The woodpile to end all woodpiles
Quite a bit of organising had occurred beforehand to arrange for everyone to be at the same place at the same time with the gear checked and batteries fully charged. However the plan for what was to follow was deliberately less detailed to allow for more spontaneity between Brigit and Chloe and allow the conversation to take its own path. Nothing was rehearsed, there were no second takes.
I guided the group around the cemetery and as we walked we all chatted together, only when we started filming did Jon recording the sound and myself with the camera fall silent – well largely so, I did add a snippet of information in the next video.
Simon Penna, the Grounds and Facilities Manager for Falmouth Town Council has an understanding of the ecological value of deadwood. In our Kimberley Park he left a dead Ash tree standing for years that became home to a variety of insects and a nest site for Blue Tits until its state of decay made it unsafe. There are still two tree trunks that have been left in the park.
This approach is still uncommon, so as I led Brigit towards a Pine tree that had fallen in a storm, I expected them to be surprised, as they approached it I switched the camera on and pressed record.
What delights me about this video is that it revealed to me a different way of experiencing the cemetery. In fact I have to say when visiting the cemetery I usually focus on its parts and slip into cameraman/photographer mode or concentrate on its insects and wildflowers. When I do sit down for a break my mind tends to work through the changes I have seen and sort them into positives and negatives. How much is the ever expanding area being taken over by three cornered leeks becoming a problem, being one example.
So to listen to the conversation flow from exploring the holes bored into the trunk, to childhood memories and then onto the benefits being in nature can bring to our wellbeing was for me, quite magical.
As we continued our walk we bumped into two researchers from the University of Exeter's campus at nearby Penryn checking nest boxes that had been recently been installed by the Cornish Jackdaw project. For more information see the link below.
Lois, one of the researchers, agreed to give Chloe an overview of why they were in the cemetery and to demonstrate how they checked the nest boxes without using a ladder.
Links
To buy a signed copy of Dancing with Bees from Brigit visit: http://beestrawbridge.blogspot.com/
The wildflower Hour: https://www.mixcloud.com/THEWILDFLOWERHOUR/
The Cornish Jackdaw Project: https://www.wildcognitionresearch.com/cornish-jackdaw-project
No comments:
Post a Comment