Watery delights

These are just some of the photos that I've taken near our new pond.

With thanks to Ispot, this is a Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly (Libellula depressa). It was hovering over this twig and dipping it's abdomen down onto it. Laying eggs!

Another Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly. There were quite a few of these darting  across the water.

A saw one lone swallow and these busy House Martins. Difficult to get them in focus from a distance.They seen to be gathering mud. for  their nest building.

This is the first damselfly that I've seen in the wood. They need water to complete their life cycle.

                                      This male blackbird was enjoying a quick dip.

Just a few scarecrows from the First World War.

 With thanks to Elmsett School's textile bank for lending me the clothes, but not the hat!

 The school's scarecrow is reading a copy of Michael Murpogo's Private Peaceful. No problems with finding suitable clothing for this.

 The Elmsettf and Aldham  Newsletter team sent this village postie.

 These three children waiting to be evacuated to a safer home were the BEST IN SHOW. Well done the Seeley family!

Edith, the nurse was patiently waiting for the next patient, but was so tired that she fell asleep by the end of the afternoon and had to be helped to a spot where she could lean against  tree! (with help from the Parkinson family)
For a number of people, this was the first time that they had looked round the wood since they helped with planting the trees and we received  lots compliments from villagers and newcomers.Some more Buckle's Wood bags were sold-  an added bonus.

Pond-life.

Had a wander in the wood to see if the pond was still brimful following the rain last week --and it was!

Managed to snap this little blue butterfly which I shall ask Ispot to identify. (a small blue perhaps)

Then, a lovely surprise. On the way home,  I paused again at the pond I snapped this little creature which came up for air and and then disappeared into the murky water. A Water Boatman, perhaps.

Return of the scarecrows.

Saturday 14 June

A date to remember

Lady Charity has great pleasure in inviting all her friends and relations to a day out in Buckle's Wood. We shall be remembering our ancestors who  lived during the First World War. Dress optional, but appropriate for the occasion!

Some body give Bertie a prod, otherwise he'll miss the prize giving.

More details to follow.

Mass plug planting

The school children spent a busy, last afternoon of term, planting the wildflower plugs that we bought from Shrublands Park Nursery. Catherine Stitt from the Nursery described the qualities of each plant,and added details of how they were used as remedies in bygone days. Help from Catherine,Jackie and Margaret, Anna and Mac was much appreciated by all!
A temporary wire netting fence surrounds the plants to keep them safe from the rabbits and hopefully they will merge in with the other all the other wildflowers over the summer.

I thought the Barn Owl box would not be occupied this year, so it was good top see a pair of Jackdaws popping in and out, whilst keeping an eye on me and flying off when I got too close!

Ready to plant the plugs

Caroline, from Shrublands Nursery will bring the wildflower plugs up to the wood this Friday afternoon.
An exciting end of term activity for the children at Elmsett School. Luckily Caroline has offered to talk about the special qualities of these plants and answer any tricky questions!
All the flowers ,Bettony, Cowslips, Meadow Buttercup ,Ragged Robin and yarrow, are suitable for sunny spots,
We shall plant the Foxgloves  elsewhere.

Preparations for some more wildflowers.

A cloudy morning, but no rain to discourage a small group of woodlanders who met in the middle of the wood  where the school children will each  plant a wildflower plug later on  of this term.We were going to  kill off areas of  grass by turning over the turf, but decided to lift  the turf and use  it to edge the pond.

A great effort by Mac, Liam and Geoff, the turf lifters and shifters.

Alexander, who forked over the earth in the squares.

John, Margaret and the girls, who did an excellent job sorting out stakes and tree guards.

 

We bought our wildflower plugs  from Shrublands, our local nursery and intended  to plant them last term, but other events and the weather  got in the way. We also want to put plants in and around the pond. Hilary has made a start by bringing along some marsh marigolds, which she planted in a boggy bit. Good job she came in her wellies!

 

 

 

We shall be there

We shall be selling our eco-friendly carrier bags, made from natural fibre, which will decompose on your compost heap!

Brilliant!

We have a pond.

Our thanks to James Buckle and his merry men who worked in wild weather to create lour new wildlife pond and Juliet Hawkins for her advice and plan.

A pause for the weather.

We woke up to a sharp frost last week and the sound of machinery drifting over from the direction of the wood. As the sun started to break through the mist, I went over to see if had started on the pond.
The noise was coming from elsewhere, so I continued to the wood, with camera, to take some atmospherical photos!

The log pile was created from the brushwood left over from coppicing the ash trees.

 

 

 

It really was quite cold, so headed back home!

New view from the footpath.

James Buckle's men have coppiced the ash trees and hope to dig our pond in the coming week. Meanwhile, there will be a working party this Saturday to clear the brushwood  away from the hedge and pile it between the trees to make small animal habitats for the wildlife.

