Still in Belgium, though maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance of a trip to Africa later this year. Meanwhile quite a lot of interesting stuff closer to home. And I have a new camera+lens, a bit of an upgrade from the very basic setup I have been using up till now – so it’s all good practice for if and when.
So what’s new?
At the start of the summer most of the action was on our three little lakes – all sorts of little fuzzy chicks floating around and being cared for (or neglected) by their parents.
It’s also a good time for insects: Butterflies and Dragonflies appear and, as more and more plants come in to bloom, the many different Bees and Bumblebees are busy as … er, bees.
While I’m happily playing with my new camera, by the end of May the holiday is over. Lockdown is cancelled/eased and we are allowed to cautiously open our gates to limited numbers of visitors. We had made some plans last winter and now, after a slight delay, they come in to action. For years we have been looking for ways to share the beauty/specialness of this place and also do a little business. All sorts of ideas for workshops and retreats etc. have come and gone. Now I think we are on to something – keep it simple! If trying to plan a workshop stresses me, just imagine how unappealling it must be for the public… So we are scrapping all that and doing only simple and fun stuff.
First, after a successful trial run last year: Breakfast with Alpacas.
Totally simple: put tables out in the courtyard, a nice buffet, coffee, fruit juice etc. Bring in the people from one side, the Alpacas from the other and give everyone some Alpaca food to hand out. Something like Sunday Brunch meets the Horse Whisperer. There’s something about Alpacas – the funny faces and huge limpid eyes … people have a lot of fun, relax and connect.
The Alpacas are the stars here – I’m here just for support (buying the food, laying out the buffet, washing the dishes etc). I have a more demanding role in the other program we are offering the public: The Forest Garden Guided Walk.
10 years ago we took over a Maize field and, applying permaculture principles, transformed it in to what is now a liitle Garden of Eden (Organically Certified!). As one of the original designers ( and a biologist, permaculture designer etc etc blah blah) It’s my job now to guide a weekly walk through the 4 hectare Jungle of fruit-trees, berries, nuts, wild spaces and vegetable patches and explain a bit about it.
We get a good response. There are usually a dozen or so people on the tour , sometimes more. There is a lot of interest in alternative agriculture, sustainability – a hunger for a different way of doing things. All kinds of people show up – from starry-eyed activist/vegan/student types to local family groups who are just curious. It’s challenging – explaining ecology and permaculture (without going in to full lecture mode) while giving space for people to directly experience the magic of this place. Luckily there’s lots of fruit and the invitation to sample freely straight from the tree/bush awakens hunter/gatherer instincts in even the most stuck-up academics and soon we can leave behind nutrient cycles and leverage points and what have you . I’m always quite exhausted by the end of the 2 hours but it is very rewarding. Aspiring would-be permaculturists come away encouraged and some catch a glimpse of the beautiful simplicity, the zen it-happens-by-itself beauty of permaculture. They have heard the music.
So as you see, there are some humans in my life, it’s not entirely birds and bugs (some friends have expressed concerns).
Now, back to birds. As the days lengthen the forest grows green and lush. The birds are harder to see and there is a new sound in the air: a loud flute-like call, the unmistakable call of a Golden Oriole. Having never seen one here before I’m very keen to lay eyes on him (it’s the male that calls) but again and again I creep up on trees where the calls are coming from and find nothing. Then a few minutes later he’s at it again from another patch of forest. It’s incredible, perhaps the most brightly coloured bird there is and totally invisible !
Still, chasing around after invisible Orioles is no great hardship. By now many other birds have young and are out and about, so there’s plenty to see.
And then, when I had completely given up on them, the Orioles suddenly appear. One evening I spot a little group perched out in the open. They are a long way away so it’s hard to get a technically good photo, but they are posing beautifully…
One day I notice a funny looking duckling on the smallest of our three lakes. It is also behaving differently from the common Mallard ducklings: instead of dabbling it dives, disappearing completely underwater. I have a good idea what this might be and , sure enough more of them pop up all around and the concerned mother appears out of a clump of reeds. Pochards! These diving ducks have been hanging around here since last year but this is the first evidence of breeding. Great news for our biodiversity, especially as this is a vulnerable species – numbers in Europe are declining.
One good thing leads to another. Since early May I have several times seen Honey Buzzards flying low between patches of woodland on our property. I figured they must be breeding somewhere in the area – probably in the large forest-park next door. Then one evening as I am checking on “my” Pochard family, a Honey Buzzard lands in a tree right above me clutching a big chunk of wasp’s nest. Aha! I had been hearing some very odd calls from the high Oak trees nearby but thought it might be the young Golden Orioles squawking for parental attention – could’nt think what else it might be. Now everything fell in to place – and sure enough there is the nest (with 2 chicks) high up in an oak. Another new and uncommon breeding species on our list.
And then, after a heatwave or two and a couple of thunderstorms – signs of Autumn. The days start getting shorter and Swallows gather and discuss their travel plans; The young Honey Buzzards leave the nest and in a few days will be heading south – just a few thousand kilometres to some forest in West Africa.
I’m also feeling restless, feeling the pull of Africa. But for now I’m here – there is still a full schedule of Alpaca breakfasts and Permaculture walks running till the end of October, besides other odd jobs. Perhaps by then travel will be easier? We will see.
