Will and I enjoyed a day away from the wetlands yesterday and headed east to Sopley Common. The duel purposes of this were to provide Will some felling practice in advance of his chainsaw assessment and allow me to freshen up my felling skills, as pines so differ from the willows that dominate on our home turf. The Common is a Dorset Wildlife Trust site but the heathland restoration works have been contracted to the RSPB's DHP Ecological Services who have been responsible for the restoration and enhancement of vast swathes of lowland heath through, in no small part, the removal of plantation pine which comprises a huge part of DHP's work.
Left to Right: James Tarrier and Chris Deick (DHP) and Will felling a small scotch pine.
Myself and Tarrier (erstwhile Radipole Reserve Assistant) beside a pile of brash.
The straight lengths of pine are collected and taken to a timber yard and milled into fence stakes and the brash gathered up by the tractor front loader, moved to a fire site and burned.
For further information on the diverse works undertaken by DHP click on the following link:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/projects/details/218968-dorset-heathland-project
PS. Will and I saw pre-dawn otter pup's before we headed east!