Brambles and Bluebells

Somehow, and I seem to be shocked by this every year, Christmas is just around the corner, and whilst it can be a lovely time of year for many, there is no denying that aspects of the build-up to it can be a tad overwhelming. There are presents to buy, meals to plan, events to attend, and that well-meaning plan to pop quickly into town on a Saturday to do a bit of Christmas shopping can easily end up taking the whole day and all of your energy. Luckily this month I stumbled upon the antidote to festive stress.

It all started a few months ago when George, the warden at Brampton Wood, helped out my now-husband and me with some tree slices for our woodland-themed wedding decor (when two ecologists get married it’s the obvious choice). In exchange he asked us to help out at a work party at Brampton. These run throughout the winter and all we knew in advance was that they involved volunteers assisting with the physical aspects of reserve management. So, true to our word, we donned our wellies and most outdoorsy clothes and headed to Brampton Wood on a beautiful, crisp Sunday morning in November.

We were met by George and a friendly group of regular volunteers and taken to the far side of the wood where, as many may know, there is a stunning display of bluebells in spring. What I hadn’t really considered before is the work that it takes to keep the area clear enough for the bluebells to thrive. While bluebells are accustomed to growing in somewhat shady woodland, they are at risk if brambles in the vicinity become overgrown and smother them as they try to grow in the spring.

Armed with a study pair of gloves and information about our task, we set to work with the other volunteers clearing the area of any large pieces of deadwood so that those more qualified among us could take to the brambles with motorised strimmers – they certainly made easy work of the clearing process! We then raked and pitchforked the exterminated brambles which had been left in the strimmers’ wake and added them to the bonfire which another volunteer had skilfully constructed from the deadwood we had cleared. It may have been chilly but a combination of the physical activity and a few trips to warm our hands by the bonfire meant that the cold was not a problem. With the varied physical work and jovial camaraderie it felt like we had only been there a short time when we suddenly realised that hours had passed and it was time for us to go home – well, time does fly when you’re having fun!

If it sounds like something you would also be interested in, the Wildlife Trust provides more details about their work parties in the area on their website: http://www.wildlifebcn.org/work-parties. For us it was the perfect combination – a chance to get outside in a beautiful place, get moving, and get involved in practical conservation work on our local patch.

A Waterfowl Wonderland with a Touch of the Amazon

As much as I would like to resist it, it is that time of year again when the daylight appears to go by in a brief flutter and the nights seem to drag on forever. I must admit that I’m more of a summer person, there is something disheartening about leaving for and arriving back from work in the dark, with no free time during the week to enjoy the great outdoors in daylight. This makes weekends all the more important for taking advantage of time spent immersed in nature. Luckily there are some truly wonderful natural experiences to be savoured in autumn and winter. One of these is the abundant arrival of migrant waterfowl to our wetlands. We are fortunate to have a number of excellent areas nearby to go wildfowl spotting, but one that has particularly enchanted me this month is Grafham Water. This reservoir is not only important for supplying water to the surrounding area, it is also a boon for wildlife.

The Wildlife Trust reserve at the reservoir boasts walkways through ancient woodland and newer plantations, areas of open grassland, and well-kept hides which are perfect for spying on the wide array of water birds. Meandering our way between the hides on our most recent visit we were accompanied by the upbeat “cheeping” of chaffinches and busy chattering of blue tits. Great tits also called from the trees with their distinctive disyllabic tune and podgy long-tailed tits darted in great numbers between hedges.

From the hides overlooking the reservoir we were amazed by the number of coots in view – in a quick count through the binoculars we tallied at least 500 of these feisty monochrome individuals. Besides the ubiquitous mallards and black-headed gulls, the reservoir was teaming with tufted ducks, great-crested grebes and teal. A few posts emerging from the depths of the reservoir provided excellent vantage points for herring gulls and suitable locations for imposing cormorants to fan their great jet-black wings.

We were certainly not disappointed with the wealth of wildfowl we saw at the reservoir but it must be said that we didn’t see any particularly rare birds. However, this was remedied on our way back by a sighting that neither of us was expecting. As we ambled along the path away from the last hide before the car park we suddenly caught sight of something bright rustling in a tree. It was a red-fan parrot (otherwise known as a hawk-headed parrot) unceremoniously ripping berries off branches and gleefully eating them, red juice dripping from his beak. While some parakeets breed in the UK, this guy was almost certainly someone’s pet who had made a bid for freedom. So not only is Grafham Water an excellent place for a countryside stroll, you might even spot some Amazonian fauna!

Autumn's Arrival

I have often thought that September is a bit of an odd month, it no longer feels like summer but neither is it properly autumn – it sits somewhere between the two having an identity crisis. The days are generally getting cooler and it starts to become sadly apparent that the long hours of daylight are waning, but the crisp mornings typical of autumn, when the sun sits blindingly low in the sky, are not fully present. The swifts have packed up after their summer holidays and flown back to sunnier climes, and the swallows gather on telegraph wires, readying themselves for the same, yet many of our winter visitors have not yet arrived. Parks are ostensibly less buzzing with bees and wasps, but some of the hardier individuals still cling on. Many species of butterflies are no longer on the wing, yet Common Blues, Red Admirals and Painted Ladies, to name just a few, can still be seen.

