A wood laid bare and a deer bare patch

The difference in the feel of the wood between the seasons is very pronounced. At the moment the trees are absolutely bare and there is a very open feel to the woodland. There are clear sight lines through the wood from top to bottom and along its length that simply don’t exist at any other time of year. Because the sun is very low in the sky the lower parts of the wood don’t see direct sunlight at this time of the year and the field opposite which is half in shade has a distinct frost/no frost shadow line throughout the day. But what sunlight there is now manages to get through the bare tree skeletons and finds the woodland floor, for the area beneath the beech branches this is the first time since the summer.

The snow has all cleared away and the temperature in the wood this week was a heady 12°C which made for idea working conditions. Still more of the same with the remaining fallen oak tree log. This current section of the log has a number of substantial branches sprouting and these are as tough as old boots to split. Having broken them off the main trunk some of the sections have gone on the “difficult to split” pile which will be tackled at a later date.

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I think that I will have to revise my target and aim to have the remaining 8′ or so of log finished off by the New Year!

Curious what happens when you look out of the window. Sat at home I noticed a muntjac deer browsing on the lower branches of a yew tree and then some fallen leaves on the lawn. So far so normal. These animals are regular visitors to the garden and though not entirely welcome, as they eat anything and everything, they are attractive creatures and part of the local fauna. However, what happened next was unexpected. A large magpie flew down from a branch and landed directly on the muntjac’s back and proceeded to peck vigorously at the fur. The muntjac appeared to be accepting of this and stood absolutely still making no attempt to shrug the bird off or flee. However it didn’t look like a symbiotic relationship ie where the magpie clears off unwanted lice for the deer – the action appeared to be far too aggressive and there was what appeared to be a bald patch on the deer’s lower back after the event. Not sure whether this was a one off event with these two particular creatures or one that takes place on a more widespread basis. Very odd to witness.