This morning we had a hard frost for the first time in ages so i got up, not very, early and took some snaps around the campsite.
Before i got going i had to free one of the Jacob sheep from the brambles. The brambles are a hazard for the sheep grazing the camping areas. We choose to use browsing sheep for this winter job as they are happy to eat a wider range of vegetation. There is plenty of this around the campsite as we allow all of the areas to grow wild during the summer. This is what creates the habitats for the huge variety of wildlife that we have here, glow worms, snakes, butterflies, etc.
The downside is that brambles love this approach to landscape management and they need to be cut back and grazed off regularly to stop them invading…to much. But during the late summer they are great for blackberrying so its a fine line.
A mole had also been at work this morning with some freshly turned soil on one of the tracks to the pitches out in the camping meadow.
We try to create an environment where campers can get back to basic and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the site. In turn this needs a lot of off season management which i love doing. Carrying out this work always reveals some surprises when i go over into the camping pitches.
Last week i watched a Sparrowhawk traversing the space between two areas of woodland. Fortunately Richard Black from the RSPB was with me. Needless to say he identified it not me. Apparently male Sparrohawks are much smaller than the females, and will at times predate bats. What I really want to see in the woods bordering the campsite is a Goshawk. They really are scary, if you are a pigeon.
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