News
Friday, 3 October 2008
The Tudeley Woods Diaries
Despite a slow start, coppicing is now well underway thanks to the arrival of three new volunteers. All three are students from Hadlow College undertaking essential work placements as part of the National Diploma in Countryside Management. Although currently only able to use hand tools they all plan to take their chainsaw proficiency tests shortly. We have also been fortunate enough to recruit a new shepherd who not only took on all daily livestock checks over the Christmas and New Year break but has also offered to help at weekends.
Although still without a felling licence, the contractors have managed to proceed with cutting the smaller diameter chestnut and do not appear to have been held up to any great extent. Annual ride widening and brushcutting is now near completion.
Winter bird transects at Tudeley began in mid December and have so far not shown up anything unusual but there have been good numbers of the more common woodland birds. Other sightings of note include a Brimstone at Fore Wood in early December.
After many months of waiting, we have finally moved in to our new office on the Eridge Estate. Kitted out fully with brand new computers and complicated phones we now have somewhere to go when the weather prevents work on the reserve.
January - February 2008
The winter work programme of coppicing and ride widening is now near completion. The weekend volunteers have cleared an area of mixed coppice adjoining the ride where we first released the pearl-bordered fritillary. A good number of pea sticks and hedging binders were produced in the process. Most of the contractors have also made good progress despite the delay in receiving the necessary felling licences. An EWGS application was worked up with the Hadlow Estate to avoid any future hold-ups with the cutting programme. An interesting meeting of the Kent Woodland Forum included presentations on the recent changes to the habitat regulations, and on the fritillary work proposed by Butterfly Conservation in the Rother Woods and Denge Wood areas. Both subjects are of particular relevance to the management of Tudeley Woods.
A small area of softwoods is to be felled before the end of March in the Decoy Valley on the heath, as part of the ongoing management to open up the areas of sphagnum. The logs will later be extracted by heavy horses so as not to damage the delicate plant community. Anna and Martin have completed a set of winter transects through the lower woods. Marsh tit population is looking very healthy, but the star bird has been long-tailed tit, regularly up in double figures and well dispersed throughout the woodland. This reflects the successful breeding season last year, as reported by BTO. Meanwhile, a very brief, almost imagined, willow tit call was heard by Martin along the heath trail, but a half hour wait failed to locate it.
The hebridean sheep have remained on the fields over the winter months and have survived two dog attacks. Although no sheep were seriously injured, one lamb was missing for a couple of weeks but eventually turned up safe and well.
Hadlow College has been making good use of the reserve for work experience and for guided walks. They have also shown an interest in using the reserve to demonstrate the removal of rhododendron as well as other woodland tasks.
At Fore Wood, contractors and volunteers have almost finished this year's coppicing programme and a number of leaning trees have been removed. Bird sightings include displaying buzzard, lesser spotted woodpecker and good numbers of marsh tit.
Martin gave a talk to the Battle local support group, covering Fore Wood, Tudeley Woods and our heathland work in the region, which was difficult to keep within the allotted time!
March - April 2008
Mapping and point counts have so far revealed 2 pairs of tree pipit on the heath and good numbers of willow warbler. In the woodlands, garden warbler are present in good numbers but only one sighting of woodlark on the newly cut chestnut coppice and as yet no sightings on the usual arable fields. The first cuckoo was heard at Tudeley at the beginning of May.
Butterfly transects began at the end of March with far fewer sightings than this time last year. This is most likely due to last April's record-breaking temperatures. Last year's pearl-bordered fritillary release appeared to be successful with some egg laying on various plants so we are hoping that within the next couple of weeks we will see the first successful butterflies of the reintroduction project.
A trip to Rowlands Wood in preparation for the UKWAS visit revealed a huge number of deer and a subsequent lack of regeneration within the planted fields. The site remains mostly undisturbed by visitors despite an impressive display of bluebells.
Gareth Fisher from Ecology is currently visiting point counts at Fore Wood while also monitoring the presence of deer on the site.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/t/tudeleywoods/index.asp