Life Around the Wood - Wrington Village

Plants

Prestow Wood is full of life, most of it hidden or growing so slowly that we almost don’t notice. Some of it is visible at different times of the year, think birds which are easier to see when the leaves have fallen or butterflies which are easier to see on sunny days. Squirrels, however, can be seen when the leaves have dropped and the air temperature is not too cold or spotted when you see the end of the branches bouncing up and down.

The plants here are a mixture of native English ones (which mostly benefit the wildlife) and others which have arrived naturally or from gardens. Some of these arrivals are not quite so good from a wildlife point of view. Wildlife in the England has adapted to eat or use native plants over the last 10,000 years since the land-bridge which linked Britain to Europe was flooded – it was a case of adapt to eat what’s here or die out! We are trying to encourage native plants to thrive in Prestow Wood as these will benefit most wildlife to thrive as well.

Prestow Wood divides easily into three ‘layers’ – tree, shrub and ground. You will notice the trees whatever time of year you visit. At the moment, many of them are Ash trees and most of these have Ash die-back. We are sensibly having those nearest the paths removed or reduced to monoliths which leave just a few metres of trunk standing. These are good for birds to nest in, they like the holes which develop or use any ivy to hide in. We also have Oak, Field Maple, Yew, Holm Oak and Sycamore. These last two are what are known as non-native trees and are less good for wildlife but very good at preventing other plants from growing well nearby – see whether you can find anything growing underneath the Holm oaks at the eastern end! We are working to reduce the number of Sycamore seedlings (a never-ending task) and to remove some Holm Oaks and replace them with trees and shrubs which are better for wildlife.

The shrub-layer has Hazel (hazelnuts are eaten by birds and mice), Spindle (beautiful berries in autumn), loads of Wild Privet and Brambles (the berries are enjoyed by many species especially butterflies when slightly fermented). The shrub-layer provides something for plants such as clematis or ivy to climb up. Dormice especially need clematis to thrive and ivy is used by butterflies and other insects (it flowers later in the year when fewer sources of nectar are around and the berries which follow are eaten by lots of wildlife).

Mammals

There are only a few species of mammal that are easily seen in Prestow Wood, we know of others only by the tracks and signs left by them. The most easily seen mammal is the Grey Squirrel as it scampers along branches in autumn. During the rest of the year branches covered in leaves often sway up and down as squirrels run along them giving a clue that they are there. Squirrels make a winter nest, known as a drey, to sleep through most of the winter. They don’t sleep all the time, waking up occasionally to eat the acorns, hazelnuts and other food they hid during the autumn.

The other more easily seen (at the right time of season and day) mammal are bats. We are lucky enough to have four species of bats in and around the wood and, as we open up more pathways, we are hoping to have different species coming to visit, feed and roost here. Bats navigate by echo-location and some species use hedgerows and pathways as navigation aids. Bats, like many other wild animals, are having a hard time at the moment due to multiple environmental pressures so we are especially keen to encourage them.

Some creatures are (rightly) very shy when humans are around and we know they visit by the evidence they leave behind. Deer like to eat the bark of younger trees and shrubs and tasty young wild flowers. Foxes and badgers are omnivores and will eat most things leaving behind their droppings. These droppings contain chemical (pheromone) messages to other foxes and badgers, letting them know ‘this is my territory, keep out’ or ‘welcome.’

Prestow Wood is near to other woodland which has dormice living there and it would be great if we could encourage them to expand into our wood. Dormice need areas of hazel and clematis and are very shy. Most of us won’t see them but they will leave signs that they are there when (or if) they become established – this could take several years, dormice don’t travel very far or fast in one go! In fact, most of us won’t see any mammals at all, we will just have to enjoy the fact that they will be there.

Reptiles and Amphibians

Reptiles in Britain (snakes, lizards and slow worms) need the heat of the sun to warm them up, they breathe air, have scales and mostly lay soft-shelled eggs containing their young on land. Amphibians (frogs, toads and newts) are cold-blooded creatures so they are the same temperature as their surroundings – when it is hot, they get hot and when it gets cold, they hibernate. They live in water and on land but need to be in water when they lay their eggs. Most of the site is unsuitable for adders but we may have lizards and these will be found, if at all, on rocks of all sorts or in glades where they bask to absorb the heat of the sun so that they can move around and find food.

We have no data on reptiles or amphibians at present. However, we are planning to create a small pond or scrape in the quarry area which might attract amphibians as well as water insects. We also plan to create a hibernaculum (a carefully constructed pile of logs and rocks which have spaces for creatures to hibernate in over winter). Once these are created, we will watch with interest to see what uses them.

