The Hazel stick chair

The weather is warming up and last night the moth trap was set in the high hopes of attracting some moths. There were only four moths there this morning, this Oak Beauty being the star of the show. This beautiful moth is a resident and would have spent the winter as a pupa underground. His huge feathery antennae are used to find the scent of the female moths.

Chris came in today to help with some tree felling. He brought in a chair made from the coppiced Hazel sticks from last week. This was made entirely with hand-tools and shows how we can use the cut wood to make furniture that would grace any garden.

Chris and Elizabeth worked all day helping to clear areas of Silver Birch and Willow.

Below you can see Chris on the island in the scrapes coming to the end of coppicing some Willow. This has opened up the view through the scrapes and allowed more light onto the island itself.

The coppiced wood will be used to make a dead hedge to protect some newly emerging Willow from the depredations of the Roe Deer.