Many thanks to Nick and Harriet for opening their stunning woodland in Barcombe to SWOG members. Nick has been managing it for wildlife for over 30 years and it truly is an amazing and diverse haven for birds, butterflies and many other woodland creatures, including ourselves on this wonderful spring day!
The wood is 75 acres of very diverse habitat, Nick puts his success down to coppicing every year, this way he always has regrowth at different stages, offering the widest possible niches for wildlife. The most productive being the first 7 or 8 years after cutting. He also has the space to put in large 20 metre rides and leave open annually mowed glades. These have helped transform the wood from a dark full canopy to an open, light and vibrant woodland.
Unsurprisingly the species of tree which help create this habitat is also quite wide and varied. Nick was kind enough to organise a quiz to see how many we could identify, he marked these ‘mystery’ trees with letters and gave us a list of possibles to match them up.
Some were easy:
Others not so easy:
We’re still not 100% sure of this one!
Primroses were at their most glorious.
And the Early Purple Orchids were just beginning to show.
Some more pictures from the day:
This really was a very special visit, not only as it is such a fantastic haven for wildlife, but to be there at this time of year, just as everything is coming to life was such a joy.
If you weren’t able to get there, turn your volume up and spend a minute listening to the sounds of Knowlands Wood in spring.
Many thanks once again to Nick and Harriet for hosting the meeting and making us feel so welcome.