Hi folks – since I started this project three years ago I’ve been asked quite a few questions about the practicalities and ways of doing things, so here is my attempt to bring together a few of the lessons I have learned. Needless to say it is still early days for this project, and I … More 18 tips for small scale rewilding
Sorry for the long absence, but I’ve been busy with other things! However, the marshes have not been idle, and recent camera trap footage shows herons, deer, ducks, and a fox with a cub all using the scrape in the south field. In the northern fields the ditches are full of tadpoles and dragon flies, … More Harvest mice
Amazing news. I was checking the camera traps on one of the fields in Godney, and this otter was wiggling its way along the bank next to me (see video at the bottom of the page). It’s very exciting. I didn’t realise otters were in this area, although I knew they were nearby in Westhay … More Otters!!!
Lovely August day on the marshes. Having missed the swallows for much of the summer it was great to see them back in some numbers and enjoying the south and the north field. Overall it was a good day for birds – with increasingly large flocks of finches and starlings gathering in the hedges, and … More Swallows and badgers
Hey – there was a cheery piece on small scale rewilding that mentioned Godney Marshes in the iNews recently. Perhaps I am being too sensitive, but there are a few things I would like to mention, as I’m worried the way it is written makes my neighbours sound worse and me sound better. I am … More iNews article
We’re in the midst of a bit of a heat wave here, but even after several weeks of temperatures hovering around 30C and no rain the fields are still looking remarkably lush. The scrape has dried out, but the grass is still damp and ditches flowing. Butterflies have now joined the dragonflies and little egrets … More New photos – June 2018
Wow. We’ve had several weeks of warm weather down in the South West and things have changed dramatically. Most obvious is that both fields are now host to huge numbers of dragonflies and damselflies. Every step sends rattling bolts of electric blue or green in all directions. Hawkers and chasers dash up from the grass … More Summer scrape
What a difference a couple of weeks of sun makes. At the end of April the land still seemed to be in Winter mode, with icy winds and short grass. Now, in mid-May the change as been startling, with the Levels taking on a lush, almost subtropical feel. The wildlife is making a return too. … More May on the meadow
It’s been a busy time down on the marshes. After about a year of off-and-on I finally managed to get a contractor to come and dig a scrape. Never mind that it coincided with the coldest day of the year and a brief snow storm – the results are impressive. The scrape – basically a … More Digging a scrape, barn owls and voles
On the day it has been reported that a man has tragically lost a finger to an attack by a wild boar, I am re-posting this blog from 2013. 2013 – Last week I was down in the Forest of Dean, conducting research for a project on rewilding. As part of this I am visiting … More Risk and wild boar
