I'd say you are making a huge difference , by having your priorities in order with work and family.I'm talking the average landowner. Like me. Works everyday, married, two kids, a home, etc. Hard to do enough to make a difference----unless you hire it done.
I had a bird nest a few years ago very similar to the one in your pic.View attachment 16257View attachment 16258
My little hinge cutting experiment seems to be going as planned. I think it's too wet for much bedding underneath, but the trees are doing what they are supposed to do, and at least one bird seems to like the technique.
Rusty
A busy guy has to be damn organized to make those few habitat days per year pay off. Before I head up to my place, I will start planning my next trip before the previous one is even over. That means making a list of next projects, materials needed, order of operations etc. I order stuff, prep tools, plan quick energy packed meals, etc. When that day comes, stuff has to work, you can't have a dead saw, no fuel, missing tools etc.
I schedule thanksgiving weekend for Operation Sunlight each year. If the family ain't at war with one another, we'll have thanksgiving dinner, and then i'm hell bent for camp. If I can cut for 2-3 days, I can drop the bad, liberate that good, and create lots of food and cover in the process. That will usually yield me 1-2 acres of rebooted land. I have a target area of about 16 acres where I'd like to keep going year by year, and start over at the beginning once I'm through.
Watch as those trees eventually flatten to the ground, or perhaps any you have laying on ground already. They will affect the water transition and its perculation and retention which will contribute to greater and more resilient growth on the up dam side. This issn't an overnight occurrence but it is these little things that transition the soil makeup and therefore the plant community in microcosms that affect everything form plant selection to soil micro and macro organisms. Simply replicating in small sections what the mature forests once accomplished before colonial times. I find it cool and interesting, others , like my lady, think pretty boring rambling.View attachment 16257View attachment 16258
My little hinge cutting experiment seems to be going as planned. I think it's too wet for much bedding underneath, but the trees are doing what they are supposed to do, and at least one bird seems to like the technique.
Rusty
You done went deep again dogghr...Just cutting a tree has more affect( or any land manipulation for that matter) than just the initial action itself.