It's February already, and I've spent most of the week wondering where the last 5 months have gone since we arrived here at Occombe! We have only 2 weeks remaining on our contracts here and the future is still not really any clearer.
The rain has continued to fall most days, washing away the paths around the farm yet again. At least the ducks seem to be enjoying themselves! Needless to say that the drainage ditch project from the Anderson shelter is still not finished, and with preparations for the farm's next children's event in full swing it seems to be sliding even further down the priority list!
Vicky and I went to Berry Head (a local nature reserve run by the Trust) for our biggest project of the week. Our diploma requires us to complete a practical habitat improvement task which we then have to report on, and so we chose to go and lend the Berry Head team a hand in clearing some of their heathland which has become overgrown.
Lowland heathland of this nature is now a scarce habitat in the UK, although what we do have makes up 20% of the entire world's lowland heathland area. By using brushcutters and a variety of other tools, we systematically removed all of the scrub that had grown across the area to allow the heather (which is currently lying dormant under the soil) the light and space that it will require to regrow.
All of the removed scrub was burnt in a controlled fire, to avoid it rotting down and adding unwanted nutrients to the area.
This morning saw the first real patch of sun that we had seen all week, and being our day off we decided to take a slow walk through the meadows and the forest around the farm to see what bird life we could find.
At the bottom of the orchard we were privileged to see a male Cirl Bunting (a very rare bird in the UK whose distribution is limited to the south coastal region of Devon). 2 Goldcrests (the UK's smallest bird), a Heron, a Green Woodpecker and a male Pheasant were all on the mornings sightings list along with many of the common birds that are seen in their hundreds around here.
This weeks amusing news story comes from America, and goes to show how far a man's love for his motorcycle can take him...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25987743
See you all next time :)
The rain has continued to fall most days, washing away the paths around the farm yet again. At least the ducks seem to be enjoying themselves! Needless to say that the drainage ditch project from the Anderson shelter is still not finished, and with preparations for the farm's next children's event in full swing it seems to be sliding even further down the priority list!
Vicky and I went to Berry Head (a local nature reserve run by the Trust) for our biggest project of the week. Our diploma requires us to complete a practical habitat improvement task which we then have to report on, and so we chose to go and lend the Berry Head team a hand in clearing some of their heathland which has become overgrown.
Before: Very overgrown and inaccessible
After: Back to bare earth so that the heather can regrow
All of the removed scrub was burnt in a controlled fire, to avoid it rotting down and adding unwanted nutrients to the area.
This morning saw the first real patch of sun that we had seen all week, and being our day off we decided to take a slow walk through the meadows and the forest around the farm to see what bird life we could find.
This Pheasant was trying his luck for any food dropping from the feeders above
At the bottom of the orchard we were privileged to see a male Cirl Bunting (a very rare bird in the UK whose distribution is limited to the south coastal region of Devon). 2 Goldcrests (the UK's smallest bird), a Heron, a Green Woodpecker and a male Pheasant were all on the mornings sightings list along with many of the common birds that are seen in their hundreds around here.
This Green Woodpecker's loud call gave his hiding place away!
This weeks amusing news story comes from America, and goes to show how far a man's love for his motorcycle can take him...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25987743
See you all next time :)
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