious in the morning sun.

It was sometime in May on a wet and gloomy afternoon, when we got back from some shopping. As I unloaded the car, I glanced over at the nest box, about 60 or so metres away, and noticed something light coloured, filling the box entrance. On looking closer, I thought I had imagined it, as there was nothing there. The wisps of grass had gone, though.

Alerted, we kept looking at the box, and were rewarded by the occasional sight of "Tim the Tawny"! Gradually, he has become accustomed to our comings and goings, and now he sits in the box entrance most days, for hours on end. He sometimes sleeps with his head under his wing, but usually is apparently watching, although he does seem to have his eyes screwed up.

He (or she!) is quite vocal at night, and now we often hear the characteristic "Hoo Hoo" noises. It seems there are several other Tawnies in the area and there are often quite lengthy exchanges. Elliot can mimic these noises convincingly, and we have listened to some hilarious conversations between him and several owls.

An unplanned result of Tim's occupation of the box is a supply of pellets in the grass below. This provided some hours of fun, and some learning. Here's a happy grandchild busy with the tweezers!



Summertime

Terraces

Paul has started making terraces above the three we have already. (Where the Polytunnel is). We're doing them in decreasing length, so they make a sort of crescent shape leading up to the Smug Bench. Anyone can have one of these - it's just a normal bench but to make it smug, you just plant a Wild Service tree or two nearby. These are rare native trees, and "anyone who has one in his garden can feel smug about it!" say's our Guide to British Trees! You can’t see it in this picture, it’s just to the right.



The Extension and the Dam

Next, the big project is building the extension. We now have Planning Permission and some detailed plans have been developed by Mark Baggott (local Surveyor).

Electrical design to be done, then all can go to a QS for pricing. After that comes Building Permission and then we find a builder. Will it happen this year? I think so!!

The extension will snuggle into the bank behind the house, which therefore needed digging out. Paul's contract on the A46 has ended, so we now have Employee No.2 (Adam is No. 1) and a 3-tonne digger and a dumper here (hired).

Paul's done about 10 days so far and the results are quite impressive.

There's now a roadway through the Orchard, and a much wider gap behind the house. Not only will this allow us to dig out further, it will also be access for the builders later. There's still quite a lot to excavate, although I imagine it will only be a matter of days before that bit is done.

Those of you who are not asleep by now might be asking what we are doing with all the soil! Well, we have made a pathway across the soggy bit at the bottom of the left-hand field, that's what we fondly call the Orchid Field, although we haven't seen any orchids yet this year. Basically, if you are in the Orchard, it's below you bordered by the road. Anyway, this "pathway" rather cunningly encloses the wet area, which of course can't get its water out any more, and so is filling up!

Note the neatly weeded bed – Thanks Ju, it’s looking good!

You could call the pathway a dam, I suppose! But, spoilsports that we are, we've put a huge pipe through the dam low down, so actually there's only an inch or so more water in it than usual.



We'll let the pathway get overgrown and natural looking, then gradually raise the height of the inlet. Then, maybe, in years to come, we might do a bit of digging out. Eventually, we'll have a pond of sorts! And hopefully, the gradual raising of the level will encourage the beautiful marsh marigolds to migrate with the rising waterline.