Practical Ecology

Nature Switched On

 

 

 

 


in the Pyrenees  the first 10 years


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gallery 1: 2006-2012
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                         a   S T A M M E R  project              

2006 December 23, 24 & 25, Saturday to Monday


 

A nice Christmas present.
Our neighbour had broken away these chalk stones because he was afraid that sooner or later they would fall on his (future) house. He had no destination for the stones and was all too glad to give them to us. We were glad too of course, there are some impressive boulders among them. Some weeks later a bulldozer would put the stones on a nice row on our terrain. Perhaps my neighbour didn't have a clear idea about our intentions with the debris and decided to put them as a kind of boundary between our terrains.

Our plan is to get in touch with the bulldozer man and place the stones, half-sunk into the soil, on 'strategic' places of esthetic and ecological interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Our friend Bert inspecting the 'loot'.
23 Dec 12:34

Looking south-east.
27 Jan 2007 13:33

 

 
Looking east. The glove in the centre gives an idea of the size of the stones
27 Jan 2007 13:29

 

 

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These winterweeks I had been busy constructing a bird feeder and some nest boxes for owls.  The box here on the left is intended for Strix aluco (Tawny Owl), an owl whose characteristic call we can hear almost every night. The one in the middle is thought for Otus scops  (European Scops Owl) the smallest owl around.

Placing the bird feeder was no problem but hanging the owl boxes was quite an enterprise. They are heavy and big and must hang as high as possible with the opening facing south.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Made of pinewood  and painted with linseed oil.
17 Dec

Looking north-east. The bird feeder is fixed on an almond tree trunk.
25 Dec 11:26

 

The Scops Owl box finally hung by undersigned high up in a Quercus faginea tree.
25 Dec 10:52

 

An impression on 27 Jan 2007 13:38, taken from the wood, and looking north-west. On the highest terrace of the terrain still some frozen snow.

Another job to be done was the pruning of the almond trees. I had bought a good frame saw and together with my friend Bert we attacked the almond trees taking as an example the beautiful orchard specimen around us. The almond trees on the terrain had not been pruned for many years and this made the task not easier. The final result is not too bad and with time they will hopefully acquire a better look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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An almond orchard in the vicinity.
19 Nov 2006 16:10

 

After the pruning, looking east.
25 Dec 11:27

 
 

More aggressive was our intervention against a whole row of brambles. On the right is the place where our house is projected and we prefer an open view and the possibility to see as much of the terrain and the wood as possible. This meant the sacrifice of a complete hedge of brambles in the centre. A clear conflict with ecological values as a bramble hedge attracts and shelters much wildlife. But bramble hedges are not exactly a rarity in this region and we our going to install new hedges on the boundary of the terrain. The disappearance of the brambles here will also stimulate the growth of less invasive species (present are already Crateagus monogyna, Ligustrum vulgaris, Rosa canina, Lonicera species,  Jasminum fruticans, Juniperus communis and Juniperus oxycedrus).

 

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Looking west. Most of the brambles taken away giving a more spacious effect.
25 Dec 11:29
 

We made some excursions in the vicinity and this final photograph gives a good impression of a chalk grassland when regularly grazed by sheep. It's almost like a lawn with less species partly because of the enriching of the soil by the sheep droppings. Nevertheless a striking landscape with the old olive trees.

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Near an abandoned village, at 2 km from the terrain.
25 Dec 13:40

 

 

 

 
 

introduction
floristic catalogue
faunistic catalogue
contact
index

gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-

map
>> 2007 Jan 27
<< 2006 Dec  9

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Latest revision on:  14/08/2018