Finally capture the Nuthatch (Sittidae)

One of my favourite British woodland birds, the Nuthatches, are now in abundance at Rais and regularly visiting the feeders. I believe they are the only British bird to walk face first down a tree trunk, and as their name suggests, they come down to feast on the peanuts I have been hiding in tree stumps and crevices. Behaving like a tit-sized woodpecker they fly from trunk to trunk rather than branch to branch and spend quite some time choosing the right peanut each time they come down meaning it's not too difficult to get a good look at them close up. Something I spent 3 hours doing this morning in the hide. When not eating my offerings, they feed on insects, hazel nuts, acorns, beechmast and other nuts and seeds and apparently don't ever venture far from their nesting spots - so hopefully I can enjoy them for a good while to come.  Light rain around, but really strong winds causing a worrying amount of debris to fall down from the trees around me - so I called it a day at lunchtime and look forward to a time when my hide is made from something more substantial than plastic tarps.

Birch Sap Saturday

Yesterday whilst sorting through a huge pile of magazines I haven't got round to reading yet I came across an article about harvesting birch sap and the amazing medicinal and health benefits of drinking the stuff (obviously not if you turn it into wine or beer first which is pretty common) but if you drink it "raw" so to speak.

Since we have an abundance of Birch in the north east corner of Rais, I decided to give it a go, so I researched a few websites to find out how to do it - sounded pretty simple, so this morning I armed myself with a washed-out Ribena bottle, a sharp knife and a bungee strap and set off for the wood.
Unfortunately it didn't quite go to plan... I tied the bottle to the tree, inserted my whittled "tap" and had sap dripping into the bottle no problem - but then I disappeared for a brew and returned to discover the weight of the filling bottle had pulled it out of the bungee strap, down the bank and into the flowing stream below - annoyingly when I found it, it was 3/4 full and standing upright in the stream with water flowing past a few inches below the top - so I was left pondering the physics of working out if the contents are likely to still be sap or stream water (cue a second brew). I decided, given the circumstances, it probably wasn't a good idea to drink it neat but to take it home and Google whether or not boiling it would destroy the good bits in it that would allegedly make me feel ten years younger - and in doing so, boy did I set myself up for a lesson in patience.
I discovered that 100 litres of birch sap could be evaporated down to make just 1 litre of Birch sap syrup - so my measly 2 litres of possible sap (but potentially stream water) could maybe yield me a teaspoon of said golden elixir. So I got out the saucepan and the sieve and read on.
Birch sap apparently generates a golden syrup not unlike maple syrup, only savory not sweet. Good to put on pancakes, or in sauces etc. and keeps forever! Sounded marvelous - however it must not be allowed to boil rapidly since the sugar inside it is very delicate and would very quickly give it a burnt taste. So I set the pan on a low heat and waited...and waited...and waited.
4 hours later and I was swilling a saucepan staring at urine coloured liquid an inch deep - hardly syrup and with not a particularly promising odour. So I waited some more.
Another hour or so and it was most definitely syrup coloured if a little on the thin side - I decided my tablespoon of "syrup" might gloop up a bit if I poured it into a cold glass... it didn't. But what the heck I had expended far too much effort not to taste it now - I sipped. It blew my head off! I sipped again - nope not a mistake, it blew my head off. Strangely enjoyable though. So after boiling it down for over 5 hours I decided to pour it into a mug, and add boiling water to make a drink, I of course chucked in a shot of Amarula for good luck and downed the lot. As a result, I will be heading back to Rais tomorrow to give it another go - that is of course if I haven't given myself some nasty stomach bug!

spring has sprung

"The mother tree"

Can't believe I am going to be working away all week in Norway and Germany when so much is going on at Rais right now. The bird activity is phenomenal and despite not ever seeing Nuthatches at Rais until just last week, today we watched two regularly visiting the feeders and coming right down to the peanuts on the ground in front of the hide, along with woodpeckers, a squirrel, a fat but magnificent male pheasant and numerous tits. The sounds of woodpeckers drilling and buzzards calling overhead filled every minute of the day, which I spent sorting out the storage boxes, clearing the bank of debris and helping Ant burning yet more Rhodies - will it ever stop!?!?
After months and months of ripping up Rhodies by the roots or hacking them back to ground level, we finally made it through to the northern border this weekend where we found the "Mother Tree" - she's truly enormous! - the biggest Rhododendron I think I have ever seen. She's definitely not going anywhere, but her children (well most of them) will certainly be destroyed.

It's nice to see the pathways have all pretty much dried out now too, makes walking around less traumatic on my clumsy days. The constant pedestrian traffic has compacted them nicely - but there are some places where primroses are desperately still trying to push through only to be trodden over again - so I may have to get the bulb planter out next weekend and transplant some of them for a better chance of survival - I'm thinking down the sides of the new steps -  a cheery view from trap number two.

Kitchen / shelter coming along

another 50 metres of stream cleared...

"Before" - Yes there is a stream under there!

