Pablo’s Woodlife

I dumped the bushcraft kit today and armed with just my old world war two respirator bag with 3/4 litre of water, camera, and binos, I headed into a different wood for a change. This wood is owned by the Forestry Commission, and is part of a very ancient woodland. Some pottery dating from the 12 century has been found in the area, and there are small ponds scattered through the woodland. It’s well managed and the wood is regularly harvested and coppiced.

This doesn’t detract from the ancient species and multitude of different species. I believe 25 species of butterfly have been identified there. With this managed woodland comes the problem of more people, but they seem to respect the area. Today, although noisy, I noticed some cub scouts learning about fire making. This got me thinking. Good enough for them, good enough for me. The Forestry Commission are getting a call on Monday from me seeking permission to wild camp. It is a wonderful wood and easy to hide away once off the beaten track. I’ll let you know how I get on.

It was to the small ponds that I was heading today. It’s dragonfly time, and with the temperature as it is (27 degrees) and sunny, you can’t fail to see some of the spectacular species. I’ve always loved dragonflies. They’ve not changed much in appearance (except size) since prehistoric times. They are beautiful and ferocious at the same time.

I spent hours at the ponds photographing them, watching them mate, and watching them ovipositing, the method which they dip their “tails” into the water to lay the eggs. Apparently some of the larvae stay under water for two years. The ugly larvae heads out of the water and metamorphoses into a wonderful creature.

Some of the smaller blue damselflies are difficult to identify and I’m not particularly skilled at this, but I think there was azure damselflies amongst the small red damselflies, and the broad bodied and four spotted chasers. The only one I couldn’t catch on camera was the impressive Emperor dragonfly, who just would take time out from his patrolling to allow me to catch him on camera.

I walked back to the car park pleased with my efforts and having put the camera away, I took a well deserved drink. No sooner had I done this, a Muntjac deer walked straight in front of me. I fumbled for the camera, but the deer went straight into the thick woodland and out of sight. Oh well.

After a few weeks of rain, the sun has suddenly made what is probably one of the last of its strong appearances this summer. The temperature is back up in the high twenties centigrade and a good opportunity for some more bushcraft in the woods. I went light this week with only my rucksack containing the Swedish Army Trangia and some food. I didn’t need the Trangia after all as I decided to build a small fire to cook up the beans and sausages and brew of tea.

The fire lighting with fire steel and birch bark as tinder was a success and soon I had a good lunch on the go.

I used my small folding sit mat (a new purchase and pictured in the photo) for the first time. This is a good cheap addition to my kit. So often I’ve sat down on damp ground and regretted it. This sit mat is light and folds up quite small.

After lunch, I decided to make a few simple tools including a tri-pod stand for the rucksack, and another rough spoon. The tri-pod reminded me to practice my lashings as this attempt wasn’t too successful. It did the trick for this occasion though. I realised on the bushmoot that you don’t always need expensive paracord for everything and most of the instructors had balls of cheap nylon string or ordinary twine. Great for small jobs where strength isn’t a necessity.

I walked to the outskirts of the woods a watched the dragonflies again. I realised that, like the strong sun, there wouldn’t be many more occasions this season when I would be able to view them. I spotted a couple of the large Emperors (again, too swift for a photo) and a pair of Large Reds coupling and ovipositing on the wing. Apparently, this is the only species of dragonfly in the UK that do this, and I was pleased to get a picture. The warm sun brought out a few butterflies and I spotted a Red Admiral amongst the blackberries on the wood edge.

A great day for wildlife finished with a low swooping fly-past of firstly a Sparrowhawk and then a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, with a Kestrel hovering in the distance

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All seemed peaceful with the world as I laid out in the sun and soaked up the warmth of the late summer. I felt I had to go back into the wood and do something else, but it was just too nice and I drifted off to sleep listening to the sound of the insects.

