Summer 2004
Elms Farm Bulletin
Wet weather permitting (!), the hay is being made and animals thrive on good grass and sunshine. In the woods our happy, extremely rare breed Berkshire pigs have litters growing on. We now have roughly 1/100th the worlds remaining Berkshires. If people don’t continue to appreciate and buy their exceptional pork they will die out without a doubt. Our dexter cattle are all on nature conservation grazing duty this year from Kidlington water meadow SSSI’s to County Wildlife Sites to Hill End Field Study Centre SSSI. Landowners are becoming increasingly aware that such traditional rare breed, hardy stock do well on rough species-rich pasture and do the job well. We have had breeding sparrowhawks, vagrant red kites, thriving bee orchids and rare oil beetles this year. The grazing management is vital to preserve the diverse, natural habitat mosaic that was once the British countryside. We aim to do our bit to preserve this. Looking forward rather than backward we are hoping that, with your support, this will be the year in which our free-range, additive-free, rare breed meat will take off. Direct from the abattoir to a small family butcher and then direct to the customer. Orders may be placed at any time for lamb, beef, pork, sausages, bacon etc and you will be informed of likely supply date at the time. There are no factory methods in our operation ! We firmly believe that there is a discerning market for locally produced, high quality meat.
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Spring 2004
When the wind blows!!!...
...not only the cradle comes down but all those trees with insufficient anchoring roots, the tops of trees with poor branch unions or squirrel damage, the crows nests, the squirrel dreys and a lot of other flotsam as well.
We seem to get more and more frequent gales of the sort which brought down yet more trees recently. Now whether that’s a result of global warming or just routine happenings amplified by the number of mature trees, dead elms etc on the Hill in general, is open to debate. What is obvious is that we will fairly rapidly lose much of the canopy cover of our woods and gardens unless things change.
It is not worth waiting for beech or sycamore to contribute to the canopy with the number of grey squirrels around. Nor should we continue to rely on silver birches to quickly reach for the skies. With their growing buds nipped out and regular, extensive bark stripping events these trees are no longer a good bet.
Perhaps we should be planting more scot’s pines and monterey cypresses since these are both wind-firm on our thin,sandy soils. Or maybe we should be planting up dense shelter belts on the windward edges. Whatever the answer ,the structure of our Boars Hill woods is changing and rapidly at that.
Roundhouse ?
I haven’t had any interest shown in this proposed construction. Do we have anyone out there with skills to assist in the building of an iron-age(ish) roundhouse ?
Did anyone see “Grand Designs” the other day about the coppice and woodland worker who built his own crook-framed house in the woods from all of his own material ? Several people contacted me to tell me the prog. was on !
Weather ‘tis nobler'
I always seem to go on about the weather in these little diatribes. Well this one is no exception ! 2003 was my fourteenth in position as site manager. It was the hottest and driest of those 14 years. In fact late summer was the hottest and driest since records began—over 130 years !!
So, apart from better suntans and some good autumn colours what were the wildlife consequences from the three months of rainless weather ?
Well nationally badgers were reported to be suffering in the driest locations (as were hedgehogs) as their staple food (earthworms and other humid-loving invertebrates), were more difficult to locate. “So what ?”, you might ask, “badgers are becoming an agricultural pest aren’t they ?” “Didn’t David Archer have to shoot one to stop it transmitting TB to his cows again?”. I believe the jury is still out on the TB issue and here I speak as someone who has several badger setts on his land and no signs of TB have ever been noted on the regular tests the men from the ministry insist on. But actually that’s not the point. I think there would probably be a better way of controlling TB in cows than slaughtering badgers—even from a purely logistical, cost effective point of view. I like badgers. Badgers are part of our remaining native fauna.
So they suffered. What else ? Well in the woods many second broods of birds failed to come off. Whether this too was due to the lack of available food I don’t know. Certainly the birdsong ceased much earlier than usual too and from a purely selfish point of view that’s a shame.
Of the 200 hazels which we planted in the new church farm woodland down in Sunningwell approximately 100% perished. That will have to come out of this year’s budget. We will try again. Many young saplings on the light Boars Hill sands suffered and will possibly never recover too. And there’s certainly not enough younger trees on the hill to take over from the many similarly aged, over mature specimens we currently have.
So you see that the effects of a bit of nice summer weather for a change and a jolly good Indian summer may be felt for many years to come. Let’s hope (for wildlife’s sake) that we have some proper good old fashioned weather in the future. Wet and mild in the summer, cold and frosty in the winter. After all we, and all our neighbours in the country, do well on this.
Horses, cows and pigs
How many of you have taken the time to see Samson working the woods? You really ought to you know.
Horselogging is a dying activity and very skilled. We took part in the national championships this year at Ledbury Castle . And guess what….we didn’t come last ! It was good to see a few experts ply their trade and make new friends along the way. We are a small bunch with only a couple of dozen maybe across the country.
