Gibside: September 2019

Twenty five or so cattle bunched together in Park Field putting up enough insects to attract swooping swallows that were absent from the rest of the field.

I was having an early wander. Of course, Gibside is primarily for the public but it was lovely to potter around by myself before the visitors arrived and when the rest of the team were already at work elsewhere.

Attacking the Himalayan balsam on Ladyhaugh

Before - silver birch surrounds the hazel plantings

The team hard at work - West Woods

It had obviously been a while since I last visited the lower West Wood track. It now has a number of exercise installations known, apparently, as West Wood Workout. They’re a bit like climbing frames for big people. Not tempted to give it a try, I sat on a seat on the other side of the track listening to the wind in the trees and enjoying the woodland light.

The rest of the team had passed through this way earlier and tidied up the Den Building Area. I caught up with them in time for a tree stump sit, a cup of coffee and conversation where they were working at clearing self-seeded birch and sycamore around hazel planted a few years back.

Bronze Shieldbug nymph

Ladybird

Shaggy parasol

As quiet and people-free as my wanderings had been, I only saw and heard the occasional bird. I thought I might at least have spotted a roe deer or startled a brown hare – but not today. There was a buzzard, though, and a red kite overhead as we worked. It would be a rare occurrence not to see and hear them in West Wood. And there were badger diggings edging the upper track. This is often the case. Tracks work as well for badgers to get around as they do for humans, and the narrow margin of cut grass beside the track is ideal for rooting about in.

Hypogymnia physodes

Hoverfly - Syrphus ribesii

Raking grass on The Avenue bank

We’d had two weeks of clearing birch, sycamore and other growth to eliminate competition for the hazel. It’s quite an enjoyable task, but hard, tiring work. The following week, we got the easier job of feathering the lime trees by the Walled Garden that is, removing the epicormic growth. Epicormic growth is the suckers that shoot out from the bark close to the base of the tree. Whilst we were doing that, three young grey squirrels innocently played above our heads and around our feet, looking cute. But that won’t save them.