Trip reports

A trip to Yateley Common

Sunday, 16 September 2007

The first outdoor meet of the term for Fleet Wildlife Explorers was held on a beautiful autumnal sunny day on Sunday 16th September 2007 at Yateley Common.

Andy Davidson from Hampshire County Council Countryside Service took the group on a guided tour of the heath, woodland and pond area and provided a fascinating insight into the history, flora, fauna and birdlife of the park. Much of the Common is also designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and a Special Protection Area (SPA) because of its importance for wildlife.

The heathland had been inhabited by Neolithic or early Bronze Age man - recent excavations had unearthed flint tools which would have been used by these early settlers. They would have cleared and dewooded the land for small-scale cultivation, but as the soil became impoverished, areas of heathland, as we know it today, would develop with heather, grass and birch trees being the dominant plants.

Today, the heathland habitat, so important for a wide variety of wildlife including birds, reptiles and insects, is regularly maintained with systematic clearances of scrub, trees such as pine and bracken. Heather such as bell and ling and other heathland shrubs such as common and dwarf gorse thrive in poorer soils - so often the top layer of soil will be scraped off, which allows the seeds underlying to germinate.

The heathland and surrounding habitats of woodland, scrub, grassland and trees support a number of breeding birds of European importance such as the Dartford Warbler, stone chats and nightjars, as well as more common species such as chaffinch and garden warbler. Reptiles such as the adder and viviparous lizard enjoy the warmth of the sandy soil on hot days - although we were not fortunate to come across any basking in the sun.

Conditions were not favourable for fungi spotting, as it was not damp, however there were a number of interesting specimens growing on the trunks of trees, which we were shown and permitted to handle, as they were non-toxic.

The Common also supports a unique population of solitary wasps, who make their home in the sandy soil and we came across a number buzzing around holes in the sandy slope.