Caught this little beauty in a box I put up at my “Base Camp” Feeding young, yesterday.
Your picture of the day...
- Thread starter Dirty Karlos
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Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
A few from yesterday’s walk, 9.2 miles ish. Dartmoor.
Beautiful part of the country.
I spent a lot of time on Dartmoor as a kid and loved it.
Then I spent a lot of time on Dartmoor as a young adult being shouted at and getting tinnitus and ruining my knees and back.
Now I'd like to spend some more time there as a slightly older adult, without the aforementioned nonsense. Bit of a trek now I live Oop North, but well worth it. We're down that way at least once a year anyway.
I did a bit of running around that certain area myself Chris. There were red flags flying yesterday with the sound of small arms fire in the background. Put some ordnance down those, and other, ranges……..A few years ago. SLR days in fact!
It looks beautiful in Summer, but that's hard land, open and exposed. Brutal in bad Winter weather.
Is it like that because of the centuries of grazing ?
Is it like that because of the centuries of grazing ?
OH took this picture of a red squirrel that wanted to come inside the winter garden. I think that he might have been able to smell the walnuts that we use to bait the mousetraps.
Yes she is a moody beast for sure. I worked on the moor for nearly 30 years, also served in the reserve Battalion of probably the finest Infantry Regiment in British Army history. OK, I am bias! So I have experienced everything Dartmoor can throw at you, and you are right, it can be a very hard land for sure. I live in the National Park, born and bred Devonian.
The changing Dartmoor landscape started thousands of years ago, when the Oak woodlands were cleared for hunting and building etc. I also believe a lot of the Oak was used to build our naval fleet back in the day, so many things have influenced how it looks today, and of course grazing has played a part in that. However, there are not the amount of animals grazing the moor compared to say 40 years ago.
There are still some bits of upland Oak woodland, as seen in one of my pictures, I am sure many here will know it.
I have a love hate thing with Squirrels, absolutely love Reds, totally hate Greys.
We, sadly, have no Reds wild in Devon. How lovely it would be to see them, but I do my best for them with regard to Greys!……..If you see what I mean.
Lovely photo! Where was it taken please.
Edit: Sorry, I see you are in France, I have seen loads of Reds in France myself, especially in the Dordogne.
The Caledonian Forest was similarly obliterated, just slowly cut down bit by bit by bit and not given a chance to regerate. Now though, we know of the remnants and there are huge efforts to create corridors, to join them back up to let them expand again.
Similarly up the river from us, the Clyde Valley is riven with deep gorges, the Gills, that run smaller rivers and burns into the main river. Those Gills were never grazed, just too steep, occasionally cut for firewood, but mostly left. There have been all kinds of encouragement for the native flora, birds, insects, etc., to expand out of the Gills and spread along the river side again.
It's slow, patient, work, but it is working. Lanarkshire is lush and green again as it recovers from the grime and pollution of industrialisation.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear that there were efforts to encourage such patches to expand on Dartmoor too
Britain was a very tree covered land at one time. We still have a lot, even if it's not in huge forests as they have on the continents, but every garden that grows stuff instead of paved over; that helps.
It helps us all just breathe a bit more easily too.
Strange things happening on the A12 today.
Those inverted commas do make it sound incredibly ominous.
Managed to leave all but one singular peg for my tarp setup at home, and didn’t want to cut any live wood into pegs. So to relive my youth and in the proudest traditions of the British Armed Forces, I have just bodged it with bungees.
Scallops foraged at the bottom of a big spring tide in a local estuary, could not get much fresher……Delicious. Did the honours with a nice Gilthead Bream caught a couple of hours later, also very delicious.
I would love to sit there and have a beer…….Or two! Looks lovely.
You are welcome to visit my place, Nikšić in Montenegro
Nice to see. Appreciated.
Olive wood? #8. A very useful tool if my hands were smaller
This is my only #8, a gift.
Awkward in my mit.
Olive wood? #8. A very useful tool if my hands were smaller
This is my only #8, a gift.
Awkward in my mit.
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