Tony Ridd with the latest countryside news
local countryside
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Compiled by TONY RIDD
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78
Island Life - April/May 2011
what to
look out
for...
Privet Hawk Moth
With the onset of winter, the caterpillar
burrows in the ground to pupate emerging in May to become our largest resident
hawk moth (wingspan 90-120mm). They
can be found in woodlands and parks, not
just around privet, but also favouring lilac
and ash. In daytime they rest tightly pressed
against the bark of trees and on walls.
back to nature
A countrymans diary
Spring seemed to turn up over
night this year! One minute
we were trudging along with;
damp, grey old days, the
next it was bright sunshine,
high temperatures and with
leaves firing out at us from
all directions. The blackthorn
and cherry tree blossom is
always a bit like a hurry up
call to us!
There are no end of reasons
why I love the work we do so
much, one of these is that the
people we work for have a
genuine interest in what we
are doing for them. They like
being part of the conception.
Planting trees, woodlands and
hedgerows is a classic example
of this and I’m always being
given updates as to how
things are doing, the first
flowers, fruits and nuts are
major milestones of any new
planting.
But it isn’t just the creation
of new habitats for wildlife,
as, was the case with one
job last month. Having just
planted a new woodland for
a client, it turned out he had
some old fallen trees; ideal
for milling! We seemed to
come full circle all within
a week. We were milling
up trees that someone had
planted 80 years ago next to
our new woodland. There
was as much excitement
converting the old trees into
useable timber as there was
with creating something
new. I was wondering if in 80
years or so time, who will be
cutting our trees?
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