This is the month where the Bird Nesting Season starts. I’ve had a few blue tits checking out the nesting boxes in my garden, but they are not obviously nest-building, and we have the pause before the huge explosion where everything greens up and goes mad.

Nine woodland warriors turned out to finish the section that we started last week. Marcus, Reece, Steve, Ram, Ian, Dave, Andrew, Martin, and Paul. It started at about 4 deg C, so not the spring bounce that everyone was expecting. This is why I prefer to go by the Spring Equinox (20th March) as my start of the new season.

The local farmer has done a terrific job of cutting the hedge, and it would be a crying shame not to take advantage of this and get our side nice and tidy.

We are literally getting rid of scrubby whips and bramble. What we want is wildflowers. The sun hits the ground at about 12 noon, so it should do well.

In my mind, the object of this month is to do all the finishing touches to create that “Wow Factor” for April and onwards, through to September/October.

We broke for a coffee, and we had a bag full of snacks, at half-time.

The views up and down the path, and across the heath. It was starting to warm up a bit, and the hazy cloud was starting to burn away.

Steve and Martin cleared around a huge tree, making it the centrepiece of this whole section.

We want the ivy to drop off. We know that it is good for a lot of wildlife, but it’s everywhere, and we want the tree to stand proud, and also not get top-heavy and risk blowing down in the harsh south-westerly winds that blow in.

We cracked on as it got warmer and warmer, with the sky turning a deeper blue by the minute.

The openness allows people to breathe in time with nature and really relax. It could be sitting at a picnic bench with friends or family, or even on your own, just to sit and contemplate life whilst the world seems to be going crazy at the moment.

These are the views across the heath, and why we are so grateful to the farmer for cutting the hedge.

Basically, we have created a pollinator highway. There is plenty of diversity, trees for structure and shade, open areas, twists and turns in the path to create shelter.

And there are loads of benches to encourage people to use the path.

I love it!

We did some work further south as we try to get the maximum bang for our buck before we have to stop until September.

We are raising the crowns of a lot of the mature trees.

This lets so much light in at the base of the tree, and aesthetically, looks so much better. We can do this for the first few weeks of March while the trees are still dormant.

The size of the branches means the risk of splintering is high, so we do an undercut to get a clean break.

Again, it allows users to get the full benefit of the views beyond the path edge.

The good old Warwickshire countryside.

We had a super-generous donation from Graham, one of our many lovely supporters.

Tools that will be very useful. Thank you, Graham.

And Andrew spotted some rather nice fungus as we worked away today.

Very nice.

Next one is on the Dunchurch Bridleway on Friday, and then next week we are reinstalling a bench and staining a few others as we really push for that “wow factor”.

Until next time!

Paul