Even though there have been a few downpours, the temperature has remained in the 20c’s and when the sun does come out, it is really warm. It’s not surprising that there are still quite a few butterflies and dragonflies about. The large red has followed me around since late June, and they are still flying about usually in tandem. The damp ground provides ideal conditions for tracking and the last couple of weekends but especially this weekend I’ve spent some time with my nose in the dirt (or ‘dirt time’ as trackers put it).

I made a tracking stick at the bushmoot and it’s been drying out nicely. Recently, I cut notches in it to make measuring easy and to save taking a ruler or tape measure with me. I think I’ve already said that although certainly not an expert, I consider tracking a skill that I haven’t lost over the years. I used to practice regularly enjoying the challenge of identifying prints, following and identifying trails and examining feeding and kill sites. I even achieved minor local celebrity status when I assisted in searching and finding a ‘missing’ child.

My old house backed onto acres of National Trust woodland in Surrey. A neighbour’s kid decided to go walkabouts and the report stated that he was lost. As dusk approached, I helped organise the police search (as I knew the area like the back of my hand). I managed to pick up a small footmark and making a number of assumptions based on ‘if I were a kid’ we caught up with the youngster. I guessed that he was on his way home which made the track easier. My assumption was right. He actually wasn’t lost at all, appeared to know exactly where he was and was indeed on his way home. He’d just lost track of time as they do.

I didn’t know about tracking sticks then and it might well have assisted. The idea behind the stick is simple. There MUST be a print (however faint) somewhere on the ground once you’ve measured and marked the length of the stride on the stick (by moving the elastic bands). Put that mark on the last easily visible print and the stick will show you where the next print is. All you have to do is find it. A better desciption is here if you want to know more. There’s also a link to animal tracking on my links to the right.

It helps to know what your track feeds on, its habits and usual paths a trails. I can see how some trackers like get into the mind of the subject. This is the more spiritual side of tracking and it comes back to the “If I were a …what would I do.” There are several books on tracking. Apparently some of the best are by Tom Brown, but I’ve not read any as yet. The one I’m using at the moment is Animal Tracks and Signs by Preben Bang.

The prints around the area I were I was tracking today came down to Muntjac and rabbits, although I’ve previously seen badger and fox tracks. Once the track leads into the wood, it’s extremely difficult to follow with leaf litter and ground debris. Spiritual tracking takes over here with the help of runs, trails and feeding signs. I rarely have any luck following a track to its conclusion in other words actually spotting the animal. It’s fun trying though.

I finished my outing today by setting up my tarp and bivvi bag. It looked like rain so I set up the tarp close to the ground. After lunch (back to using the SA Trangia) I couldn’t resist climbing into the bivvi bag and having a snooze. The Thermarest is so comfortable; I didn’t feel any lumps or bumps underneath the bivvi bag at all. A definite A1 purchase. No wonder I fell straight to sleep.

Even though I’m envious of the vast wild expanses of North America and Canada – both places I’d love to visit for bushcrafting purposes – I can’t help thinking that for diversity in a woodland, you can’t beat an English wood, especially our ancient woodland. They might be small, but there is an intimacy that you can’t resist. I’ve been frequenting my particular wood now for 9 months and have nearly come full circle in its life cycle.

Although I’ve not seen anything spectacular in the way of wildlife, I’ve become more aware of the inhabitants and I’m beginning to know where to find them, what they will be doing and how to watch them. The woods themselves never cease to amaze me. Two months ago, I couldn’t see any tracks because of the high undergrowth. Now, the woods are again giving up secrets that I didn’t know existed, even for a tiny wood.

It was one of these secrets I stumbled on today. I wandered deep into the wood where I don’t normally go. I was in search of some cramp ball fungus that grows abundantly in the area. I suddenly came across a small clearing on the north side. How I’d not seen it before was a mystery even though I don’t frequent the area that often. Unlike the rest of the wood, it was quite grassy and being in the north edge, it was quite open to the sky. It was an ideal spot for a bushcraft site. I set to work immediately, seeing if the hammock would fit between the trees and foraging for wood. I’m not sure what the drainage would be like when it really rains hard as the north side does tend to get quite waterlogged, but for now, it makes a fine site.

