Our little 'pit' pond dug as an experiment last winter (2019/20) proved a success last summer and attracted a variety of the usual aquatic insects from pond skaters to damselflies and frogs as well as birds and bees. We applied to be part of the Shropshire Wildlife Trust Pond Creation scheme and were really pleased to be told our little pond was suitable for enlarging and enhancement as part of this project.
So, a few weeks ago, a contractor with a digger came on site and made a mini version of the Shropshire Hills in clay and top soil 'spoil' whilst carving out a much bigger pond with lots of gently sloping edges. Most of the spoil (of which we think there was 20-30 tons in all) was removed to another part of the field, away from the hay meadow, and will be remodelled into a south-facing insect bank and sown with wildflower seeds later in the year.
As part of this project we created a hibernaculum - an overwintering shelter for all manner of animals, especially amphibians and insects. We built it slightly above the pond where there is no danger of it flooding or being affected by ground water. Inside are layers of twigs, logs, small and bigger stones, clay pipes, old terracotta pots and leaf litter, topped with some old broken tin sheets from the barn. Finally a cap of soil was put on top creating a snug 5-star residence next to the pond.
.. and here comes the spawn ...
The first frogspawn was laid in the new wetland on 26th February. You can see from the photo below how the new pools have gained vegetation over the autumn and winter months. It is amazing to see how nature regains a footing given half a chance (and in this case, some nice wet conditions). The wetland has coped with the high rainfall events this winter very well. We are considering installing one or more leaky dams and/or seepage barriers along the main channel to help hold back the flow a little more at times of peak rainfall.
Deadwood hedge extension
My deadwood hedge of last year worked well, so I've been extending it further in both directions. The posts are nice Chestnut ones from a local coppice - so rather grand really for my make-do-and-mend hedge, but they should last awhile especially in the wetter ground. The posts need to be tidied up a bit in the height department and the hedge itself needs more material, but this is the hedge extension from last weekend.
As well as providing a mini windbreak and visual screen, they are also good habitats in their own right (a bit like a vertical woodpile or log stack). Apparently if you let long grass grow up to the base, it can provide very useful extra habitat and cover for insects. The brashing we used is from the coppicing and hedge laying done in the small field last year.
These hedges are really satisfying to make, especially on a sunny late winter day, but good thick gloves are a must.
Kestrels, Barn Owls and Stoats
A Kestrel has been seen hunting quite regularly over the rougher grassland parts of the field this winter, no doubt after our burgeoning population of field voles. Watching it hovering motionless above the snowy field, facing into a fierce and bone-numbingly cold wind was quite a sight one January afternoon. I am told that Kestrels like to hunt by day over land that Barn Owls hunt by night - ie tussocky grassland. We have been offered a site visit by a local Barn Owl group to see if our land may be suitable for a nest box. The last time I saw a Barn Owl near here was in the opposite field one very hard winter. The bird simply angled out of the hedge right in front of me and flew long and low ahead, before seamlessly and silently slotting back into the hedge and vanishing. I remember holding my breath!
Barn Owls are my favourite bird and I draw them quite a lot. This drawing started out as a graphite and coloured pencil sketch done from a Barn Owl specimen brought up from the vaults at Ludlow Museum. I call it "Ghost".
I spotted a stoat recently on the sunny low back wall of the ruined barn/field shelter. They hunt and eat rabbits and field voles, and apparently will often take over the nests of former prey - but they avoid open areas due to the danger of being taken themselves by foxes or birds of prey. Hopefully when the barn is repaired, there will be plenty more nooks and crannies for animals to hide and shelter.
We have now bought a trail camera (thanks to the generosity of my sister, Cathy) and it will be fascinating to see what action we might catch on there.
Printing the Field
One of the many joys of the field of course is the succession of meadow grasses and flowers that grow during the spring and summer time. Something we can now really look forward to.
I have been collecting a few of the flowers, leaves and grasses each year and pressing them in one of several home made presses. After around 3 weeks, they are flat enough to use in a printmaking process called botanical, or nature monoprinting.
In my studio I have an old etching press and all that is needed is a matrix (in my case a thin, re-usable acrylic plate), some printmaking inks (I use Hawthorn and Cranfield inks) and printmaking paper (I use Arches Stonehenge paper which has a lovely natural look and feel). There are all sorts of ways of making a monoprint and they can be built up in several layers for complexity. I find the results are hardly ever predictable (partly to do with this type of printmaking; partly because I'm not very orderly about the process).
The best of the prints are mounted and/or framed and sold in local galleries or at art exhibitions - and also online. Some prints are made into cards or folded into hand made book covers. Unsuccessful prints, of which there is now a tottering pile, will provide a great resource for future collages!
Here are just some of the prints made from plants collected in the field; a record of the beautiful variety and colour of summer time in our little patch of the Redlake Valley. There are more on my website here.
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