ABtrees

.............. or this ! Could this rookie hit the axe-throwing target? WWW.FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK A new addition for this year’s APF Exhibition, Anastasia Gandzha had a go at axe throwing.

Not quite as I remembered it but close enough ! Here is the link to the fun guys at last years APF - just scroll down their homepage and you'll see what i meant! Axe throwing and Archery | Axes & Arrows WWW.AXESANDARROWS.CO.UK Axes and arrows, Mobile Axe throwing, mobile Archery, outdoor activities, have a go, wedding entertainment, festival entertainment, axesandarrows.co.uk, @axesandarrowsuk...

Hi Steve To be clear, this wasn't a ring it was chunky boards 6"wide x 4" deep x 30" square (ish) grain running vertically on a target easel. Thought i had a picture somewhere but can't find it atm !

Had a go at this at the APF - good fun. Chap on the stand suggested to use pine for the target but whatever you use it works better if it's wet - i.e. chuck a couple of buckets of water over it the night before / leave it out in the rain ! Obv. he is right - wood is not only softer but seems to grip the axe better - no bounce out.

Probably the same one Mick - we are NE of you. Did he have his mate with him ? !!!

No pictures but ...... .... saw a pair of swallows heading NE yesterday - in central France. First for mr this year.

Thanks Paul. They are a bit variable - The one above has a lot more black on it than most of the other pics I can find, but I guess it makes sense as we do get them here. (see my post on 21st April in Pictures of Spring thread).

Can anyone help me with an ID on this caterpillar please ? Originally thought swallowtail but now pretty certain it isn't. So some kind of Hawkmoth maybe ? Seen on bramble and don't forget - taken in France !

You're right - that isn't a great picture - looks like some of the crap pics I end up with ! That said, they may be some sort of Sawfly - there's loads to choose from ! Your best bet on here is to ask @Anno

I initially had a similar issue - getting carried away with the 2in1. I have found what works best for me is to use a round file in the holder for two sharpens Stihl File Holder With Round File SKYLANDEQUIPMENT.COM The Stihl file holder comes with the correct depth and angles to make life that little easier when sharpening your chainsaw chain. This is particularly good for the small 3.2mm chain as... then every 3rd sharpen I use the 2in1 to take the rakers down - keeps it all sweet ! For the sake of £10 - give it a go and see how you get on - it's just trial and error till you find something that works for you and gives consistent results. Practice, practice, practice !

Hi Tom I thought I'd seen this topic before. If you put Harkie Defiance in the search box, there already quite a bit of opinion on them on here. Not having a go - just trying to help ! AB

However ..... a few more interesting fauna !

As we're now on flowers, here are some 'Whitebells' and some 'Pinkbells'

You know spring is here when these guys turn up !

Hi Beth, I'm no expert but those do look like Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica Alni), and you certainly seem to have plenty of them ! And it seems once you've got them, you've got them ! Roughly whereabouts are you (in the UK ?)? I'm not sure what you aim is - to 'protect' the trees / other plants or just to get rid of the beetles ? I am in France and we have loads of these but don't notice so much because we also have loads of Alder trees (200 +) along the brook. Because they're endemic here we also have loads of predators (and therefore a nice ecological balance). These beetles were (very) rare in the UK until a decade or so ago and it may well take time for the local predators to catch on ! I attach a link to the RHS website which basically says that it is unlikely that they will kill mature trees, spraying anything other than small trees / shrubs is likely to be ineffective as well as damaging to other (possibly predatory) insects. It also mentions other host plants . Good luck ! AB https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/alder-leaf-beetle