So good news and bad news… The five 7ft Scots Pines planted on Fearlagan have been savaged. At first we thought it was super-big killer rabbits as deer aren’t a common feature here but after a little bit of investigation it definitely looks like regular deer damage. Which is brilliant. As it means they are coming up here (probably from Lamorna Valley) and the rewilding vibe is working.
The fields are a riot of colour and humming with wildlife - millions of insects, ground nesting birds, birds of prey. Badgers and fox cubs confidently cruising around at dawn and dusk. The winds have been brutal though - most of the young saplings brave enough to stretch above their protective tubes have had their heads bitten off by the fierce south westerlies. We live and learn - more windbreak trees needed. The superb Rosa Rugosa is thriving, seemingly immune to the winds and producing bobbing scarlet and white fragrant flowers in abundance. Sea Buckthorn is also impervious and our donated oak is flourishing in its sheltered position at the start of the footpath- thanks Nigel and Sue!
Mitch is going to do another circuit with his drone soon, capturing ariel footage of the the early summer landscape to contrast to the winter one shot in January. Hopefully this could be a seasonal event over the next few years - creating an amazing visual narrative of the evolution of the farm.
Only one other sore spot. We have been trying to protect the heart of our conservation area, down by the old ash copse and the widest part of the Tumble Tyn. Unfortunately some rather entitled walkers / ramblers keep cutting down (!) our farm boundary wire fencing and tramping through. We are going to put some conservation area signs up to spell out what we thought was obvious. As it happens through our conversations with peeps at the BBC and Natural England we will be installing wildlife-watch hides and cameras over the farm. With any luck we might catch some footage of the rare spotted-wildlife-trampling-rambler in action, displaying their ritualistic dominance dance brandishing wire clippers and heavy duty thornproof gloves.
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