Bog Beacon!

Apparently these little fellas are quite unusual.  Widespread, but not common.  They are Bog Beacons, (Mitula paludosa), what a fantastic name!  They are actually much more orange than this, but boy, do they shine out of the very wet leaf litter!

They are very fussy about there habitat, but this seems to be ideal, as there were tons of them!

Growing from submerged, deciduous leaf litter in carr woodland.

A new favourite!

Osprey!

I'm quite keen on all times of year.  They all have their particular 'thing' that makes them special, (well, if and when we are lucky enough to get seasons!) Summer, the long, lazy, warm days, cooking outside and wild camping (living in hope). Autumn you have the beautiful changes in the colours of the countryside and the flush of fungi.  Winter, the crisp, frosty but sunny mornings, the frost that decorates the trees and the blankets of snow.  But Spring excites me like no other, the flush of green, the colourful flowers and the promise of new life.  The birds sing with all their hearts and everything wakes up.  

We say goodbye to some migratory birds as they move on to their breeding grounds, but we also say hello to others.  One of my absolute favourites has to be the Osprey.  They are very popular around here with the Dyfi Osprey Project, near Machynlleth, offering a fantastic 360 Observatory and live streaming from the nest.  They attract thousand of visitors every year.  I am even luckier though to live not far from another nest.  It's not publicised, but there is a hide, if you happen across it.  I spent a lot of time there last year, watching these amazing birds rear three young.  We don't have a TV, better things to do, and besides following the Osprey provides more drama than Eastenders and is better for the soul!

The first sightings of Osprey have begun.  One has been spotted at Loch Garten in Scotland, one at Rutland Water, and one here, near our very own nest yesterday.  It was probably just passing through, as it hasn't been spotted again since.  I really can't wait for 'our' birds to arrive and for the Osprey season to kick off fully.  Spring really is exciting and full of promise.

The Dyfi Osprey Project costs around £150,000 a year to run!  2017 is the first year that they will not receive any grant funding and therefore will be totally self supporting.  If this is something that interests you, then maybe you could support them by paying them a visit, buying something from their shop or simply just donating.  It is a fabulous project that not only educates about Osprey but all birds of prey and wildlife in general.

A day for Raptors!

I drove to uni yesterday.  It was such a nice day, and I didn't want to have to wait for the bus.  I got back around three, so headed up the hill for a bit with my camera.  Almost as soon as I arrived I saw a Goshawk above the trees.  It wasn't in sight for long and I was unable to get a photo, but it always pleases me to see one of these shy birds.  I took a few photos of the badger setts, then parked myself under a tree in the sunshine.  Quite a few Red Kites were circling and then what I initially thought were two Goshawks!  With excitement, I snapped a few photos through the branches of the tree.  Only then to realise they were in fact two very pale buzzards.  The combination of the tree and my over excitedness didn't make for very good photos anyway!

Pale Buzzard

Red Kite

I'm sure my photography skills are actually getting worse!  I take what looks like a great photo, only to find when I get it on my laptop at home, that the focus is all over the place! Anyway, shortly after I saw a small falcon being chased off by a crow.  It could only have been a Kestrel, because of the habitat, but I couldn't make out the colours or markings, just the unmistakable outline.  Again no photo, but a total of four different birds of prey in just an hour!  I did manage to get a couple of nice shots of spring, however and I'll leave you with those!

Hazel Catkins

Blackthorn Blossom

Bovine TB

Being at university gives me an incredible privilege of being able to access much more information and scientific material than the average person.  This has allowed me to research not only what's requested of me through uni assignments, but also what sparks my interest.  So I've obviously done quite a bit of work concerning badgers recently.

Much controversy surrounds bTB, but I'm really not sure why.  George E. Pearce writes in his book Badger Behaviour, Conservation and Rehabilitation how, back in the 60's, the disease was fairly well eradicated in several parts of the UK.  This was done by regular testing and culling, moving away from more vulnerable breeds and bloodlines, and by keeping the cow sheds uncrowded, cleaned and most importantly well ventilated.  How was this possible back then, but it doesn't appear to be today?

