Finding First Tracks

I was taking the dog on a nice two hour walk in the woods spotting squirrels, birds and the gradual oncoming of Spring when near the end I looked down at the muddy path and found these:

I instantly recognised them as deer prints. I'd never seen tracks before, but I'd seen similar shapes on the internet. I was astonished at how clear and well preserved they are. Being not well versed in tracking at all I could've just walked by them, but I'm glad I didn't.

Through analysis some trackers have confirmed these shapes belong to a Roe deer, most probably, but I'm still waiting on some more interpretations of these tracks to be sure. I need to remind myself next time I spot tracks to make a size comparison and take more than one photo for easier identification.

I didn't expect to see my first animal tracks today and they've certainly inspired me to read more about the subject.

Vlog 3/4/14- Crafts, Camping & Butser Ancient Farm

Butser Ancient Farm Imgur Album

Just a reminder that I update my Butser album on Imgur every week. They are just quick snapshots of the type of work we're doing at the farm.

http://dorthonion.imgur.com/all/

Elder Whistle

Hello. I've just spent this very sunny afternoon making my first whistle made from Elder. I managed to find a piece of dead standing wood with a suitable pith, so no trees were harmed in the making of this doodad. 

Here's a collage of progress and final product photos. 

It looked pretty scruffy at first, but sanding really made it look quite neat. 

It's a fairly simple craft project, but very fun. You can see from the photos that I hollowed out the pith, cut a notch into the wood, inserted a stick with a flattened surface to create the air passage in the mouth end, and then plugged the other end with another bit of wood so that it's air tight. It probably doesn't need explaining, but when you blow through the mouth end the air is vented through the small passage and having no where to go but up comes out of the notch and thus a high pitched sound is produced.

It works surprisingly well for a first attempt:

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1Ki3sKQSGNO

The Beauty of Azeroth & Outland

I've played World of Warcraft since 2006 and what always brings me back is the world itself. In this series of videos I showcase the the beauty, diversity and scale of the worlds of Azeroth and Outland by cataloguing every major region of each continent.

Kalimdor

Eastern Kingdoms

Northrend

Pandaria

Outland

Observing Bronze Casting at Butser Ancient Farm (5th Feb)

Whilst volunteering and performing general maintenance at the farm as always, the resident bronze caster decided to show us some casting as the "tech shelter" was finally cleaned and had lights installed. I only helped sort the equipment out and prepare the mould. James runs casting courses at Butser, but volunteers got to observe the process for free on Wednesday. I think for volunteers there may be a chance to make something for free, but I won't personally be bronze casting as I have a strict structure and I find following my "don't run before you can walk" method to be effective learning. That is to say I'm just starting in crafts with woodwork, so I don't think I should be metal working yet and trying to make a bronze axe head as it's a very complex and masterful process it seems. It's not that I don't appreciate the opportunity, it's more to do with mentality, level of experience and the learning method I described. Despite that, it was very exciting to observe it.

If any Bushcrafters from Hampshire want to come down to Butser of a Wednesday, I'll be there. It's great fun and a valuable experience, even if volunteering mostly consists of wood stacking, path levelling, stock replenishment and other farm type jobs.

More photos can be seen at the Farm's Facebook page. I'm the one with the most hair.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2050...2043103798964/

Thanks for reading. 

Bronze Age Timber (5th Feb)

One of the perks of volunteering at an Iron Age farm, a gift of Bronze Age (roughly 3,500 years old) oak timber from Testwood Lake, Southampton. Well, it's most probably oak although I think the bridge from which this apparently came was made up of other woods too.

I've been researching here. http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/book/export/html/354

"While carrying out what they call a watching brief, staff from Wessex Archaeology came across fascinating evidence of early society, including part of the earliest bridge ever definitely identified in England, dating to the Middle Bronze Age, c1,500BC."

One man, who is a bronze metalworker at the Farm, apparently got the wood from the excavation and he gave them to a volunteer. This volunteer shared some of it and that's how I acquired them. I can only obviously take their word that it is how old they say it is, but I believe them. I can't be sure if it's oak though, as oak's my second favourite tree, but oh well. Remarkable that wood can survive for so long in the right conditions.