Spooning in the Woods!

I have done a bit of spoon carving in the past but I decided a course would do me good to try and learn the craft. If you look at the photo below of my first attempt - you will see why! I needed a bit of guidance on some basic skills that I could then work on to create beautiful spoons. What I hadn't realised when I fist tried carving a spoon that like any craft it is a skill that requires talent, patience and practice. 

First attempt at making a spoon!

A knife / spreader that I whittled 

I booked a day of spoon carving with  Gareth from Woodmatters at the Footprint near Windermere  in the South Lakes. It is a beautiful location to spend a day and has a very relaxing feel to it.

I am not going to write too much on this, just some steps of what is involved in carving a spoon. I don't have photos for each step but hopefully this blog will give an idea of how it can take all day to carve a spoon!

1. Choose your wood. I chose cherry as it has a beautiful grain. However, it may have been a better choice to stick to sycamore which is a much softer and easier wood to carve.

2. Using a saw, cut a forearm sized piece of wood and then split this in half using a froe.

3. Remove the pith from your piece of wood.

4. Draw on the basic shape of your spoon. A good way to do this is using a paper guide - if you fold it in half and cut around it this can help to produce a symmetrical spoon. 

5. Mark a line in from the neck towards the head of the spoon with a saw and the on the back of the spoon cut off this section removing 2/3 of the spoon head.

6. On the front of the spoon, saw a notch 5mm deep just down the neck (opposite the notch we cut in step 5.)

7. On the front of the spoon cut down from the mid point on the handle using a hatchet or a carving axe.

8. Still using the axe, on the back of the spoon remove the wood down at an angle towards the head of the spoon. 

9. Using the axe remove as much wood as possible to achieve the spoon shape.

10. Move to using a knife, Mora is a good brand. Keep removing wood until you are happy with the shape. This can be done using a variety of techniques and cuts. The main thing to remember is to work with the grain.

11. Using a spoon knife start removing the centre of the spoon. to create the head of the spoon. 

12. The spoon can be finished off using sandpaper to smooth off the surface or the cuts can be left to give a more natural look.

My finished spoon with lovely cherry grain

And now all I need to do is practice, practice, practice!!!

Foxes, Sousliks and wildflowers in Rila National Park, Bulgaria.

I spent a morning walking in the mountains of Rila National Park and I was lucky to have two amazing wildlife encounters. 

Up in the mountains I decided to follow a faint vehicle track. As I headed over the brow of hill I spotted a fox, Vulpes vulpes sniffing around. He circled around and then started making his way across the hillside. Fortunately for me the wind was blowing in my direction not his, so I had plenty of time to video him before my red top caught his eye and he stopped to turn and look at me before disappearing from my view. It was truly spectacular and made my day.

A little further down the track I was following, I came across a dead and half buried Souslik – I wondered if it was one of his stash?

  
My other amazing wildlife encounter was a live souslik, Spermophilus citellus, also known as the European ground squirrel and is a similar to but smaller and slimmer than an Alpine marmot. There was one just by the lake at Belkemen and it was both inquisitive but also a bit flighty at first. Eventually I managed to get closer to it and it tried the stayin­­g still trick which was fine by me as I snapped away some photos. Eventually he lost his nerve as I moved even closer and bolted down his burrow.

 Higher up in the mountains I saw many more of these gorgeous little furry creatures running around but as soon as you got too close they bolted down their holes.

I spent the rest of my walk just enjoying the surrounding beauty of the mountains and the stunning variety of wildflowers. Our journey through the rural parts of Bulgaria took us to some vast meadows, which are just stunning swathes of colour, blue, purple, red, orange, white, green, yellow – you can’t really describe all the shades. 

The abundance of wild thyme is also amazing and the scent hits you more than the sight of it. The locals told me to make some tea with it and eventually we did with lemon thyme but that is another story....

In other parts of Bulgaria we have ridden along ancient tracks, one which was quite hard to follow as it was so overgrown with flowers. The bikes were almost hidden in the height of the wildflowers but there was a definite stone track beneath. 

I have been truly astounded by the beauty of Bulgaria. It pays to get off the beaten track and explore where the dirt roads and logging tracks take you and you will be amazed by what you find.

Volunteering for the RSPB on the Mull of Galloway, Scotland

As I headed up the single-track road to the RSPB Visitor Centre, I was both excited and nervous in anticipation of what the next two weeks would have in store for me on the Mull of Galloway. However, when I turned the corner and was rewarded with stunning views across the sea and caught my first glimpse of the lighthouse standing proud on the headland, I soon forgot about my apprehensions. 

RSPB Mull of Galloway is a small reserve but it is home to an abundance of wildlife and a delightful little place. The Visitor Centre itself is an old bothy dating from 1838 when it was constructed to accommodate the builders of the lighthouse. This sturdy building was made to withstand the stormy winds that can batter the headland. The bothy now houses the RSPB Visitors Centre and is a colourful array of information, displays, videos and live cameras all about wildlife on the Mull. The Centre is welcoming and friendly and many visitors who pop in just to get out of the ‘breeze’ end up staying for a chat and to find out more about the seabirds and wildlife in general.

My role as a volunteer was to help at the Centre and the RSPB staff Rob and David made me feel very welcome and at ease there. I learnt a wealth of information from them both, and I was soon able to pass this knowledge onto visitors. I also gained the confidence to ask visitors about RSPB membership and felt comfortable promoting the work of the RSPB.

