ABtrees

Here's a bit of an odd one - any ideas ?

Hi Gary It is a nice pic but I think with the slightly shorter beak and that black chin this may well be a Willow (or possibly Marsh) tit rather than a male Blackcap. Always ready to be corrected !

For my twopenneth, pretty sure these are entirely genuine - old but genuine. They are the 'file kit' Stihl used to send out with their new saws (about 20 years ago !) along with a little orange screwdriver for the carb. I have the exact self same thing - came with a MS250 from a Stihl dealer - kit is unused if anyone is interested !!!!!!!!

Thanks to all of you for your advice and encouraging comments (apart from Mr Stubby, of course !!!). You guys have much more experience than me and the little ideas, when combined, maybe make a big difference to the outcome. As I said, this one had a reasonable result and I do spend a lot of time thinking about safety issues. My dilemma is that I obviously need the 'practice' to expand my knowledge and understanding of the issues in play, but equally I don't (generally speaking) cut down trees for the sake of it. I felt this one was dangerous (lean increasing, v. top heavy, next to public road and likely to fall into/across the river) so it had to go. (Pic below of it standing - its the one in the middle ! ). Thought about climbing it and removing some limbs to redistribute the weight a bit but caution/safety combined with a lack of understanding of the extent of the rot issue kept my feet on the ground (OK - bottled it and took the easier option !!!). Maybe what I need to do is go through some 'theoretical fells' on those in the field (and leave them for the next storm!) - try to improve my 'tree body language' skills at the same time. Or maybe ….. it might be time to invest in a proper winch.

Thanks for this Lux. Safety is always top of my list. Can you (or anyone else) suggest some reading on the rot and their effects (or is it Google search - again !)? My v. limited knowledge is 'dry' and 'wet' rot but I'm sure there is more to it than that. I'm fortunate to live surrounded by trees (maybe 70% Oak) of all different ages and states of decay (in most of the older ones). I generally just leave them be if they're out of the way as I really enjoy the whole nature/habitat/ecosystem bit, so I'm certainly not complaining. It really is a case of trying to deal with those that I have to competently (which I view as being less reliant on a tractor to determine the direction of fall !!!!!). So as ever any guidance much appreciated.

Morning Moose. Perhaps I should have said, in the rural middle of France. We are due south of Paris and due East of La Rochelle, in the Indre. The nearest town of any significance is La Chatre. Someone asked me on the phone the other day if I was self-isolating to which my response was yes since 2006 !

Was trying not to get involved in the derail (as I'm genuinely keen to learn) but …….. Stubby, if you're going to be the fashion police I feel it's important you know your wellies before you start flinging them ! So those are NOT B&Q's - they are Noras (here we go !) - the staple footwear of any self respecting dairy farmer (not that I am one!) - they're plastic not rubber, very hard wearing and as, wellies go I highly recommend them ( but not for chainsawing !). For the record, I also have a pair of bright orange ones (yes, you know the make) and a pair of Chameau - both of which I find uncomfortable after a couple of hours - I have odd feet ! So as not to offend I'll try and keep my footwear out of future pics but I had to get up there to illustrate my point !!!!!

Thanks for the reply Drinksloe. They're usually old Oaks. I take on board the point you make about toes and buttresses and I'm always glancing up the tree as I cut (maybe I should get one of those new back protectors !). Generally I can take my time doing my assessment / investigative bits. I took one down on Sunday which has been troubling me for a while - rotten 'pixie door' at the base, rot extended at least 1.2m up inside so I cut above tis point. I got the throw line where I wanted it (about 15m up and over the best looking junction - tree was 25m + very top heavy and back leaning a bit) and rope on the tractor and a couple of ratchet straps on to try to contain any barber chair action (or at least to give me another 1/2 a second head start !). All went fine and it ended up landing on my target stick!!! - so I can't complain. But when I inspected the stump I was more than a bit surprised by how little wood (hinge) I had had. See pic below. I'm really just trying to do things correctly and in a way that gives me more confidence before I start so all suggestions (theory or practical are always welcome. Thanks.

Help ! Looking for some guidance (probably more theoretical than practical). I find myself coming across quite a few rotten or hollow trees some (out of harms way), I just leave for the next big storm and tidy up afterwards ! Others I can't ignore - danger to my family or the general public - and as such they need to be taken down. I usually try to get a handle on how much sound wood I'm dealing with (bore cut and see what comes out !) but I have been massively wrong on a couple of occasions which is slightly worrying. So (as yet another example of my ignorance), my question is this: Is there an approved method of evaluating the extent of the sound wood (to create a decent hinge) or do I just carry on working on what feels right as I cut ? And/or is there a special felling cut for hollow/rotten trees that anyone on here can suggest or can you share with me how you deal with them in practice pls. ? Go easy on me guys - I need something fairly simple - I'm in the middle of rural France and don't have access to too many (enough!) fancy toys and gizmos !

As I keep telling everyone, I'm just an (enthusiastic) poorly educated amateur. I rely on the likes of David. AJS. yourself and many others on here to enlighten me. Thanks.

