Spring Oats and Grass seed Planting

A new age has arrived which will add a new dimension to our Blogging; we have bought a Cisco Flip mini camcorder which allows us to make high definition video and load them straight up on the blog with minimal trouble!

So here goes, my first attempt at Blog video editing; this short film shows our new grass seed harrow working in the field.

The grass seed establishment is slightly different to any other crop we grow as it is under sown into another crop, in our case spring oats. The spring oats are planted using our normal drill set up with the crawler and big drill first, but due to this machinery being very fuel thirsty and expensive to run we have invested in a new seeding unit that is much cheaper to run.

The seeding unit uses a metering wheel at the back which turns as the tractor moves forward; this indicates to the on board computer that seed is required to be released at a pre calibrated rate. A motor drives a variable speed motor which turns inside the seed unit that releases the seed at the correct rate down the pipes. A fan blows the seed out of the pipe as the tractor moves along which is broadcast over the full width of six metres onto the soil surface. The finger tines then just scratch the very top of the field and the seed is just mixed into the shallow part of the topsoil. So the oats are still nicely place slightly deeper and undisturbed. The whole field is then rolled to conserve the moisture left and allows good soil to seed contact that helps maintain good germination of both oats and grass.

The oats are seen as the main crop for the rest of the year and grow over the top of the grass and they are harvested in August. When they are harvested and the straw is cleared we are left with a young established grass sward in the stubble which becomes our main grass crop for the next two harvests. BWB    

A buzzing in my ears!

After a difficult morning of new machine troubles (which did get fixed in the end!) I was on the phone by the pond in our yard and all I could hear was a buzzing! My phone was fine but when I looked up the Willow tree next to the pond had bloomed and the catkins were full of early spring pollen and nectar. I think ever honey bee in the area must have been busy collecting the nectar and moving pollen from catkin to catkin. I then noticed Queen Bumblebees buzzing around doing the same on the higher branches and then to my amazement I saw my first butterfly of 2011. A small tortoiseshell sunning its wings while sipping at the sweet nectar.

Spring must be here!!  BWB

The Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

• The population is wide spread over the UK but absent from Ireland
• It can grow to 8cm, and is generally brown or olive brown and young specimens are often brick coloured. The skin is warty and often appears dry.
• Glands in the skin contain powerful toxins and would-be predators quickly learn not to attempt to eat toads.Unfortunately for the toads however, a few predators, such as grass snakes and hedgehogs, don't seem to be deterred.
• The Common Toad can be found in almost any habitat and is common in gardens.
• It prefers larger water bodies in which to breed and, because toxins are also present in the skin of the tadpoles, they are able to breed in ponds and lakes containing fish which learn to avoid the distasteful tadpoles. Common Toads congregate at breeding ponds in early April but for the rest of the year will wander well away from water as they are far more tolerant of dry conditions than the Common Frog. 
• Common Toads feed on any moving prey small enough for them to swallow. 
• They are most active at night when they will wander about in search of food. If they find a good source of food they can become quite sedentary.   
• Their life cycle is similar to that of the Common Frog, spawn is laid in strings (not clumps like the Common Frog) and the tadpoles are black and often move about in shoals.
• During mating, the male clutches the female from behind in a tight embrace. He fertilises the long, triple-stranded strings of eggs as she lays them among the waterweeds.
• The toadlets emerge in August usually after heavy rain and in huge numbers. At this stage of their lives they are extremely small.
• Common toads can live up to 40 years.

BWB

The Common Frog

Caption Competition?(Answers in the comment box) Found this frog today and it looks to have lost its binoculars or trying to impersonate Pat watching for birds!!

So the Common Frog (Rana temporaria),

Possibly our most familiar amphibian, the Common Frog is distributed throughout Britain and Ireland and can be found in almost any habitat where suitable breeding ponds can be found. Garden ponds are now extremely important for Common Frogs and many populations in suburban areas depend on them. Any pond large or small make a massive difference to wildlife, not just amphibian but the full ecosystem.