For the remainder of this blog, rather than describing things on a day to day basis I am going to tell the story of my last day on the Mull which was a culmination of my brilliant time there…

I set off early from the comfortable RSPB accommodation in Drummore to make the most of the sunny morning. The weather had been a bit wild over the last two weeks with plenty of strong winds and quite a few heavy showers, however this morning it was almost perfect with blue skies and a “gentle” breeze. As I was driving up the road to the Mull of Galloway, I saw a grey blob on the road and stopped. Just as I did, the blob launched itself into the air- it was a Sparrowhawk – a great start to the day. I continued on my journey dodging cows and sheep until I arrived at the car park. As I set off towards the lighthouse, I saw the hare that I had been trying to photograph for the last two weeks but as ever he was just too quick for me!

I walked across the heath hoping that the stoat that had peeped out of the heather at me a few days ago might make a reappearance but he was nowhere to be seen. I did however, see five roe deer this morning. I had seen them most mornings and on one of the mornings Rob and I spent about 5 minutes photographing a buck lying in a hollow until she got up and gently walked away. The deer I saw this morning were a little startled and bounded away flashing their white rumps as they went. 

As I got closer to the willows I looked out for the gorgeous little goldcrest and wren that I had seen there the past few days and true to form they were there flitting about in the bushes. I continued down to Lagvag point to see what I could see off the headland and looked out over the sea to watch the tidal race charging past – a sight I never tired of – it is truly mesmerising. Onwards to the Foghorn, where I amused myself by trying to count all the vole holes – they are everywhere on the reserve. It was a warm morning and as I was following one of the mammal runs, I caught something out of the corner of my eye, the voles were darting about in the grass. I stopped and listened to them squeaking to each other, another lovely start to the day!

Near to the foghorn is the walled garden that forms part of the lighthouse land. It was here that I often saw the stonechat, which had also been avoiding my camera but this morning posed brilliantly for me on the white stone wall set against the bright blue sky. Across on the heath I was also able to photograph a wheatear and numerous linnets as they picked seeds out of the flowers. It was mid- September but there was still plenty of butterflies around, particularly red admiral and tortoiseshell. I also saw a couple of fox moth caterpillars, which are stunning big hairy beasts. I eventually made my way back to the Visitors Centre to help David, RSPB staff member and Dennis, my fellow volunteer set up for the day.

As I arrived at the Centre the kestrels were already out hunting on the heath. This was another daily delight for us all and something we never tired of. There are 4 resident kestrels on the Mull, which isn’t surprising given the number of voles running around. A few days previously on the guided walk that Rob leads, we saw 2 kestrels hunting in the same area and dive bombing each other. Just watching their skill and concentration when hunting was addictive.  

In the Visitors’ Centre this morning, we had a delivery of goodies to top up our tombola and membership packs. Dennis and I set about checking off the order and adding prizes to the tombola. And then as the visitors gradually started to arrive we talked to them about the wonders of the Mull of Galloway. It was an interesting time of year as most of the seabirds had finished nesting for the season, left the cliffs and headed back out to sea. However, there was still some shags and gannets around and we had also been seeing quite a few grey seals. This combined with all the activity on the heath meant that there was still plenty to talk about and enthuse the visitors. 

 During my time on the Mull I had also been conducting a mammal survey on the site and my walk this morning formed part of this. The survey involved walking a transect on the reserve to look for mammals, but also to look for signs of mammals such as tracks and droppings. I had also placed my wildlife camera out on four nights previously, but it had not been a great success. The weather had been quite wild and one set of footage was of the camera strap blowing in front of the lens, another was of vertical rain, another was just a white screen as the camera was placed too close to the ground. I did however have one successful evening and got some footage of a brown hare and a roe deer. It was not quite the badger footage I was hoping for but I was still pleased to get some successful images after subsequent nights of trying. As part of my survey, Rob had agreed that I could use his small mammal traps to see what small mammals I could find. I put these out today and on checking found a lovely little field vole happily munching away on some apple that I had put in the traps. After a couple of photos to confirm the identification, I released the vole back to his home in the wild. 

Back in the Visitors Centre, David had spotted a male and female grey seal on the live camera. They were merrily swimming around in the cave below the foghorn. As it was my last day and we didn’t have too many visitors around I asked David if it was okay to go down and to try and photograph them. It was probably the sunniest day I had spent on the Mull and so it was great to be out in the fresh air. When I arrived at the foghorn I could hear the seals calling to each other but couldn’t actually see them – they were just tucked too far back in the cave.

I spent a few moments enjoying my last view of the sun sparkling off the sea. I was just about to head back up to the Visitors Centre when I couldn’t believe my luck – heading around the headland I saw the dorsal fins of 3 or 4 dolphins. I was absolutely stunned and tried to stay calm as I quickly snapped some photos and took a short video before the dolphins headed off back out to sea. Back at the Centre David and I got out some identification guides and with the help of the slow and creaking internet, identified the dolphins as Risso’s dolphins. This was not only a first for the reserve this year but also a first ever sighting for me…what a way to end my time volunteering on the Mull of Galloway!

As the day came to an end I spent a few moments outside reminiscing over my time on the Mull. I had made new friends and met lots of lovely visitors from very close to my home and as far away as Devon and Orkney. I had enjoyed wonderful walks on the cliffs and had time every day to spend a few quiet moments bird or mammal watching. I had not just worked indoors in the Centre, I had spent time in the walled garden with Dennis, dismantling scarecrows and moving weeds. I also had some fun and went around the lighthouse exhibition and up the tower. It really was a fantastic two weeks and anyone who was hesitating about volunteering for the RSPB, I would recommend to just go for it and try it. The memories of my time there will stay with me forever.