Birds

After trees, which don’t move very fast, birds are probably the easiest part of our ecosystem to spot in Prestow Wood and because of its location on the edge of the village we have quite a mix of species. We have the garden birds (such as robin, chaffinch, blue tits and great tits), the crow family (crow, rook, magpie, raven, jackdaw and jay) and the birds of the wider woodlands and countryside (tawny owl, long-tailed tit, nuthatch, blackbird and thrushes). Many of these birds could fit into several of these loose categories and that is one of the joys of Prestow Wood – it is available to many different species of birds to forage for food or to nest or to roost. Some birds are only spotted by their calls such as the Tawny Owl (although there is one which hasn’t moved from its perch for months – thanks Hamish!). Ravens tend to fly overhead and Jays are quite shy. If anyone is new to birding, consider downloading a bird-song app onto a smartphone and keeping it on as you walk through. You will be amazed at the number of different birds that are heard but not seen here in the Wood. We are lucky to have it on or doorstep!

Dragons and Damsels

Dragonflies and damselflies need water to lay their eggs in and to develop and hatch from their larvae. Most easily told apart by damselflies having two pairs of wings that are the same size, thinner bodies and their eyes do not meet on the head. Dragonflies have two pairs of unequal wings, their eyes meet on their head and they usually patrol an area being aggressive to other dragonflies. Once hatched, dragonflies fly far and wide and can be seen patrolling the paths and glades on warm sunny days. They too are looking for food (mostly flying insects) or to keep their territory or a mate. We may get damselflies once a pond becomes established in the future.

Butterflies, moths, hoverflies, bees and wasps.

Butterflies are mostly to be found flying along the paths or in the glades. They will be flying to find food (in the form of nectar from the flowers or liquid from fermenting berries or from animal droppings) or mates. We have seen Brimstone, Small tortoiseshell, Peacock, Meadow Brown, Large White, Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood, Comma and Holly Blue.

Many species of moth, hoverflies, bees and wasps will also be present but we need your sightings!

Beetles and other small creatures

Not much is known about the beetles and other small creatures (invertebrates) in the wood so we are hoping that people who see them drop us a line to let us know what’s there. What we do know is that there will be thousands of small invertebrates in a healthy woodland as the nutrient cycle depends on these creatures and fungi to break down the nutrients in dead or dying trees or plants or other dead creatures. In this way, the goodness is available to be used by others again and again. Many beetles specialise in eating or laying their eggs in decaying wood such as dead tree trunks. Beetles, slugs and snails are good food sources for birds and mammals.

Fungi

Fungi are an essential part of any woodland eco-system. Some are easily seen as they appear on tree stumps or ‘pop-up’ suddenly from the ground. They break down dead and dying wood, enabling the nutrients to be taken up by other plants. We mostly see the ‘fruiting bodies’ which contain the spores for the next generation of fungi and can take many different forms. Those on trees tend to last many years so can be easily spotted. Those which ‘pop-up’ from the ground start to auto-digest quickly so that their spores can be spread by the breeze, by flies and other insects or from being eaten and spread in droppings. Many more species of fungi are invisible to the eye as they have very fine underground filaments connecting trees and sharing information and nutrients. Less is known about the fungal connections between other plants but if we are lucky to have any orchids spring up over the next few years, they mostly won’t be able to appear unless specific fungi are already in the soil. Some fungi can easily be confused, it takes an expert to tell which ones can be safely eaten by humans and those which can’t so please don’t pick them!

Mosses and Lichens

Mosses and lichens (say like-ens) are another essential part of healthy woodland. They tend to grow on the north side of trees in woods (a natural compass-ish?) and can usually only grow where the air is cleaner. The whole healthy woodland ecosystem depends just as much on the small and insignificant parts of the woodland being there and doing their part. Mosses and lichens store water and are eaten by invertebrates which are in turn eaten by something else.

If you have an interest in wildlife, please let us know what you see. Even better is if you want to develop an expertise and survey the woods for your chosen area of interest. Earthworms anyone? Do you like spiders?

We also need volunteers to help manage the woodland to get it into top condition for wildlife and people. It won’t stay good for us if we don’t manage some of it regularly. Other parts of the wood need to be left as wildlife sanctuary areas and again, this need to be managed. We advertise work parties frequently and there are things to be done by everyone, young and old, fit and not-so-fit, knowledgeable and new to the countryside!