After a quick lunch, I turned my attention to the kit I’d brought on this excursion. I’m getting a bit paranoid of late, not so much about what I take, but what I take it in. I have to have my usual bushcraft tools i.e. knife, folding saw, string, tinder, binoculars, sandpaper, neck scarf, gloves, heat gel, 1/2 litre of water, camera and my mobile phone. These would go in a shoulder bag which is normally my Raider bag. It’s a great little bag as it has back straps as well as a shoulder strap, but I can’t really get any more kit in it. If I take a trangia, tarp and hammock, I have to resort to a day bag rucksack.

Today I took my all the contents of the Raider bag and what I consider my day kit (trangia, tarp, hammock ration bag) in my 15-20 litre rucksack and was pleased with the result. It was much more comfortable to wear. I even managed to hang my axe on the side. I think from now on I’ll save the Raider bag for very short excursions. As I said in a previous post, the day bag has the additional advantage of ‘piggy backing’ on my main rucksack with a slight modification.

I finished off the day visiting my old friends the red dragonflies. They were still there, and still making last ditch attempts to oviposit in any greenery they can find. I’m amazed that at the end of the first week in October, they’re still about. It is very mild still although the evenings are getting colder. Time to think of a few winter projects. I think I’ve got a couple in mind. More about that later.

Took a day off today. The weather was so good. It was too good to miss a day out in the woods. Friday 13th? Pah! No worries. I prefer going to Broaks Wood during the week as there are fewer people and dog walkers. I don’t mind dog walkers, in fact when my black Labrador, Ben, was alive, we used to go there often. But dogs do disturb the wildlife. These thoughts came apparent as I had a break in the small valley.

After about 10 minutes sitting in the sun, I spotted a mutjac deer about 20 yards a way. I scrambled for the camera but hit the wrong settings. A wasted opportunity but at least I was able to see it wander off casually down the valley and up the other side of the hill. A couple of seconds later, I heard barking, which I assume was the deer I’d seen.

I’d always wondered why the wood was called Broaks Wood (Brock is an old English names for Badger, but it might not be this) I had never previously seen any signs of Badgers in the woods. This changed as I climbed to the highest point of the wood. I spotted a track mark pointing to a dip in the wood. After guessing where the owner would go, I came across a huge sett with a number of entrances, scratching posts and latrines. It must have been extremely old judging by the scratch marks that had healed in the wood.

I continued up to the highest point of the wood and had lunch. I had dispensed with the trangia today and had just brought sandwiches. I knew I was going to do a bit of walking and wanted to travel light. In fact I only had my sit mat with me. The axe was swapped out for the walking stick, the trangia for ham and cheese sarnies. The view from the top of the wood was wonderful. Looking east, it appeared the epitome of the English countryside with undulating hills, farmland and wood.

On the way back via a different route I discovered a Hornets nest. Not so much discovered as someone had put up a sign, warning of the impending ‘danger’. I spent a while filming the nest actually getting quite close. They appeared not to be too bothered by my presence. I did start to worry as suddenly quite a few came out from the nest at once. I think if you panic in these situations, it just makes things worse and even insects smell your fear, so I got up slowly and walked away.

My last encounter was with fallow deer on top of a hill. Again, I only just managed to catch the deer on film before they ran over the top of the hill. They must have seen me approaching as at that time I wasn’t walking particularly quietly. Most of the trip I had been. I have learned a technique of walking in the woods so as not to spook wildlife. You basically walk toe to heel instead of t’other way round, keeping the feet pointing forward and s l o w l y does it. I also roll my feet out to in. This is quite hard work and can’t be done for long periods, especially if you’re not wearing the right footwear. I tried to follow the deer but they had a greater head start. There were so many tracks in the mud, I didn’t know which ones to follow.

I finished the trip at one of the small ponds, where I spotted a few more dragonfly. You all must be getting fed up with these dragonfly pictures, but I do find them fascinating. Actually, I made an identification error with the previously shown ‘red-dragonflies’. They were in fact Common Darters (but still red in colour). The variation of the Common Darter colour is this brown colour and probably means it’s a female.

