Pablo’s Woodlife: Wildlife, Tracking and Bushcraft

As promised, some moving pictures from the weekend’s meet at Mark’s wood.

The weekend’s weather couldn’t have been more perfect. I arrived at about 1.30pm at Mark’s wood in Reading. The mile walk in was really pleasant and I stopped off to admire the still lake, which was on the way. I was pleased to reach the cool of the woods after a sweaty hike across the field leading from the lake.

Most of us consider that a billy is essential for cooking in the outdoors. The billy of choice is invariably a Zebra billy of some description, although I prefer the Tracpac billy.

Over the last year, I’ve also used a frying pan as I do like my bacon, eggs and beans in the morning. A frying pan is nearly as versatile as a billy. Although of course you can’t hang it over a fire, it’s great for heating up preprepared food and when shallow cooking. A shallow pan tends to heat up food quicker and you can even boil up water at a push. Of course for frying with a little oil it’s unbeatable.

I’ve been using the small frying pan out of a Trangia cookset. It helps to have a non-stick version; in fact I’d say it’s essential. The only disadvantage is that the Trangia version is a little small even for one person.

I’ve seen a few people using a frying pan with a folding handle and after a few enquiries discovered that it’s called a Primus Litech Frying Pan. After parting with £15 to Blacktoe (cheapest online by an average of £4-5 in UK and an excellent service) I received it the other day and took it out on a day’s excursion last weekend.

The first thing that impressed me was the weight. It weighs just 268 grms. The non-stick seems robust enough and I’ve heard that it doesn’t wear off even after heavy use over a number of years. The size is 165mm (base) x 220mm (top) which is certainly a little more generous than the Trangia frying pan. It takes up little room in the rucksack if you pack it vertically at the back of the pack. The depth is 50mm. Perhaps this is a little overkill and half that depth would have done me to be honest, but I can guess it would be a bonus for the more liquid based meals. But at least I can get my beans in there without them spilling over the pan.

The best design feature is the fact that the handle folds under the base of the frying pan as opposed to over the top. This allows you to pack items in the dead space of the frying pan before packing it away in the rucksack. I’ve put a small bag containing spoon, alcohol gel, pepper, olive oil, sauce and a pot gripper in this dead space. The provided netting bag, which could double as a foraging bag, will keep everything together.

To deploy the handle, you unfold it, squeeze it together and fix it into the locating holes. For additional safety, you can lock the handle in position - another nice feature.

Of course, this is a bit of a luxury item if you use it in conjunction with other cooking kit; but it is good addition in my opinion. If you’re still in doubt, think of this - if you’re using a crusader cup for boiling up water, you might not even need to take your billy with you. This might save a bit of weight and will certainly save some space.

Pablo.

Friday saw me battling with the afternoon M25 traffic to get to the “Tribe” meet in East Sussex. It was worth the long wait at the QE2 bridge as the Surrey hills opened up in front of me and shortly after, the smell of the Sussex woods started to permeate the interior of the Land Rover Discovery.

A couple of us met up at the local pub and shared a beer and a ham sandwich. The chill out had well and truly commenced.

I was quite pleased with how light I’d managed to get the pack on this occasion. I still took the Sabre 75 but it was only just three quarters full. It was only the 2 litres of water, probaby more than that amount in beer and a bottle of brandy that weighed me down. Even so it was a pleasant walk in.

I pitched up with one side to the rhodedendrons and as the forecast looked good I opened up the front of the tarp to the elements.

It wasn’t too long before more people had arrived and the social got underway. The great thing about these meets is that you can share ideas and experiences. Unfortunately, by the morning, helped by the fog of ’shrafting juice you’ve forgotten most of what you talked about!

After breakfast I decided to take myself off and do some tracking. I ended up at the pond and watched the dragonflies. Broad bodied chasers were about, and 2 smaller damselflies. The weather was so pleasant, I just laid back and enjoyed the sun feeling just a bit guilty that I should be doing something with a more craft aspect to it.

I eventually got my idle self up and followed a thin trail through the thick rhodedendrons. On the damp trail I noticed the usual muntjac and fallow tracks, but I also saw a single fox track. I stood out like a sore thumb and could only have been pretty recent. I followed the winding trail trying not to make too much noise when I caught sight of a white tail tip which disappered around a bend. I tried to speed up and on the next straight I saw a fox (a vixen I think) sauntering along the trail.

The soft ground gave me the advantage of getting closer without alerting her. When she stopped, so did I. Once she turned around but I had pre-empted this and turned side on (well, almost) to try and disguise my shape. This worked but unfortunately her next steps were at a trot and she drew away from me.

