News archive
January 2008
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Recent Sightings - Nov/Dec 07
At the Bough Beech Reservoir and Nature reserve flocks of brambling have were recorded during November and December as well as meadow pipit and mandarin duck. Additionally there were red crested pochard on the 3rd November and goldeneye on the 11th & 12th.
At Bewl there was a long billed dowitcher on the 12th of the November.
Marsh tits have were reported at Bedgebury Pinetum as well as sightings of hawfinch and crossbill in both months.
At Tudeley Woods, green and spotted woodpecker were present as well as nuthatch and sparrowhawk.
An unusual but heartening sighting was a flock of around 100 lapwings around the industrial estate at Paddock Wood railway station earlier in the month!
To catch up with some of these birds and for more information about the above go to our Places to see birds section on this site or use the link below;
Friday, 25 January 2008
The Tudeley Diaries - May to December 07
The glorious spring weather had deteriorated by June and the persistent rain has had a significant effect on charcoal production and sales with no orders for charcoal for almost a month. Due to lower than average temperatures and high rainfall throughout June, butterfly numbers have also been markedly lower than in previous years. This year's first white admiral was recorded on the 3rd July whilst the silver-washed fritillary has yet to emerge.
Initial findings from the spring bird surveys have been mixed. On the heath there has been a fall in both nightjar and tree pipit territories. However, elsewhere on the reserve marsh tit and turtle dove seem to be stable and a new territory for the lesser-spotted woodpecker was discovered in the plants.
Following an inspiring visit to Blean Woods to see the successful control of birch and pine I've been keen to tackle our own encroaching birch but, once more, the unpredictable weather has delayed all spraying operations. Our small flock of ten hebridean sheep have also struggled to keep the birch down yet they continue to look surprisingly well considering the lack of available food. We are looking forward to Frankie Woodgate and her team of horses returning to the reserve later this month to remove the remaining timber from the wet valley.
Motorbikes and off-roaders have returned to the heath after a period of absence. The local police seem to have taken the problem seriously and have threatened to confiscate two of the bikes. A new fence is to be erected by the hospital to prevent further unauthorised vehicles from entering the site. The first of two mountains of topsoil resulting from the field scrapes in 2005/06 has finally been removed. Just one more to go!
Fore Wood is looking fantastic following a much larger area of coppice work last winter. A new contractor has taken the hornbeam for firewood and left the site almost unnaturally tidy. Early butterfly records appear to be down on last year but with the larger clearings and wider rides this will hopefully change with the weather.
July to August 2007
Weather has yet again been the dominant factor in managing the reserve this summer. The contractor failed to spray the bracken for the second year running and birch spraying was delayed until late in the season. Butterfly numbers were also affected; in particular white admiral and silver-washed fritillary were both down on last year.
In August Frankie Woodgate and her two Belgian Ardennes horses, Jeton and Yser, returned to continue moving logs from the wet valley. Despite a difficult terrain and the weather being against them they succeeded in removing most of the timber from the valley without any of the potential damage you would expect from mechanisation.
Work on the arable fields has continued with more mulch being applied to the field scrapes. Last year's efforts have proved to be a success with heather making an appearance in most areas and even flowering in its first year. Calluna is now also showing well on the new areas of clear-fell softwoods, which were scraped last year.
The volunteers at both Tudeley and Fore Wood have been busy with controlling the vegetation on the ride edges and clearing birch from the arable fields. Hazel and chestnut coppicing are due to start shortly.
Little bird news of note, but it was good to see a pair of hobbies, which bred at Tudeley, wheeling over the open heath with two young birds in tow. There was only one pair each of nightjar and tree pipit this year, but an encouraging scattering of turtle dove, up to seven pairs across the reserve. The odd wheatear has dropped in over the past month, and meadow pipits are beginning to reappear, so autumn is upon us once more.
September to October 2007
With butterfly transects and weed wiping over for another year, coppicing and brush cutting have once again become the priority on the reserve. Volunteers have returned for the autumn and winter work programme armed with the usual assortment of loppers and bow saws. Unfortunately, having been promised the 'pick of the bunch' of this year's college students, we are still waiting for their contribution so the chainsaw has been put to one side for the time being. The coppicing contractors have also been slow to start, much to their annoyance, due to a delay on receiving the necessary felling licences.
Heather seed is being collected again from the main heath at Tudeley and spread onto the set aside fields. The harvesting machine is doing an excellent secondary job of mulching the young pines growing on the heath, saving us and the volunteers many hours of cutting and burning.
Earlier this month Martin led two fully booked fungi walks at Tudeley. Despite a generally poor year for fungi four new species were found for the reserve during the walks, with seven participants so impressed they became new RSPB members. Thanks go to the Brighton team for their invaluable help on the day. Since then, Martin has been kept in the office entering the huge backlog of non-bird data from Tudeley dating back to 1995 on to the Map Mate recording software.
A poor year for butterflies ended on a high with a sighting of a Camberwell Beauty basking on a log in full sunshine on the Pembury Heath trail. Other highlights (well they are for us anyway) at Tudeley included buzzard, brambling and regular passage of stonechat on the heath.
Unfortunately Jez, our long-term volunteer shepherd, will be leaving us shortly. He has been a huge asset to the reserve, spending 365 days a year watching over the sheep but unfortunately even the prospect of highland cattle returning to the reserve hasn't tempted him to stay. We wish him all the best for the future.
For more information on Tudeley Woods please use the link below to visit the reserve page on the main RSPB website.
Saturday, 19 January 2008
The Big Garden Bird Watch 2008
Tuesday, 1 January 2008
New Year Greetings
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