Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2010 | Page 54

COUNTRYSIDE, WILDLIFE & FARMING countryside news life Compiled by Tony Ridd DO YOU HAVE A COUNTRYSIDE STORY? CALL TONY ON 07966 292334 54 what to look out for... February/March 2010 Woodpeckers There are three native woodpeckers in our country, the green woodpecker and the greater and lesser spotted woodpeckers. Listen out for them early February when they will start ‘drilling’ at trees staking a claim to their territory. The greater spotted will often visit bird tables and eat peanuts. back to nature A countrymans diary Wey hey, a real bit of winter at last…Snow and lots of it! Ok, so we missed a couple of days work, but work was still there when we ventured back into the woods. The amount of wild birds that visited our garden was amazing, many throwing caution to the wind and becoming pretty bold when it came to food. We have free range hens and guinea fowl at home, so there’s always corn and fresh water about, along with the wild bird feed that we supply all year round. We tend to get the ‘everyday’ garden birds, so my winter favourite was seeing a bullfinch on a bird table at a friend’s house. Work is now in full-flow, coppicing and tree felling on our woodland sites. We have finished our first new tree planting of the season, a three acre site, bordered by ancient woodland, a field hedge and the track of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. We tend to plant a few ‘fun’ trees with our larger plantings that will make the wood more interesting in the future. This time a Wellingtonia, and some dessert apples around the edges. I am looking forward to maintaining this and seeing it grow over the coming years. Next it’s onto countryside hedge planting, some individual garden trees and then, back into the woods for some more coppicing. Although it’s tempting to stay indoors at this time of the year, give yourself a treat, wrap up warm and go for a walk in the countryside – if nothing else it will make the homecoming cup of tea/ coffee taste ten times better! Visit our new website - www.visitislandlife.com