Okay. Now here’s something I want to try out. By pressing the wrong button on my camera, I activated video mode which I very rarely use in the woods. I got home and mucked about a bit (a lot actually) and came up with a video of the excursion. I know my technique needs a bit of work and the image isn’t as clear as I thought it would be, but see what you think. It’s about 3 1/2 minutes long and there’s no audio. I might do something on a more bushcraft type subject at a later date.

Sunrise 04:39 (BST) Sunset 21:14 (BST) sunny intervals 23°C 16°C Northerly Wind (6 mph) 1018 Humidity 72

The woods were quiet. Exceptionally so and I wondered why. Of course, the Rooks chicks had fledged. Ah…peace! I did some filming and had a light lunch. The vegetation is now so high that it’s quite impossible to see anything of the wildlife in the wood. So, I decided to wander around the edges of the wood and into the surrounding fields.

I was delighted to find some wild Iris on the waste ground. I explored a nearby ditch and found some newts popping up to the surface for air. It looked as though they were Common newts, but this area does have some of the rarer Great crested variety. It was difficult to tell as the water was a little murky.

Sitting for some time by the ditch, I also noticed my first sightings of this years Damsel and Dragonflies. I remember seeing the same species of Broad bodied chaser with the males bright blue body. The damselfly was the Common blue (I think).

Moving further into the meadowland I was delighted to see some Bee orchids. I’d identified the leaves earlier in the spring and was pleased to see that I wasn’t too far out location wise. I counted about a hundred different plants. Although not rare, they are quite localised and it might be years before they flower in exactly the same location. The flower is a mimic of a female bee. The male bee tries to mate with the flower and therefore takes the pollen away and tries again with another bee orchid, thus pollinating that flower.

The wind dropped and the sun came out as evening approached. I clambered back into the van and was heading toward the badger sett. It was getting dusk when I was suddenly overtaken by a Barn owl flying low and only a few feet away. Didn’t he know there was a speed limit along this road? I noticed he was carrying a small rodent. Guessing that he must be returning to the nest with a meal I desperately tried to follow. Knowing there was some disused buildings up ahead, I guessed that this was where he was heading. It must have been an interesting sight. Van alba follows Tyto alba!

I came to halt by the disused buildings only to see, to my disappointment, the owl veer off toward another field. Just as I was about to carry on, he made a sudden right turn and started the final approach path directly toward the building I’d parked in front of. A soft landing at the top of the building, a dart inside to drop off the meal, a quick turnaround and he was off again, this time alighting on top of a building about 40 yards away.

By this time I was out of the van with the camera but it was too far for a decent shot. Although he appeared to be staring at me, he must have considered me no threat as he took off, flying away from me to carry on hunting for his hungry brood. I quickly moved in closer and a few minutes later he returned, perched on a nearby post complete with new catch and after a short pause (and what looked like a quick nibble as well) he flew into the nest once again.

The nest is only a few minutes away down the road, so I think this will be a regular visiting spot for me.

I finished the evening with some badger watching. I was a little late due to the Barn owl sighting and placed myself this time at the front of the sett. After about an hour I … fell asleep. The badgers could have been having a party and I wouldn’t have known about it. At midnight I went home.

Despite the lack of badger sightings (yet again) it was a great day for wildlife.

I probably won’t be doing a mid week post next week as I’ll be migrating data to my new laptop. Gone will be the burning sensations and indentations of a hot and weighty Pentium 4 laptop on my legs and the noise of the laptop fan!

See you next weekend.

Thanks for the visit,

Pablo.

I had a great weekend this weekend. After a few days rest after the Bushmoot, I was raring to go into the woods again. I started off on Saturday with a few pings of the bow and arrow. I met up with a colleague who shoots an American flatbow (now that bow has got some power) and we spent a good couple of hours shooting at standard target. I must admit, my shooting was complete rubbish probably because of lack of practice.