New shoots will grow from stumps of the coppiced trees and we shall fill in the gaps with new hedgerow plants if necessary. This is an ancient way of revitalizing and managing hedges and woodland.

 



All the brushwood has been removed from the pond area and put into piles within the trees. The outline of the pond has been drawn ready for the digger next week.

Preparing for our pond

Just before Christmas we stood in the middle of where our new pond will be and discussed the fate of these coppiced ash trees, with Neil and Nick, James Buckle's employees.

We needed to decide how much of the hedge needed to be coppiced again in order to let light into the pond and reduce the amount of leaves that will fall into it in the Autumn. So all of the trees between the footpath (on the left of the photo) will be cut down and allowed to re-grow to hedge height and more hedging will be planted in the gaps.



After the storm

On a calm day, following the storm, I wandered round the wood and was pleasantly surprised to find very little damage. A few branch had broken off some of  the big trees in the hedgerow  but otherwise, everything was fine.
Seeds,berries and autumnal leaves decorated  the woodland

The mature, coppiced ash trees all look well and free from die back and have a huge crop of seeds dangling from their branches.

I couldn't find many  fungi and nearly missed this tiny one that was hidden in the grass along one of the rides.

Woodland Fun Event in October!

We had to postpone our Fun in the Sun day ealier in the year as there was too much going on in the village!
So we have set aside Saturday afternoon on October 5th for a bit of frivolity
The poster explains all.

Hope to see you there!

Wild Flowers.

The middle area of the wood is nearly ready for the pupils at Elmsett School to plant some wildflower plugs dring the second week of term. There's just a bit more strimming and clearing to do, then the areas for the plants need to be turned over to deter the grass from growing.

The wood is teeming with butterflies and bumble bees, attracted by the ragwort and other wildflowers. The mature coppiced Ash trees in the hedgerow seem free of dieback and are producing copious bundles of seeds.

The BIg Butterfly Count.

This sunny, warm weather, with gentle breezes is ideal for butterflies and there are many in Buckle's Wood.You might like to spend 15 minutes to take part in this year's Big Butterfly Count. It's very easy and helps the Butterfly and Moth conservation Trust to keep track of how these precious creatures are coping with loss of habitat, pesticides and unusual weather conditions.
Just print the identification sheet that is lon theri website, make a note of how many of each type of butterfly that you see and send them the info on line.

Great News

Our planning application for a pond has been approved by Babergh District Council. We hope to do the work during the winter, with help from James Buckle and his digger driver.

Meanwhile the wood is looking good, with many wildflowers growing along the rides, bees and other pollinating insects zipping about and an increasing number of butterflies flitting from flower to flower.

The Pyramidal Orchid has survived the winter and it was great to see a large patch of Yellow Rattle growing in the grass between the trees--I didn't spot them last year!

 

The clumps of Tufted Vetch were attracting the bees and butterflies.

Late spring

Over the last couple of weeks the wood has sprung into life. Trees, grasses and wildflowers all energetically aimimg for the sky! Lots of small insects are moving about in the grass with one or two brown butterflies and a blue one which flittered out of site before I could take a photo. Not many bees--as yet.

This spider's web  caught my attention as it sparkled in the sunshine. I'll put the photo on ispot to get an identification from the web--but the spider was rather shy!

I almost walked past this tiny vetch. It was only when I knelt down  to take this photo that I realised it was spread  over quite a large area along the edge of one of the rides.

Planning a pond

Well-- it's taken ages to sort out the Buckle's Wood planning application for  retrospective change of land use and  creation  of our wildlife pond, partly due to my aversion to filling in forms.
The forms were delivered today and I've just received an email from the planning department, thanking  me for the application. I shall be contacted if the paperwork lacks the right information and if everything is OK we shall know in 6 to 8 weeks if the application is successful.
Meanwhile, we need to relocate some of the trees that we planted in the south west corner to make room for our pond and put up some notices to inform our many woodland walkers of our plans!

Creating a pond

In 1993, when the playground was altered to  accommodate Elmsett School's Community Recycling Centre, the pond area was landscaped were made made safe for the pupils to use as an environmental resource. Wild flowers and additional trees were planted. The pond was cleared out and a  dipping platform was built.   When the new play area on the meadow was built last year, the surplus soil was used to fill in the pond.

The original design for Buckle's Woodincluded a pond. The plan was drawn by Greville from The Green Light Trust, using ideas from  the pupils and members of the community.  As all the trees have been planted, and the village has lost the School's pond, the management group have decided that this year will be a good time for a Pond in Buckle's Wood. 

With guidance from Juliet Hawkins, our pond will be safe, environmentally friendly feature that will attract a greater variety of wildlife into our woodland.



This is where the pond will be!