I am in pain. I've lost 3 finger nails and the use of my little finger. I've gained 6 splinters, 2 scratches across my nose and aches in places that I never knew had muscles in - but by God was it worth it.... the stream looks incredible - a bit bare just now, but give it a few weeks and it will be stunning - we found so many ferns trying to grow under the tangled mess.
Tracy and I got started (after the obligatory brew of course) around ten and made light work of the Rhodies. Then we moved into the brambles and deeper water and things got a little tricky - but actually nowhere near as bad as we thought it was going to be when we surveyed the job last summer. The larger pools of water in the deepest areas were pretty stagnant and smelly, but we eventually got it all flowing again and with a bit of luck we will get some heavy rain soon to flush it all through. It hasn't rained up at the wood all week by the looks of it and so the stream is fairly low again which made life a little easier.

After!

By the time lunchtime came (and our third brew stop) we had completed as much of the stream as we wanted to and had made it all the way to the Holly bridge. Time enough to give its' namesake a haircut - which opened up the view no end. Whilst doing this we made a cracking discovery in the form of an old bridge we had no idea was there. Hidden by the banks of the ghyll and rampant Rhodies it was inaccessible from all directions bar one. It showed signs of having had steps down to it from both sides at some point in the past as the metal rods holding what would have been log steps in place were still there but the logs had long since rotted away. Being secluded and overgrown with evergreens it has this amazing rain-forest feel to it and the stream makes only a light tinkling noise rather than the loud gushing you can here further downstream.  A peaceful and magical spot.
We set about clearing a path to it and replacing the missing steps with recently chopped birch logs to give us a slightly safer way in and out with the debris and dead wood. I know the Rhodies will have to all go at some point, but we didn't want to remove too many just yet and risk losing the dark jungle feel.
Flee had turned up around noon and, after a spell of Rhodie clearing with Ant, he set to work on the cross bars for the kitchen roof. How on earth he managed to get them bolted up there on the top on his own I will never know, but they are fixed into position and look perfect. Rounded, rustic and still with the bark on they blend in perfectly. Just the roof to go on and we will have a waterproof shelter to dump our bags and drink tea of course.
Didn't take my camera with me today, so apologies for the mobile phone images here - but I am hoping to get some better ones with the Nikon tomorrow - not such hard work tomorrow - just an enormous mound of Rhodies to burn now!

Walls, walkways and much needed steps

Wow - what a day. The weather held out and we had a steady stream of visitors-come-volunteers throughout. We arrived just after 9am and the sun was shining - no adders basking by the stream as hoped, but apparently now is the time they start emerging from their winter sleep.
My brother and his family turned up mid morning and set about helping to make stakes for a new set of steps I was putting in to get us safely down yet another slippery bank into camp. Conveniently he had brought along a new axe he wanted to try out, which made the job much easier. The kids went a-wandering and my nephew was getting in some practice for his upcoming survival weekend by making a wall as the first step to his night in the woods - Bear Grylls in the making - I can't wait to see what his final shelter turns out like.
A few brews later and my trusty Rais companion, Tracy, turned up keen to get stuck in, so we finished the steps down the bank and added a final step down to the new loo. The amount of foot-traffic down the path had churned it up so much in the making of the toilet, that it was truly treacherous, but we discovered that almost completely rotten down logs make excellent mulch for steps and so we coated a few key steps and moved back to the fire to get the kettle on. The kettle had been on a good while when my sister and her family turned up - still not boiling though - damn it. It was their first visit to Rais and after a brief tour of the camp area and toad stream we yet again settled in by the fire for coffee and biscuits - sadly my fire-making skills are a long way from being on form and the kettle just refused to boil - storm kettle to the rescue once again. One day I will master this fire-making lark and get it down from my current record of 25 minutes!  By the time we had actually made all 7 coffees, it was getting on for 5pm (and wine o'clock) so we packed up and shipped out. We had parked Raymond up on the old rabbit warren which we cleared a few weeks ago and was surprised to see a large freshly dug burrow on it... the hole is horizontally oval shaped and fairly large, with a load of earth, fur and dried grasses in a pile outside the entrance - could it be a badger? the earth is definitely nice and soft there, but I would be surprised if a loan male had chosen such an exposed spot to dig. Will have to set the camera trap in the area and see what is making its home there. If it is a badger we will have to rethink our parking area completely!

Say hello to "Trap Number 2" !!!

Back from the Masai Mara and today was the first day I visited the wood to discover that my amazing friends had been busy whilst I was away and built and installed the woodland loo. Check out the view from trap number 2....

I christened it of course and then promptly went to wash my hands in the stream behind, except I managed to slide on my arse the entire length of the bank into the stream at the bottom! that'll teach me for being too lazy to wander over to the easy access section. With sodden and incredibly muddy trousers I clambered back up the bank and, being alone in the wood, decided to remove the trousers and light a fire to dry them. It was only after an hour of working away on the toilet steps in my pants and wellies that I remembered I had packed my waterproof trousers with me! idiot.

On a brighter note, the primroses are starting to flower in the sunnier glades and the stream is in full flow and gorgeous with it, I cant wait to see what else will come up in the approaching spring time. Tracey turned up after lunch and we wiled away a good few hours by the fire drinking tea and eating biscuits, catching up, by which time my trousers were almost dry and the light was fading. Time to head home - I miss the African wildlife, but it's good to be home.