Since then I have driven a team of four in Devon and watched a 15 hands high Dales pony pulling one tonne of un-wheeled timber in the Northumberland hills. What is it that chap on the Fast Show used to say all the time ? “Brilliant !”.
The pigs will be coming to the woods eventually. They should have been there at the back end of the summer but then we started getting the vandalism and thefts and I didn’t want to risk them being harmed. Hopefully people wouldn’t be so stupid…………… but then again.
And as for beef and pork. Well many of you already order your top quality additive-free, rare breed, conservation-grazed meat from us. The cows have all done very well this year despite the dry weather. They continue to graze many important wildlife sites around the county . Give us a call if you want to try some meat. (The sausages and bacon are always acclaimed !).
“Now is the winter of our discontent”...or is it?
It was a wise man that said you can’t please all of the people all of the time. It took me quite a few years to realise that I wasn’t going to be the exception.
With clearance work in the woods i aim to have a few comments made that we have cleared too much, and those to be balanced by those who say not enough ! That way I know I must be somewhere right.
We do seasonal bracken clearance every year a couple of times and cut into the dense bramble patches so that they don’t swamp the ground flora. We are always aiming to a diversity of habitats without excluding any one particular type. The rare species which utilise and inhabit Foxcombe Woods (like the great crested newts, glowworms, certain fungi and certain fly species (yes I did say fly ! Zzzzzz)), all depend for some aspect of their life history—if not all of it– on the direct management of the woods. It’s quite a responsibility. And don’t forget that a lot of the more mobile species which we find around Boars Hill in general may well depend on a certain aspect of habitat or food resource which may only be found in the heart of the woods.
To clear or not to clear “that is the question”
And to belabour the quotations to death…….”it’s a far, far better thing that I do now, than I have ever done before…” Yes many of you will already be aware that my little foray back into education when I took my Forest Schools Leadership certificate last year got me to thinking about it a bit more. So, without wishing to be accused of sitting on my laurels, I began another part-time course of study in the autumn. Finally, after a 20 year gap from my undergraduate days, I have undertaken to complete a Masters degree in Habitat Management. Yes you got it, the very stuff I drone on about in this newsletter far too often. Let us see whether my diminishing stock of little grey cells can cope.
Please address all bottles of whisky, cases of wine and boxes of pipe tobacco to my home address. I will need the motivation ! (Only kidding by the way
Shock and Awe ?
Spring came and stayed ! That was the first shock. Then it was sunny for a month and that was the second. Then with spring proper the flowers, butterflies and migrant birds all arrived early. That was the awe. Mind you spring already inspires awe in the same way as birth does. Its as natural as can be but no less a miracle. And of course its so easy to ignore it and then it’s passed by. We had spring butterflies (brimstones, peacocks and small tortoisheshells) on the wing a good week earlier than any spring in the last fourteen years. The chiffchaffs arrived a week earlier than last year, and the blackcaps were here by early April. As an amateur phenologist these things interest me. As a believer in the inevitability of global warming they fill me with worry. Our wildlife in Britain has evolved to cope with winters and mild summers. We are not in a continental climate (except perhaps parts of East Anglia) so our flora and fauna likes it the way it has been for thousands of years. Summer weather in March may be welcome and bring the smiles out on people’s faces but it bodes ill for natural historians.
Anyway, did anyone else see the hobby in the woods at the start of April ? A lovely little raptor—like a miniature peregrine. We also had buzzards and a red kite quite active through the winter and spring. The buzzards are breeding locally but I don’t know of any kites locally—unless you know better.
The Forest School site is now well established and we are having two or three groups a week. I have been off and trained to be a leader. That was a whole week of education. My brain hurts !
Greenwood methods
This is not a tale about Robin Hood and his merry men—though, come to think of it, that might be quite relevant. The art of greenwood crafts is to construct items from timber when green, that is to say, straight from the tree and still containing moisture. The wood is more pliable and easier to bend and cut to the desired shapes. Thus with greenwood techniques were Windsor chairs made, items turned on the pole lathe, crook barns built etc. My pole lathe is now working more often when Ali has the time and he is turning out some rather useful and aesthetically pleasing pieces ; chairs, dibbers, tool handles etc. When time allows we will set up a steam bending demonstration to go alongside the charcoal kilns and pole lathe. It’s also about time I finished off my long bows, restored my old coracle and made some cleft fencing which I have been meaning to get around to for a while. If you come along to the woods,( especially on the “meet the workers” days) you will see of these activities taking place
A Professional approach ?
