While The Anthropocene shows its milk teeth and we cower, the Spring rhythm of nature pulsates with growing vigor at UWNR. More of that in a minute – in the meantime some great news…. UWNR has grown by 7 acres, and a barn (which is over 100 years old)!
Over the past few months, I have been talking to my lovely neighbour Jo and her son Andrew – these convivial conversations have been about horses, nature, farming & life. They have often taken place in Jo’s kitchen with her Aga chugging away, while we sip hot tea. I am not sure when and how, but at some point, we began discussing me buying their land and barn – called Hartmoor. The entire negotiation was done slowly, gently and with an old school tone – no one looking to gain advantage, rather a strong desire to come to an agreement which suited everyone. Jo and Andrew, thank you very much….
We will use the coming months to imagine and plan….
Now back to Spring. I grew up in the sub-tropics, where there are only 2 seasons of note, Summer and Winter. The northern Spring always surprises me – the explosive burst of life, which begins about now, is really staggering to me. This after the deep dormancy of mid-Winter. There are times at UWNR, in mid-February (sleet being horizontally driven across the land), when the land feels somehow drained of visible life - no movement & little sound. I spent two days working at UWNR last week and wherever I walked, there was a striking abundance…. standouts:
In the winter of 2017/18, I planted an orchard to produce blossom in the Spring (for a range of invertebrates), and food (for a range of fauna) in the Summer and Autumn. This week the blossom was festooned with invertebrates, all gathering the harvest and unwittingly pollinating, as they worked.
A Bee Fly feeding
Conditions have clearly been spot-on for the orchids this spring and they have never looked better – healthy, vibrant and everywhere.
Without question the most extraordinary thing I saw in those two days, was tens of thousands of small bees or flies (I have not been able to ID these but my friend Merrily has - they are Hawthorn Flies), gathering particularly around the young lime trees – I assume to gather pollen from emerging flowers. It was truly amazing - the sky full of winged invertebrates, in numbers that I have not seen before at UWNR.
Two other things, which caught my attention. At dusk both Barn Owls sitting on their balcony before setting off for a night of hunting - I would imagine that they have young owlets to feed by now. Just before this, the Sparrow Hawk, which hunts at UWNR regularly, tore the air apart as it ripped down the hill from the west, over the lake, and into the woodland. This scything flight accompanied with various alarm calls. Scary power and pace.