She halted again. Do I stop as well or take this opportunity to catch up? I carried on at a slow stalk prepared to stop if she turned again. I had to take a picture. I’d forgotten to do this. She had started to trot on again as I took the picture. She was gaining on me. Time for drastic measures. The old sucking on the back of the hand trick. Well that was the theory. In practice it alerted a grey squirrel who started up a furious chattering. The fox looked around caught me in mid stride and promptly disappeared to the right into the thick rhoddy’s. End of tracking session.

When I returned to the camp, there was more activity going on. Log splitting followed by the starting of a kuksa and other woodcraft work. Evening meal preparations were also in progress where a leg of lamb was slowly being roasted on a spit over the fire. You might notice from the pics the way the spit is resting on the three supports. This technique is well worth remembering if you’re going to do this yourself. The lamb had to be turned every few seconds for 3 hours. A strangely relaxing chore when I took my turn.

The day finished with more ’shrafting juice, great conversation, a splendid warming fire and … more ’shrafting juice. I was amazed at the craftsmanship of the knives, carving and leatherwork on show. Quite oustanding and inspirational. On the next meet someone’s going to set up a primitive forge. Something that I’m particularly looking forward to.

I have to recommend Nige’s website. We talked at length about wildlife and tracking and this site shows his dedication to wildlife in his back garden. Great stuff.

After a great night’s sleep (and luckily with few effects from the night before) and a bit of breakfast I slowly packed up and bade farewell to those still left. Another great weekend meeting of like-minded and very skilled people.

Pablo.

At the weekend, Mark was good enough to host a meet at his wonderful woods just outside Reading.

I love going to meets and I’ve been lucky to go on at least one per month since last September. It’s great to meet people and share and learn different skills, but there’s nothing like going on an excursion on your own.

I finished work early on Friday and raced home to pack the kit which had already been prepared. I managed to get everything in my 30 litre pack including the small tarp, small hammock, 1 1/2 litres of water and the bushbuddy stove nestling in the 14inch [edit: 14 cms] billy. I decided to take the bivi bag as I intended to do some badger watching. This meant I had to strap two Karrimor side-pouches to the bag. This looked a little strange but would probably work as I didn’t have far to walk. I put some food in the other pouch. The extra space meant I could take a couple of luxuries like the small Trangia kettle and small frying pan.

Exactly an hour after leaving work, I had set up in the local woods and watched as some dubious clouds spread across the sky. The forecast said there might be a shower but nothing too heavy. I had bought the bucksaw for cutting some fire wood, but I managed to find enough dry dead wood laying about which was easily broken against my knee. I intended to light the fire after the badger watch so, being hungry, I fired up the bushbuddy with some dried wood. I’m really getting the nack of keeping this stove going by continual feeding with different sizes of wood. Simmering means thicker wood, while a fierce flame requires small pieces of dry wood.

I munched my way through some pre-prepared beef curry and rice. Before I knew it, it was getting dark and time to prepare for the badger watch. When darkness falls I go through the same routine. I make sure everything’s tidy around the site so i don’t trip over anything. The head torch goes around the neck and the hammock area is readied for when I eventually turn in. I prepared the fire for when I returned. I’ll post about the badger watch itself on Wednesday.

I was cold when I returned. The wind chill factor brought the temperature right down and there was no protection in the open field. It was certainly more protected in the woods. After a couple of false starts with birch bark and fire-steel, I got the fire going and gradually fed it to a good flame. I started to thaw out helped by a nice cup of tea. It was only 9 pm but it felt like midnight.

The moon started to break through the clouds in the eastern sky, causing a silvery light to reflect off the trees. It was silent apart from the odd Rook squawk and I imagined the perpetrator being rudely disturbed as its mate huddled closer for warmth.

This is the type of solitude that you don’t get just anywhere. There are certainly more remote places or wilder places in the world, but there is a different and pleasing sense of solitude in the British woodland at night. I enjoy being alone but I was reminded that I wasn’t actually alone at all as first a Tawny owl hooted and a Mutjac barked close by.

I stopped staring at the fire just long enough to collect the hip flask of brandy. As the embers dulled 2 hours later, I climbed into the hammock and fell immediately asleep.

I slept well and only woke up for the usual relief. The wood was damp and there was a layer of condensation on the inside of the tarp. It was overcast but mild. The kettle went on the bushbuddy (this time in meths mode) followed by bacon, tomatos and an egg which had survived the journey by being cracked into a small glass herb jar.

My morning task was to trim and prune an area for use in the summer. My usual area does get a bit damp and I don’t really like to use the same spot too much. The new spot is on dryer ground but needed a little work to clear a small area. Unfortunately the bucksaw wasn’t up to the task of cutting through a low, straggly branch and I realised there was definately a design fault here. My next task then was to seek out some suitable wood to make another. I wouldn’t make it today. Perhaps next week.

After another cup of tea waiting for the inside of the tarp to dry, it was time to pack up and go. I entered the house exactly 24 hours after I left it. A great 24 hours of solitude.
Pablo.