Selective Thinning
Taking out a small proportion of mainly young birch trees and other non-natives such as red oaks allows the canopy to be opened up to allow light to reach the woodland floor. If it was left to its own devices, it would become too dense and not allow our native oaks to develop into big, strong trees. Contractors from Heartwoods are back on site this winter helping to improve our management of our wonderful woodland, and now with the added help of Rachel, Becky and Steve who will also be helping to fell trees! So why do we need to open up the canopy? Well… it provides the necessary habitat to benefit several woodland bird species of conservation concern, such as redstart, pied flycatcher and wood warbler. These birds favour a more open characteristic to the woodland’s understorey. We hope to see an increase in these species when the work is completed.
Pied Flycatcher by John Bridges (rspb-images.com)
Log piles
Decaying wood is very important for wildlife - it’s just teeming with life from mosses and lichens; to fungi; beetles; birds and even bats can find a home in rotting wood! Log piles are created throughout the reserve (mainly from where selective thinning has taken place) and are simply just left to rot. During the cold winter months frogs; newts and even toads will take shelter inside as it’s safe and damp enough for them to pitch up a home for a few months. Did you know you could create a log pile in your own garden? It doesn't have to be big, just visit http://homes.rspb.org.uk/ for more information.
Coppicing
On the reserve we have areas of coppice which are on a cycle of between 5 to 10 years. By cutting broadleaved trees such as hazel; ash and silver birch back down to the stump – this allows thin young branches to be created, this is called coppicing. Much like with selective thinning this allows light to reach the woodland floor creating a much wider range of habitat for flowering plants which in turn bring pollinators and birds to these areas.
Scrub Clearance
Scrub is an important habitat for a whole range of species but one of the problems we are trying to tackle this winter is removing it from areas where it is not wanted. The main reason for doing this is that we want to increase the range of wild-flower meadows back on the reserve to increase flowering plants such as Greater Butterfly Orchids all of which are particularly important for our pollinators during the spring and summer.
Greater Butterfly Orchid by Carl Capewell
So with all this work to do over the winter it’s about time I actually got out and did something! None of our active management would not be possible without the help of our wonderful bunch of volunteers who continuously provide support throughout the year and of course the dynamic duo - our residential interns Rachel and Becky. Take a walk through our reserve and see if you can spot our management in action, you won’t have to look far…