I excused myself after a couple of hours as I couldn’t wait to get into the woods. I had to try out some of my newly found tracking skills. I certainly found some tracks that I’d never seen before and although they weren’t exactly jumping out at me they were certainly easier to spot and identify. I also succeeded in following tracks from one surface type to another. This is something I think I’m really going to enjoy. Most tracks I identified were rabbit, but the odd fox and muntjac tracks were obvious as well. Before I knew it, a couple of hours had passed.

The next stage was to do a video. I decided to look at plants and fungi. I’ve been planning this mini-series for a while. The first subject was the good ol’ Crampball fungus. You can see the video by clicking on Pablo’s video’s on the links menu on the right. The next one (already in the “can” but needs editing) is about nettles. I had to reduce the resolution on the Crampball video and it’s not as good quality which is a bit disappointing. I just couldn’t edit it down any further. This is my first “talkie” and I’m not sure what to make of it. Your own voice always sounds stupid. The pic is a still from the video. A nice result and a great way to end the filming.

The temperature on Saturday soared into the high 20’s C and I found I was getting a bit dehydrated after filming. I sat by the the large ditch, watched the dragonflies and drank down a litre of water.

The red Common darter and Emperor were still about. I managed to get another pic of the female ovipositing.

On Sunday, the temperature climbed to 31C. I started off early and immediately sought the cool of the woods. I had no schedule or projects for the day, so I just sat under a tree and… yes …fell asleep! I don’t feel guilty doing this anymore (mmmmm??) and I can say that I’m officially “zoning in” and increasing awareness. I did however feel I had to do something, so I got out my new knife sharpening kit and had a go at the Companion and crook knife. The Companion ended up hair-popping sharp, but the crook knife still needs some more work. Obviously. it’s a bit more difficult to do as well. I’ll need more practice on that one.

I returned about 3pm, but as soon as it was cooler, Mrs Pablo and I went for an evening wander (from which we’ve just returned). On the way back, we saw three foxes laying up in a nearby field. They seemed completely at ease with us (the wind was in the right direction). After a while, they hopped into the hedgerow. Guess where I’ll be going the next few evenings.

So it was a bit of a mixed bag this weekend. I was going to post the 2nd part of the Tracking course review but I thought this would be a better for Sunday as it’s all fresh in my mind. I’ll post the tracking course review on Wednesday.

See you then and thanks for the visit.

Pablo.

Ah, yes. I know this one. Homo Brittanicus bushcraftus vulgaris. The Common olive green British bushcrafter. Easily identifiable by the lack of cranial hair follicles; extended proboscis; pogonotrophy (look it up!) and stupid grin. My life, those canines are decaying! Obviously not a juvenile.

As regular visitors know, I’m quite keen on Dragonflies. This year I’ve not had a great deal of luck photographing them. The weather hasn’t helped I suppose. Now the end of summer is approaching I hoped to see a few more, but with no rain for a couple of weeks, some ditches and small ponds have dried up. You can’t win can you?

I decided to spend some time watching the ponds at Broaks wood. There are about 30 permanent ponds of various sizes. Sunday was bright and warm and I was rewarded with the standard appearances of the Emperor, the Common, Southern and Migrant hawkers and Common darter. Today there was an abundance of Common darters who appear right into the autumn months. I even managed to get one or two on my fingers. They (the redder males) didn’t seem to mind me sticking my finger close to their heads and slowly moving my finger underneath them, they simply climbed on board. Very accommodating. They only flew off when buzzed by another male only to return to the same outstretched finger. It was fascinating to study this insect close up but I did actually wonder who was studying who.

A couple of young kids came to see what I was doing and when I placed the dragonfly on their fingers, their jaws almost dropped to their knees. This kind of thing give me a kick. I felt like the old man of the woods. Well, there’s some truth in the old bit I suppose. I persuaded them to move slowly and not talk too loudly. I wonder if this will insipre them to take more interest in the natural world. Wouldn’t it be great if, in years to come, one of them said, “It all started many years ago with a man who put a dragonfly on my finger.”

