27 December 2019
It was my intention to keep December low profile in order to take a break from installing Barn Owl nest boxes to allow my failing body parts to recover. I am still struggling with my wrist and really need to take it easy. But I cannot sit around and do nothing. So as you can see below I did manage to construct a few nest boxes ready for 2020.
27 Tachwedd/ November 2019
My project really is very time consuming. If I am totally honest there is no way I could commit this much time and effort if I was i n a full time job. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes so to speak like picking up materials and preparing materials.Organizing volunteers takes up time because without them it would not be possible to erect Barn Owl nest boxes. Picture opposite shows little metal plates with numbers on. This is the most time consuming job of all because I have to cut all plates from a roll of aluminium then paint on numbers. This is very important because numbers on nest boxes are easier to monitor. they have to be fixed to the nest box always on the front of the nest box..
25 Tachwedd/ November 2019
Managed to get this Barn Owl nest box erect onto a massive old Oak tree. It was so big it must be at least 300 years old. This is situated in Monmouthshire and not to far from where I live. I have great expectations for this nest box because its situated next to a Barn where at least 1 Barn Owl uses it on a daily basis. Unfortunately this barn is going to be converted into a dwelling in the not so distant future
13 Tachwedd/ November 2019
Every now and then I am fortunate to work with some truly amazing children. Every now and then I am lucky enough to work with a fantastic class of children. Year 5 at Pengam Primary school were one of those special classes you come across. All the children were so engaged with my talks about conservation, pollution and plastics it really made an impact on me such was their enthusiasm. They were all very passionate when talking about the environment and especially sharing it with animals.
11 Tachwedd/ November 2019
Today I spent the morning at one of my local Primary schools in Cwmbran, Torfaen. Greenmeadow Primary school is a fabulous school with around 200 pupils. I is a small community focused school with some outdoor space for the children to play. Mrs Tucker had invited me to her school to talk to her year 2 class and tell them about my project. This is a very special group of children who really enjoyed listening to me and of course it was a change from the everyday curriculum. we talked about conservation and what sort of nest boxes we could build to help out birds, hedgehogs, bats and dormice. I also donated 4 nest boxes to the school and as a class we managed to install them around the school grounds.
Well November is here and it seems that October has gone so fast that i did not notice. October was a reasonably warm month with no frost whatsoever. The difference in temperature from October to November became very apparent with frost and a cold Easterly wind. The easterly winds have been shedding the trees of their remaining leaves although the big strong mature trees are holding on to some of their leaves.
Nothing has changed with regard my project work. I am still fortunate to have Dominic helping out and covering all aspects of est box building like using my power tool to cut the materials and finally painting them to a finished product and ready for installation.