Jan 8, 2025
There is something truly exciting to see an unfamiliar bird coming to feed. Just behind the cabin two Goldfinches stayed for some time gobbling the remaining fruit on the bush. They were not alone. Throughout the winter both the abundance and variety of birds has been astonishing. On my Merlin app I can capture 5-6 bird songs at any one time. The happy cacophony is beyond thrilling. The challenge is to name the newcomers!
Birds & Hedges – Jan25.pdfIs my rewilding delivering results? Can I help reverse the decline in woodland bird numbers? Rewilding for me means assisting nature to restore itself. Increased variety of bushes to feed on, plus a well-stocked bird table and a year-long attack on their main predator, the squirrels, is encouraging more birds to come.
It has been a rich season of hedge planting – focusing on several areas in the woodland where I can thicken up the understorey. So far I have planted 140 wildlife-friendly bushes like hawthorn and blackthorn, dog rose and others. Having been encouraged by offers of help with the planting, the next 100 trees are on order. Slowly the woods are being transformed.
A wander round the wood usually repays me with sight of the 3 or 4 roe deer and the mutjak who live here, the scrapings of the badger and an occasional view of the fox. Some argue that true rewilding requires some boars or ancient breeds of cattle but that would not work in my woodland. I am settling for enabling nature to restore itself and rewilding myself – getting pleasure from discovering the many changes that nature offers.
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