Adults can grow to almost 8cm and are generally some shade of brown or olive brown in colour with a dark patch behind the eye and bands of darker colour on the back legs. Most individuals have irregular black markings on the back and two narrow lighter stripes running along each side of the back. Coloration is extremely variable and in recent years yellow, pink and orange individuals have been reported.

The life cycle of the Common Frog is familiar to most people; spawning takes place on average in March (get checking your local ponds), the tadpoles develop throughout the summer and emerge as froglets in wet weather in August or September. Well-grown tadpoles are faintly speckled with gold which distinguishes them easily from the black tadpoles of the Common Toad. Common Frogs feed on a variety of invertebrate prey which is mostly caught at night. The frog’s skin is smooth and needs to be moist at all times which limits this species to habitats close to fresh water or habitats that remain damp throughout the summer.

Some more general facts.........

• In Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Common Frog is protected only in as much as sale and trade in any form is prohibited.
• Frog bones form a growth ring every year when the frog is hibernating. Scientists can count these rings to discover the age of the frog.
• Frogs lay up to 4,000 eggs at one time. The jelly around the eggs helps to keep them warm. The temperature inside a clump of eggs is often much higher than the temperature of the pond water around them.
• Amphibians must shed their skin as they enlarge in size. The old skin is discarded like a piece of clothing that has become too tight (I know the feeling!!). Usually the shed skin is eaten.
• Frogs absorb water through their skin so they don't need to drink.
• Frogs use a variety of ways to attract a mate such as courtship calls, body colour and limb movements.

BWB

Spring beans going in the ground.

With the nice dry weather over the past week, the sun has dried the top off well and so the drill in out putting in our crop of seed tic beans. These are a spring break crop, they are a small broad bean used in a number of markets for human feed and livestock feed. We grow the seed to be used for the main crop next year which means that we have to grow the beans to even higher standards but this is reflected in the price that we sell them for under contract.
We are growing 21 ha and the drill is set up to drill 160kg/ha of seed. We will not roll the beans in as they is enough soil to seed contact already but we will follow up with a herbicide spray soon after drilling as the spectrum of chemicals are very limited in removing weeds from spring sown pulses like beans and peas. We will just then wait and hope for a bit of rain to get them off to the best possible start. BWB  

If only it was so simple!!

(I do apologies for some of the language)

This is a classic sketch from The Mitchell and Webb Situation, made me laugh but if only all his money making schemes were right! Don't see many milk producers making "a f***ing fortune!!" but they have got the costume of a typical older farmer bang on!!

The Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dendrocopus major

There are only two black and white woodpeckers in the UK, the Great and the Lesser Spotted.

The Great Spotted is the size of a blacksbird and the Lesser Spotted is the size of a Robin.

The male Great Spotted Woodpecker has a red patch on the back of his head and both the male and females have red 'underpants'.

Size

22 - 24cm

Weight

70 - 100gms

Habitat

Wooded areas and on open ground with scattered mature trees. Resident in UK and present throughout the year.

Nest

April to July. They dig out tree chambers at about 3m above the ground or will use specialist nest boxes.

Eggs

1 brood of 4-7 eggs. Incubation period is 10-13 days.

Food

Insects, fat bars, seeds and peanuts.

Voice

Call is a loud 'tchick' with song replaced by rapid drumming for attracting a mate or to mark a territory.

Characteristics

Although spectacular garden visitors, Great Spotted Woodpeckers can be an aggressive nuisance to other, smaller species. They often dominate other birds at feeders and will raid nest boxes and eat nestlings.

As an opposite side to this is the fact that they are endearing parents, frequently seen teaching their young how to use feeders.

BTO Statistics

The population of Great Spotted Woodpeckers increased substantially during the 70's partly due to Dutch elm disease. Nesting success seems very high but natural sites are hard to monitor and with the constant clearing of dead wood, new nest sites may become rare.