Wales has decided against the badger cull.  It was deemed by the Welsh Assembly Government to be unacceptable and illegal.  However, England chose differently and are culling heavily in certain parts of the country.  Which country has seen a drop in the rate of bTB?  Wales.  England's bTB has actually risen where targeted culls have been carried out.

For some reason the government seem to just want a scape goat, something to blame it all on rather than actually dealing with the issue, with better conditions and more regular testing.  So badgers have been blamed, and so much so that farmers and the general public have been heartily convinced that badgers are the cause of the problem and the persecution continues.  George E. Pearce insists that this is all wrong and that badgers are in fact contracting bTB from foraging in infected pastures.  This makes far more sense if the whole thing is looked at logically.

So, what's the latest?  A pack of hounds infected with bTB has now moved the focus elsewhere, probably only temporarily because of conflicting interests, and hounds are now being blamed for the spread of the disease.  Yet another scape goat.  Far more likely to have caught it from cows than to have passed it on to them.  I honestly don't understand why the government isn't just dealing with the issue as it has done in the past.

I'm genuinely interested to hear people's thoughts on this one!

Badgers

So, I've been researching badgers a lot recently.  I wanted to share a book that I've been reading.  If you have any interest in badgers at all, then it's well worth a read!  

George E. Pearce is a farmer, wildlife rehabilitator and badger specialist.  He has many years experience with everything badger, and acts as consultant to many farmers, developers, courts and the police.  Badger Behaviour, Conservation and Rehabilitation is a book filled with knowledge, information and stories, and in my opinion was over far too quickly.  So if you have a spare bit of time for reading and this peaks an interest, I highly recommend dipping in.

Ooops!

Ok, so it's been a while, I must have been busy!  Well, I have I guess.  I did eventually manage to get a plant survey done on the hill.  Really quite interesting actually, but will be going back to look again as spring brings in more variety and developments.  I've also been working really hard on finding out about badgers, and how much of a problem they are going to be with fencing etc.  The amount of paths they have crisscrossing the hill is incredible, and I don't want to be installing a hundred badger gates.  Also the fencing near the main sett needs replacing so I needed to find out about legalities of digging near setts.  Apparently, if you are caught near a badger sett with spade you are assumed to be badger digging and will be prosecuted as such!  Licences to carry outs works near badger setts are recommended!


Aside from that, we have started work on our practical project at uni.  We have a footpath to restore.  A lot of clearance work, the replacement of four gates and a footbridge to rebuild!  It's a great project, but after all the rain we've had the site is an absolute quagmire!  Yesterday, even though it wasn't raining, I wore waterproofs for mud limitation, I was still filthy and had condensation all up inside them! Not very pleasant.  Tomorrow, we are back on site and the weather is meant to be sunny and fairly warm, so I'm going to go with spare trousers instead!  No photos yet, I'll do a before and after of the entire project when we've finished.

Instead, here's a new fungus for me that I found at the footpath site during a break.  It's an Earthfan, a member of the Thelephora species. I've not found one before, so nice find for me. Sorry, second picture is a little blurry!

Rain, rain, rain and books!

I'm very frustrated at the weather currently,  I wanted to do a plant survey on the hill.  I also have an overwhelming urge to get out wild camping.  That's not going to happen right now, with gale force winds and torrential rain.  So I've been working on my woodland assignment for Uni.  That's frustrating me too, not the assignment, but the fact that a book I'd really like for both uni work and personal interest is so bloody expensive.  I guess it's because so much work goes into these scientific works, but still, an old book, many years out of date, second hand, still costs a fortune!  We have a great library at the uni, but sometimes you just want them on your own bookshelf.  I love books. I had a Kindle for a while, and they certainly have their place, but you just can't beat an actual book!


Oh and another thing!  I spent ages the other day, trawling through Blogger, trying to find blogs to follow.  Finding a current, active blog, with similar topics and interests as me, is nigh impossible!  So, if you drop by, and you think I may like your blog, please drop me a comment, and I will pop over and take a look.  Thank you :)