The Duke of Burgundy (Duke) is a beautiful rare butterfly which has a colony in Denge Wood. Its two main populations there are at Bonsai Bank (Forestry England) and the Warren (Woodland Trust), with individuals found in other parts of the wood linking them. They fly in May, with a few emerging in late April if the weather is warm, and by June they are gone until next year.  Dukes are small butterflies, being not much bigger than a thumbnail when they close their wings. The males and females look the same unless studied closely, but behave slightly differently. The males tend to bask in the sun and perch on vegetation up to 1.5m high. They are quite territorial, so can often be seen flying to battle with interlopers. The females are more secretive, and can sometimes be seen laying eggs on Primroses or Cowslips. Dukes sometimes take nectar from flowers and particularly seem to like Wood Spurge.  Read more...

Mediaeval scholars used to refer to the primrose as ‘prima rosa’ or the first rose of the year.  The term ‘first rose’ is a misnomer as the primrose does not belong to the Rose family, but to the Primulaceae - a family that includes some 68 plant genera.  The common primrose is of botanical interest as its flowers occur in two forms - a phenomenon known as heterostyly or dimorphism. The two forms of the flower are known as pin and thrum eyed forms.  In the thrum eyed flower,  the long stamens are visible (see featured image above) and the short stigma lies below them; whereas in the pin eyed flower the stigma projects above the shorter stamens (see image below). Read more...

The official Latin name of the wood anemone is Anemone nemorosa but it is also known under many different and much more romantic sounding names – windflower, thimbleweed, wind crowfoot, smell fox or the helmet flower. These common names convey the affection in which this little woodland flower is thought of. This little perennial is referenced in many myths and legends including the anenome flower springing up where Aphrodite’s tears fell as she wept over the death of her lover, Adonis. The flowers are predominantly white but the petals can be tinged with pink or purple tones with a red stem. A similar plant is the buttercup anemone which has yellow colouring. The underground creeping habit ensures colonisation of the woodland floor forming large clumps in shaded and damp areas. Read more...

Some of you may know me as I’m the Regional agent for East Anglia. I own my own wood and wanted to share with you my wood over the year. I’m often asked by owners on what commitment in terms of work a wood entails. This will depend on the woodland and your needs and aspirations. However, I thought it might be useful to give a regular update on my own woodland. I’m blessed with the best wood in the world or that’s what I think. It’s my wood.   It’s called Snipes wood after one of my old dogs and it is 150 metres from my back door and surprisingly despite spending my working life in woodland - I love every moment I spend in it yet do very little work with it. First thing every morning I walk around the wood with “Stig “the dog and love seeing the sun rise as I head back for home. Read more...

It’s half-term and an excellent opportunity to get the children outside, particularly if the beautiful weather we’ve had for the last few days holds up.    Even if it doesn’t, just put on another layer and your waterproofs.  Here are Woodlands.co.uk’s suggestions for some woody half-term activities – and best of all, they’re absolutely FREE. go for a walk (and take a notebook to record/sketch what you see) explore build a camp cook sausages/toast marshmallows make some bannock bread brew some nettle tea build a den make a swing make a bird box to mark National Nest Box Week play hide and seek make a bow and arrows play at Robin Hood  take a map and a compass and try orienteering climb a tree learn your trees lie on your back and look up at the canopy take photographs take a magnifying glass and look at the lichens really close up look for an ancient / veteran tree see how many creepy crawlies you can find in an old fallen tree make your own nature trail research the history of your local woodland through old maps and its woodbanks listen to the birds do some animal tracking count the snowdrops put your wellies on and paddle in the stream make a dam play pooh sticks take a jam jar and do some pond dipping fish make a toy boat make pictures with fallen leaves, etc look for interestingly-shaped pieces of wood – it’s a sculpture! try wood whittling write a haiku or poem or a story take your paints and pencils get muddy just sit and listen to the silence or the sounds of the wood [caption id="attachment_42221" align="alignleft" width="675"] Bluebells[/caption]    

This favourite of all small-talk topics merits attention after the hot April and subsequent very wet months of May, June and July. But I am not going to mention climate change as threatening, indeed potentially catastrophic, as this phenomenon is to all of us and our futures. The weather, particularly very wet weather, affects work in woods and their care and management for the small owner as much as for the large forest estate. Read more...