Some more of these pink things (on a different oak) - they remind me of pig snouts. And the evil Mr.Fungi

Here's are couple of recent ones the first 2 pics are the same one above and (v.poor pic - sorry) below. These remain brown in low/no light conditions and then turn pink after a few days exposure to daylight. The other one is one I get every year beneath the same silver birch.

That's got to be a pisser - but actually not totally surprising - as far as I gather that's a perfect host tree for these guys - ancient oak starting to decay - as they become rarer so will the beetles. Did you find any larvae or the beetles themselves ? The little I know can't really ever be described as an 'education' (look at some of my other posts) but I continue to learn something new almost every day and try to pass it on - if others find it interesting or useful so much the better. This forum and the people on here have such diverse knowledge and experiences and I have learnt so much so I'm grateful to all of you for that. BTW there was a proper (scientific) survey of these done in Aug 17 (if anyone wants it I can post a link).

Hi Rough As above, that was a musk beetle. Yes it is a longhorn but then so are thousands of others (worldwide) - there's over 200 longhorn species here in France. Many (of their larvae) don't live in trees at all. The picture before is also a longhorn, the Tanner beetle (aka : the Great British Longhorn beetle). I think you might be referring to the Grand Capricorne (Cerambyx cerdo) photo below taken in May. This is a seriously impressive beetle which we see from time to time and I don't doubt it damages (and occasionally maybe kills) Oaks. Its numbers are reducing (you be pleased to hear !) and it's now a fully protected species in France. Their lifecycle is only 3 or 4 years and they don't live in dead trees. There are plenty of other beetles that will do at least as much damage as these guys but worse than all of them put together, right now our biggest oak killer is drought.

Hi Paul Good spot. It is indeed a musk beetle. Lives off (or rather in as a larvae) willow.

Hi Rough, I don't mean to be rude but what is a 'European' Longhorn Beetle ? And why do you think I should kill it ?

Will this wasp (spider) do instead ?

Rather than bore you by uploading all my butterfly pics here's is my favourite of the summer - and a spot the moth - obviously !!!

That's the one - and on my potatoes ! I'm sure Mr Dempsey knows them only too well (as Doryphore) !!!

Haven't posted on this thread for a couple of months so first up are a few beetles taken over the summer - in no particular order but one of them definitely wasn't welcome.

This is getting more curious with each post. Yes I get the sap bit and I have had them on Willow (doing the same thing) and Rowan (Mountain Ash) but only in the spring. Now there's none on either of the above but..... Below are a couple of photos from just now. They have ring-barked the whole stem in places - surely this is going to create a whole new meaning to ash die-back ?!!! It's almost like collecting from rubber trees. Also they are likely from separate nests as a couple of fights are breaking out at prime sites. Guessing that there is maybe 200+ in a single 30ft Ash. Don't see any sign of sap - no 'bleeding' and they don't seem to be carrying anything off (back to any nest). Help me out of my ignorance someone pls but how much sap is still flowing at this time of year ?

I can relate fully to that - they do usually give you some warning. Ringing up a fallen (hollow) oak last year, saw a hornet 2 ft in front of me, 10 seconds later maybe 15/20, 10 seconds after that literally 40/50. Time to retreat to the tractor cab. They followed en masse and just waited for my next move. I left and picked the saw up two days later - tree's still there !

I think that's great advice - if only to protect my stash of chocolate biscuits (but is it legal ?!!!). To be fair to them, they have also been stung (wasps and bees inadvertently), bitten (horseflies, spiders (!) and tics) and peed on (snakes and toads) so by and large they're pretty cool with it all. That said, I don't want them (or anyone else) to be stung a hornet - it really does take your breath away. Anyone got any info/theories on the hornets stripping the Ash bark ?

BTW I was in the UK last month and saw 3 hornets in 2 different locations ( both where I had never seen them before) I also had a Median wasp nest (which I left) in my little garden over there - interesting structure and very different to a common wasp nest. Another one we have a lot of over here are the so called 'Paper wasps'. And yes I've been stung by them as well - last time was about a month or so ago. They are a pain inasmuch as they build a (relatively) small nest in the oddest of places - but they only sting you when you threaten the nest - which frequently happens because you have no idea it's there. In the last year this has included the door of my tractor, the frame of my kids swing, under the shelving in my greenhouse and inside the pto guard on my grass topper.

In France. Believe me nobody wants to get stung by a hornet. I have been stung by wasps many, many times - nothing compared to a hornet sting. To be fair it wasn't the hornets fault - I was on my bike and it went down my top, I have broken various bones (some more seriously than others) over the years, but this was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced (maybe with the exception of a slurp of hot tea 10 hours after having my wisdom teeth out - doh !). A friend of mine reckoned that when she was stung it was marginally worse than childbirth ! The pain lasted about 5 hours (non stop) before diminishing (at all) and then came back every 20/30 minutes and it carried on like that for the next 24/36 hours. 5 days later I'd still get the odd twinge. 2yrs on I still have a little lump where it stung me which itches from time to time - odd eh.