Selling our forests.

If you are concerned about the news that the government are planning to sell our national forests to private companies, go to 38degrees and join the 100,000 plus people who have signed their "Save our Forests" petition.

Jonathon Porritt makes his views clear on his blog--as usual!

The children at Elmsett School have their own area in Buckle's Wood. They used logs as seats , to make an outdoor classroom near their trees. They also helped to plan our woodland and were asked to write down their wishes for our woodland's future. Many hoped that it would be a peaceful place, full of wildlife and give pleasure to many future generations.

We've made a good start.

A.G.M.

Our A.G.M will be held at Elmsett Methodist Church on Thursday 2nd December, starting at 7.45.

Many people enjoy walking round the wood and have kept the grass along the centre of the rides under control.

James has cut them back to their original width, to help Barn Owls with their winter hunting and to ensure that our walkers aren't faced with a thin muddy track when the weather gets bad.

We are planning another hedge laying session, when the leaves have dropped.

Bye-bye Butterfly?

This week the Butterfly Conservation Trust is urging everyone to spend 15 minutes looking for and recording the butterflies that inhabit their garden or local area. There are more details and forms to fill in and return on their website, but it is best to choose a sunny day.

Loss of habitat and climate change are two possible reasons for their decline. There are too many gardens covered with decking and used for offroad parking . Butterflies need flowers that that attract insects. Many of the wildflowers that we have planted have survived and are attracting butterflies, bees, hover flies and other pollinating insects.

But why a photo of a Cinnabar Moth caterpillar? Well, environmental scientists are concerned about their welfare as well. This one was tucking into some ragwort in Buckle's Wood and although this plant is poisonous to livestock, and the caterpillars that feed on it, distasteful to predators, it would be sad if both disappeared from our landscape.

News and Next Working Party

James has cut the rides, with a few extra diversions, a pleasing number of wild flowers are thriving and butterflies, insects and other small creatures were apparent when I wandered round yesterday with my camera.
I shall have to get help with identifying some of the things that I photographed, like this construction in the grass
There's a website that will do just that for people like me, who have a great interest in the environment, but not the knowledge to go with it! So why not bring your camera to our next working party.
Saturday 17th July. We'll be starting at 10 o'clock

Marvellous Moths

Everyone had a good time on Saturday, with thanks to Mark who writes:-

Thank you having me along this morning to show what came to the moth traps last night. A wonderful gathering for a Saturday morning, which goes to show how much regard everyone has for their woodland wildlife. The bacon sandwich was a real bonus.

The following is a list of species encountered:
Pale Tussock~ Spectacle ~ Buff Tip~Vine's Rustic~ Buff Ermine~ White Ermine, Oak Hook-tip Brown Rustic~ Nutmeg~Common Swift~ Setaceous Hebrew Character
Mottled Rustic~ Pale Mottled Willow~ Heart and Dart~ Light Emerald
Small Waved Umber~ Small Magpie~ Shoulder-striped Wainscot
Common Wainscot Not forgetting the birds: Last night there was a Barn Owl hunting the field to the east and a Little Owl on the telegraph wires.
Today, we heard and/or saw:

Blue Tit~ Great Tit~ Yellowhammer~ Chaffinch~ Dunnock~ Whitethroat,
Lesser Whitethroat~ Song Thrush~ Wood Pigeon~ Jackdaw.All I need now are some photos please!

Discovering Moths

Our next event, on Saturday 12th June, will be a moth hunt, led by Mark Nowers, the RSPB warden at Wolves Wood. It will be an early start, as we shall look at the moth trap with Mark at 8 o'clock.

Not all moths are boringly dull and just fly at night. Pyraustra purpuralis, (above) which is small enough to fit on a 5p coin, was flying about the borders in bright sunlight.

Here are some more interested facts to whet your appetite, with grateful thanks to an article in this Saturday's environmental section of the East Anglian Daily Times!

More than 2,500 species of moths have been recorded in Britain and the Channel Isles.

Some moths travel here from Europe and North Africa.

They pollinate plants and are eaten by bats and birds.

And, like other forms of wildlife, their numbers are declining.

We shall have a short break for a bacon butty breakfast and then Mark will help us to identify bird songs, as we stroll round the wood.

If it's wet, the event will be cancelled

School Fete

The School's annual village fete is next weekend (22nd. May) and the EGGS team will be there with our Buckle's Wood, long lasting and sustainably made bags. These are much better for our planet than plastic bags. Have you read about the huge area in the Pacific Ocean that is clogged up with tiny pieces of plastic, carried there by the world's ocean currents.
We shall fill a Buckle's Wood bag with eco-goodies, to offer as our raffle prize and bargain second hand books for you to purchase and enjoy at your leisure.

Spring

Went up to the wood with my camera one sunny afternoon recently and had a pleasant, peaceful time, just wandering around, listening to the birds (Jackdaws, Rooks, a Green Woodpecker and other singing songsters in the hedgerow) and taking the odd photo.
The flowers on the Blackthorn were just coming out and looked lovely.
A Peacock butterfly was fluttering about between the new trees and the hedge, as were a number of Bumble bees.
Most of the trees had green leaves showing and I came away thinking all's well-- but we do need some rain!!!

Another sunny day!

We made some more wood piles in the last area that we planted, using some of the trimmings from the last hedge laying session. The rest of the debris was burnt and enjoyed by all the "helpers!"

Trees and guards were checked, a few dead trees were replaced, and some spiral guards were swapped for rigid ones.

The heap of mulch was distributed around the base of trees that didn't get much last year and we scouted round for litter (not much) and broken guards, canes and stakes (only a few).

Some wild flower plants have started to grow. Bumble bees and a few butterflies were about and of course-most of the trees are showing signs of coming into leaf.

A big thank you to Jackie (for organising the refreshments), all the soup and cake providers and Maria for the eggsellent, extra surprises for all the children who helped.

Saturday 10th April. Next working party.

We aim to start work at 10 o'clock.

Tree stakes and guards need to be checked and the heap of mulch by Blanche's bench should be distributed round trees.

Please bring wheelbarrows, spades, lump hammers, and loppers/secateurs. We also need to move some of the the debris from the hedge laying session into the wood, to make wood piles.

As I walked round the wood last week, Jackdaws flapped off noisily from the Barn Owl box. No sign of the Kestrels, although the Barn Owl has been seen hunting over the wood at dusk recently.

New map

This orienteering map was drawn up by Simon Peck from the Suffolk Orienteering Club, for Elmsett school.

Now, where to put that pond?

Exchanging Links

Last week I received an email from Raz Godelnik who thought that our blog was really interesting. Raz is the CEO of Eco-Libris, a green company in America.
The group promotes tree planting, with an extra dimension, in that they ask people to plant a tree for every book or books that they read. They are also supporting green books. You’ll have to look at their website to find out what they are!

The year of the pond?

We've been talking about a pond for a long time and all the benefits that it would have for wildlife.
It could be an interesting experience for everyone!