So to start my blogs I will give you a resume of my morning and evening walks with Rafa our Griffon Korthals. Although a hunting breed, specifically for Woodcock, he goes through the motions but we are not hunters so no animals were harmed in the creation of this blog ( Well not yet anyway ! )
Just a short one from yesterdays morning walk, Rafa and I were coming towards the end of our routine and arrived at the Chapelle de Guelhouit where 3 yeas ago a large patch of mixed woodland was felled for harvesting the wood. At the time I and many others thought it was a tragedy, it was left unkempt with loads of broken branches and old ancient Oaks removed as well as Birch, Sweet chestnut and Scots pine. 3 years on however, and probably because it has never been cleaned up, it has made a wonderful scrub like habitat with emerging Birch, coppiced Sweet chestnut and now in some areas Scots pine saplings, also the usual covering of brambles and gorse as well as Alder buckthorn amongst many other under storey plants.This has allowed more cover for birds and I have been watching 2 or 3 pairs of Bullfinch foraging in the area, taking seed heads off of old Dock plants, the usual Wrens, Dunnocks, Chaffinch, Song thrush, Blackbirds Great tits Blue tits, Marsh tits the odd Crested tit and more. My highlight of the day was to watch a pair of Cirl buntings feeding off of grass and other seeds, a beautiful bird enjoying the fantastic habitat of woodland with now a scrubby area in between various stands of mixed species. I will post a blog every few days with my observations and when I have mastered how to do it I'll hopefully attract some visitors to my site and share some of the wonderful nature in Brittany.
