Blog - Wildlife

Woodland Butterflies

Woodland Butterflies

by Steve Wheatley, 27 March, 2009, 8 comments

With Spring approaching butterflies are starting appear once more. Peacocks and Comma butterflies, which overwinter as adults (wings closed to blend in with wood and old leaves), can be seen on Spring days. The fast and purposeful Comma often aggressively patrols clearings at about head height, often returning to the same location every few minutes. If you startle one, just take a step back and wait quietly for it to return. Read more...

Falconry and Woodlands

Falconry and Woodlands

by Evan, 19 December, 2008, 1 comments

Evan Davidson flies birds of prey in and around the Yorkshire area. He explains how his interest in falconry brought him to us … I first got involved with Woodlands.co.uk about four years ago when I noticed one of their signs beside woodland they manage near Harrogate. The local area holds good rabbit numbers and the bird I was flying at the time, a female Harris hawk, needed to learn to fly in close tree cover. Read more...

Bats in the Woods - Bat surveys

Bats in the Woods – Bat surveys

by catherine, 1 November, 2008, 3 comments

Now that the weather has turned colder, most bats will have found their spot to hibernate for the winter. November is a good time to carry out a bat survey of your wood, when the leaves have dropped from the trees and it’s easier to see possible bat roosts. Read more...

Badger Watching for Beginners

Badger Watching for Beginners

by David Plummer, 17 October, 2008, 10 comments

It is evening, about 7pm and still light. A lone robin sings from the understorey and the repeated notes of a song thrush call from the distance. I am sitting in a woodland looking at a huge mound of earth and I feel a bit of lemon really. It is normally at this time that I sometimes have my doubts as it seems improbable that Britain’s most easily recognised and iconic mammal, renowned for being shy and nocturnal, will emerge from the safety of its home in daylight and within just a few metres of where I am sitting. Read more...

Wet Woodland - Carr

Wet Woodland – Carr

by catherine, 17 October, 2008, 2 comments

No-one likes getting their feet damp, but wet woodland has its place and is certainly valuable from the perspective of diversifying habitat. Read more...

great tit

Feed The Birds?

by Chris, 10 October, 2008, 1 comments

Whilst it always good to see wildlife in a natural setting, such as a woodland, it is also good to encourage wildlife in our gardens. The woodland blog last year listed some of the strategies that might encourage insects and invertebrates in our gardens. It is also possible to encourage birds into our gardens, just as Catherine wrote about managing woodlands for birds. Many ‘everyday’ urban species of bird populations have declined in recent times: house sparrows by approximately 60% and starlings perhaps by 75%. Read more...

Deadwood

by catherine, 10 October, 2008, 2 comments

Traditionally woodland was kept “clean” by clearing away fallen timber. However, nowadays it is recognised that deadwood has an important part to play in forest management. Deadwood was removed to prevent the transfer of disease and pests – a mistaken belief as it happens, for almost all species which inhabit deadwood are specific to that habitat (“saproxylic”) and will not inhabit living wood. Now deadwood is recognised as an essential part of the forest ecosystem. Read more...

Galls and Oaks

Galls and Oaks

by Chris, 19 September, 2008, 2 comments

Not only do oak trees form part of our landscape but they also support an enormous range of organisms. Birds may make their nests in the canopy, spiders spin their webs in the twigs, squirrels gather the acorns, and many insects devour the leaves. However, some insects make a home in the tissues of the trees and create new structures; these are called plant galls. Read more...

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