On the other hand, October is a much more satisfyingly autumnal month. The leaves start to turn, the conkers that fall from the trees now are plumper and more suitable for conker fights, and animals such as squirrels, woodmice and jays can be seen caching food for the winter months ahead. The agricultural fields come alive with flocks of fieldfares and redwings, and if you’re lucky you might even catch a magnificent starling murmuration at dusk on a fine evening – some brilliant places near us to see the latter are Fen Drayton Lakes and Wicken Fen. Colder nights lead to dewy mornings when spiders’ webs hang illuminated by sunlight highlighting their delicate strands like lacy decorations. October is also a great time to try your hand at fungi identification – some of the most beautiful species, such as Fly Agaric and Amethyst Deceiver, are looking vibrant at the moment.

With the days getting progressively shorter, October is a great time to take advantage of autumnal nature activities while there is still plenty of daylight. So while I may be mourning the fading of summer, I sure plan to explore the great outdoors this month and say goodbye to it properly.

A Trip Down Hayley Lane

When you live somewhere for long enough it becomes increasingly uncommon that you come across an undiscovered gem right on your doorstep, but this month we did just that. Just a quarter of an hour away by car from Papworth, the beautiful Hayley Wood lies concealed down a secluded path. At this time of year it is brimming with resplendent bluebells and dainty wood anemones, and the distinctive chatter of chiffchaffs and laughter of woodpeckers punctuate the calm air. It is also an excellent place to try to catch sight of adorable podgy treecreepers and camouflaged spotted flycatchers.

The wood is carefully managed to ensure that a variety of habitats are available for many woodland species. As well as birds, the wood is home to mammals such as badgers and foxes, and a wide range of invertebrates, notably a rich array of butterflies including the elusive silver-washed fritillary. With habitats ranging from coppiced woodland to mature trees and from open glades to ponds a multitude of niches have been created to promote biodiversity.

However, not all species are equally welcome in the wood. As part of their management work, the Wildlife Trust have erected a fence to exclude deer from the majority of the wood. With their cute little faces deer look too innocent to be any trouble, but unfortunately they cause havoc to ecosystems, foraging on the undergrowth and damaging the structure and regeneration capabilities of woodland, so the fencing is an important step towards limiting their destruction of this ancient woodland.

Woodland has been present on some parts of the site since prehistoric times but there are areas which still bear the marks of a much more recent history. As you first enter the wood you will find yourself in a section referred to as “The Triangle”. It is easy to get distracted here by the first enchanting sight of the wood but if you look carefully you will see the ridges and furrows left from the time when this area was regularly ploughed prior to the agricultural depression in the late 19^th/early 20^th century. At this time large swathes of agricultural land were abandoned as farming became unprofitable. Over time the land that was left untouched underwent a gradual succession, which took it from farmland to woodland. I find it fascinating to stand in “The Triangle” and think about the changes which have occurred here since nature was allowed to take over around 100 years ago.

At only 52 hectares Hayley Wood is admittedly diminutive in size, but what it lacks in area it makes up for in biotic diversity, natural beauty and an all-encompassing sense of calm. So next time you fancy getting away from it all, you could do a lot worse than taking a trip down the inconspicuous Hayley Lane.

Signs of Spring

It’s official – spring is here! I may have been overly optimistically trying to find signs of spring since early February but now no one can deny the distinctive indications of the season’s onset. Our humble back garden has yet again been transformed into a birdwatcher’s treat. The suet balls and birdseed are requiring restocking at an ever increasing rate as blue, great and long-tailed tits visit our bird restaurant on what seems like an hourly basis – not that we mind, it is so fascinating to watch them feed.

We have also revelled in watching different birds check out the variety of bird boxes in our garden. It really does look like they are attending a house viewing as humans might. They pop in, have a look around, decide whether it is right for them, and if they like it they might come back to see it a couple more times before moving in. We have been lucky enough this year to see a pair of robins go from their first viewings to settling into their new home. What to us looks like just a small wooden box, is to them the perfect place to lay and incubate their eggs and raise their chicks for the first few weeks of their lives. We have been delighted to watch as the couple furnish their new abode with the leaves and bits of moss that they have snaffled from the undergrowth, and without wanting to anthropomorphise them it is hard to watch the male feeding the female without being struck by how cute the situation is.

But it’s not just in your garden where you can see spring unfolding. Around our village right now there are so many fresh signs that nature is waking up and shaking off the sleepiness of winter. If you have been near the playing fields recently, you may have heard a loud repetitive hollow hammering noise. Despite the volume sounding like it belongs to a distant building site, this is the sound of great-spotted woodpeckers claiming their territory and foraging for invertebrates. If you keep an eye out you might even spot one of these impressive black, white and red birds dipping and darting across the fields on their way to another tree.

The butterflies, too, are making it known that spring is here. If you head to the woods or the agricultural fields you may spot some of the butterflies which start to emerge in April, such as brimstones, large and small whites, peacocks and commas, to name but a few. And if you’re in the woods, you should definitely stop to admire the carpets of dazzling azure bluebells, they really are a spectacular sight.

Nature is magnificent all year round but I have to admit that spring is particularly special to me. The country slowly starts to turn green again, wildflowers bloom with gusto, and the air is alive with the melodious singing of birds and the fluttering of insects. What’s not to love?