Flora and Fauna

Foxcombe Woods is a County Wildlife Site and falls short of an S.S.S.I. status (site of Special Scientific Interest). Why, if there is such a diversity of wildlife including some rarities ? The simple answer is that it is not ancient woodland. That is that is has not been continuous woodland cover since AD 1600 (somewhat of an arbitrary date but for good reasons which are too involved to go into here). Whilst having a few trees around the 350-400 year old mark the woods have only been just that “woods” for something over a century (see history).

Visitors to the woods may see stoats insinuating themselves in the brambles, roe deer quietly observing the passage of humans and dogs, grass snakes, liazrds and slowworms basking in spring sunshine, thousands of froglets as they emerge from their spring ponds, amazing and slightly surreal green-glowing glowworms on a summer's evening, tawny owls patrolling the dusky woods and much more besides.

Birds
The birdlife in the woodland is exceptional for such a small site and monitoring has taken place over the past twenty odd years. With its open heathy areas; scrub and coppice; and mature broadleaves and conifers, the woods offer a range of habitat types for a whole range of bird species. Over eighty species of birds have been observed in or over Foxcombe Woods - truly exceptional for such a site!

The manager’s favourite songbirds by far are the thrushes – both song (the “throstle”), and mistle (“stormcock”). On a spring morning or against an overcast sky the gladden the heart. If able, everyone at least once in their life should experience the dawn chorus first hand. There is something awe-inspiring about a quintessential English woodland at dawn with it’s birds in full song.

Sadly thrushes have become scarcer in our countryside over recent decades along with other formerly common species such as house sparrow, skylark and corn bunting. Rare too these days are nightingales and bullfinches in much of our countryside.

Of note in Foxcombe are the occasional goshawk, hobbys on passage and these days the spectacular red kites. Some years ago we had a lone male pied flycatcher (only the second recorded in the county) but sadly his singing efforts were in vain. Lesser-spotted woodpeckers are regular breeders in the older, more mature oaks alongside their more obvious “cousins”, the greater-spotted and green woodpeckers. In winter, snipe and water rail have been observed here near the stream and in summer woodcocks can be seen “roding” over their home territories in that strange, square flight pattern of theirs.

Update : Of late we have had first a solitary buzzard mostly over winter, then occasionally in the summer (the same bird), then more lately a pair displaying. I am hoping they will nest and do their best to keep the rabbits down! I would put money on where they will nest - we'll see if i'm right.

Mammals
Badgers, foxes, stoats and weasels are regularly seen. Woodmice, voles and shrews have often been turned up when live-capture trapping for educational or study purposes. Water shrew have been caught and there has even been the suspicion of harvest mice and hazel dormice from time to time, though as yet not confirmed through actual “warm body in the hand” evidence.

Unfortunately, in many ways, the most easily seen mammals which also make the greatest impact on their environment are all non-native, introduced species such as rabbits, grey squirrels, and muntjac deer. Along with the burgeoning population of native roe deer we have a strictly controlled and professionally monitored programme of control of these species, though poison etc is never used on site.

And let’s not forget the bats. We have a great many artificial bat roosts in the form of wooden and “woodcrete” boxes to compliment the many natural tree cavities within the wood. Why not come along on one of our evening bat walks and hear the mysterious ultrasonic world of bats ?

Pipistrelles, long-eared, daubenton’s and noctules have all been recorded at the site. Regarded as something of an expert in things batty, the site manager, Stephen, has attempted to consider bats at all stages of the management process.

Did you know that even the smallest native bat species (something weighing the same as ten paperclips), may live for over a dozen years? They can hibernate during which time they can control the rate of pregnancy development; they can echolocate; they can see better than humans; they can navigate hundreds of miles yet develop an intimate knowledge of their home (20 square mile) territory; they only give birth to single young which they suckle like other mammals (and not every year at that) - i could go on about these truly amazing creatures which groups make up over a quarter of all Britain's land mammals.

Update: When i first obtained training in things batty and achieved my English Nature "Roost Visitor Licence" in 1991, there was then only one species of the common bat - pipistrelle. Since then science has advanced our knowleedge and the species has been shown to be two closely related species which echolocate at different frequencies (so naturally they have become known as the 45 kHz and 55kHz). Also a continental species, the Nathusius' pipistrelle is increasingy being identified in British bat surveys. So from one to three. Then again there are other pipistrelle bat species.........

Gales : the high winds of winter 06/07 brought down a lot of trees in the wood, lostly toppled over at the roots. Rowans and birches, but ash and a willow too. On inspection it seems that they are shallow rooted and those pretty poor too. I put it down to droughts in the summer and waterlogging at other times. As a consequence of this and the rabbit and deer depradations the wood is increasingly changing in character. There are mature trees and an age class at about 40 years old, then a generation of oaks of about 15 years, then almost nothing - the result of management decisions, weather, pests, or a combination? Ain't being a land manager wonderful?

Brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) in a roof roost not a million miles from Foxcombe Woods

........and how we go about encouraging them to roost in our site (we have well over a hundred

bird and bat boxes of many different designs

Henbane

The Monterey Pine near the Woods' entrance

"Who-o-o lives in a house like this?" ...........

might it be this little vixen?

Male Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) - not my picture but we do have a thriving population

the "Old Swimming Pool" pond - once the place for a relaxed garden dip now the home of

great crested newts, bogbean, water soldier etc