There seemed to be quite a bit of mating going on and it was interesting to see the darters flying “in tandem”.

The Emperor is notoriously difficult to photograph as they seem to be continuously in flight. I have been advised to put a stick at a 45 degree angle at the side of the pond. This seemed to work for all the other Dragonfly species on Sunday, but on this occasion, not the Emperor. It’s an excellent tip though if you want to photograph Dragonflies or Damselflies.

I was lucky enough to catch the Southern and Migrant hawkers resting on some vegetation. The Southern hawker has joined spots on the last segments of the abdomen (first pic) while the Migrant hawker has a golf tee shaped mark on the 2nd abdominal segment.

Thanks for the visit.

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.

My mate Paul and I headed south to meet up with the Reading Group on Friday afternoon. A little rain was forecast but the whole weekend turned out fine and dry.

After a hot and sticky walk-in we arrived to find the parachute already up and a brew on the go. Mark presented me with a fine looking kuksa as a gift for doing the Reading group forum. I was completely overwhelmed and promptly planned what liquid substance should go in it. Well – it’s got to be sealed properly hasn’t it?

We woke up to a beautiful day on Saturday and after breakfast, a couple of us went roving with the bows to do a bit of stump shooting. I’d brought along the Samick SKB, the length of which proved ideal in the particular closed-in area of woodland we chose to shoot in. We all did pretty well getting close to the challenging choices of target and in a couple of instances even killed a stump or two!

Mark had brought along a large awl which enabled the construction of some wooden chairs. John decided to assemble what can only be described as a throne, which was in keeping with his heavy-weight style of camping. Hence he was dubbed “His Majesty, King John” for the rest of the meet. The chairs will be kept on site ready for the next meet.

Some of us went for a wander after lunch and ended up tracking along the moderately fast flowing stream. There was a lot of damselfly activity and I spent some time trying to photograph the amazingly coloured and aptly named Beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo).

We followed some tracks along the stream bank and decided it belonged to a small fox. The tracks ended up at a kill site where the only evidence left of the prey was a claw of a crustacian. Looking again at the photo I’m not too sure if there might be other tracks in there and I wish I’d studied the area in more detail at the time. Other tracks seen were roe, fallow, muntjac, mouse and a number of birds that had hopped along the bank. There was still no sign of the elusive water vole tracks.

The evening meal was a barbeque of literally tons of meat mostly provided by King John.
Earlier, Steve (who was on my Shadowhawk tracking course) and I identified a good sit spot covering an area where there might be some evening mammal activity. Andy had already spotted a fox cub, and muntjac had been heard the previous evening. After the barbeque, along with Andy we sat for an hour being bitten to death by mosquitos! The sum total of our sightings? One rabbit, five hundred and three mosquitos - oh and some sheep! Well, you can’t win them all.

One of the best things about meets is that you can share experiences and stories around the fire. With new faces comes new stories and experiences. Knowledge is shared, kit examined and compared, and tips are passed on. This meet was no exception. John was busy dying a leather water bottle while Mark had made a fantastic flute case. You can see these pics on the network.

Prior to packing up on Sunday, conversation meandered on to the dreaded tick subject mentioned in my last post. This prompted everyone to start examining themselves. Low and behold ticks were found on nearly everyone’s legs. A tick removal session then took place. Anyone watching would be forgiven in thinking that a strange bunch of primates had invaded the woods and were busy de-fleaing themselves. Mark’s pocket microscope (is there nothing that he dosesn’t have handy?) showed in real terms what a monstrous looking creature the tick is.

A certain lesson learned and a good tip is to tuck the trousers in to socks or put elastics around the bottom of the trousers. Those with sleeping areas on the bracken slopes (myself included) should also have cleared a path through the bracken leading to the hammock. Whatever the precautions though, it’s inevitable that you will get a couple if you go tracking or exploring through the undergrowth.

All too soon it was time to say our goodbyes and leave the site. We doused the fire and cached the pot hangers. Another excellent weekend and a big thanks to Mark for organising the meet and everyone else that came along.

Pablo.