Small and sensitive woods like ours can be easily disrupted by large groups of people, rampant dogs, noisy machinery, spray drift, watercourse pollution etc, etc. Believe me, I know ! Large scale forestry techniques are often not applicable in these situations. The British Horse Loggers Association spans the gap between proper woodland timber extraction and other management activities and the large scale felling and harvesting operations. It is not a return to Ludism—simply the utilisation of appropriate technology. The equipment myself and others use in conjunction with their highly trained horses is technologically advanced and used as a matter of course in many Scandinavian and other European countries. Come and see what we can do with one pony and some training ! Countryside Management generally is a subject I have touched on several times before. It has come out of the background and now stands as a profession alongside better known ones. Qualifications are demanded and standards of work are strictly monitored (not the least by you the general public). I became a countryside manager after my time at university some (ahem) years ago. The body to join then was something called the Association of Countryside Rangers. (There was another specifically dealing with national parks.) The A.C.R. manifested itself into the Countryside Management Association and is now an organisation striving to achieve professional status in all its members. Thus the term “Ranger” or “Countryside Manager” or “Warden” holds associations not only of detailed on site and area-based, intimate information, not only of rural policing and the care of trust, but also of well-trained (and constantly updated), professional, and committed workers. (Well you have to be committed to work the hours and duties which most C.M.A. members do for the remuneration usually provided !).
If any of you are interested in this organisation, or the Forestry Contracting Association (of which the Horse loggers are a specialist group), or in training in any one of the hundreds of skills taught to do with countryside work generally (including greenwood skills), then contact me and I can point you in the right direction.
February 2003
Things afoot in the woods
As those of you already know who visit our special woods on a regular basis we have some exciting developments taking place. However, before I tell you about those—have you renewed your membership subscription ? It is now due for the year and at the rates charged must surely be outstanding value for money. (£ 20 for families, £ 15 for individuals, and all donations gratefully received). If we have not heard from you by the 1st March you will cease to retain the privilege of having year round access to this jewel of Oxfordshire. Beautiful in all seasons, peaceful on (nearly) everyday (machinery and other visitors notwithstanding !), fully designed to make best use of the natural chi, it surely is a special place. We rely on your subscriptions and in these troubled times with charities feeling the pinch as much if not more than most, every penny is put to good use. There is nowhere else in the county like it, and possibly nowhere else in the country. Isn’t that worth a twenty pound note ? (Actually cheques payable to Cecil Pilkington Charitable Trust are preferable). We limit membership to a maximum of 110 to retain the solitude and calm of the woods and we often have a waiting list. Of course I am biased as the warden, but (and don’t tell my employers this I would gladly pay to be able to work here !), the site has renown far and wide. So get your chequebooks out while you remember. I will change the gate combination on weekend of 9th March
Forest School comes to the forest
If you go down to the woods today (or usually on thursdays ) you are sure of a big surprise. Well maybe a few small ones. We have established a forest schools site within the woods in the old larch plantation area. This is a county education authority scheme whereby normal curricula activities can take place in an outdoor environment. This can be very valuable for children who may normally never come to a woodland or who may be frightened and intimidated by the countryside. In addition it can be extremely valuable for children who for whatever reason are not thriving within the traditional classroom environment. They are allowed to roam and explore their area (defined by the wire netting enclosure), and under supervision throughout the woods on expeditions. From the feedback so far received the youngsters are getting a real benefit from their visits to our beautiful woodland. In fact, if you think about it, it is not so different from the traditional “old-fashioned” education I received thirty or so years ago and I suspect as many of you also received. This is a natural progression from the informal educational activities we have always encouraged within Foxcombe Woods. And at the other end of the scale our university student has now completed her studies and is writing up her dissertation ! We cater for all learning here.
Who mentioned pigs and horses?
Well Samson the working cob has already become a bit of a feature within the woods. He takes the place of the noisier, heavier, messier tractors and landrovers. He has already been filmed for the Boars Hill video and proved himself a star. As a special introduction to him and demonstrations of what he can do we are planning a series of “meet the workers days”. See the next newsletter for details. In addition we are also planning to introduce a couple of pigs to the site for short periods of time to assist with the bracken management. As one of the modern exponents of this traditional form of woodland management I utilise rare breed pigs within some woods in Appleton where this is taught as part of the courses I teach at the Rural Skills Training Centre. They are perfectly friendly and harmless but as a precaution dogs (and small children) should be kept away from their enclosures. Advisory notices will be displayed when this takes place. While on the subject of dogs I once again have to write to ask that you all maintain complete discipline at all times from your canine companions. I have received complaints about a number of animals (and owners) and I know who you are ! Please keep them under close control, out of the ponds, on the tracks away from the wildlife and always pick up after them as all conscientious owners do. I do not wish to issue written warnings or to withdraw membership of our access scheme, but it is something I will consider doing if bad behaviour persists. (I hate to write this). Anyway, once again I have run out of space. More details of events, activities etc in the next newsletter which you will receive after subscriptions are renewed.
The Vole Of Discretion
I saw a water vole the other day (Ratty of Wind in the Willows fame). He “plopped” into a ditch and paddled along like a furry, brown log with small ears and big eyes. A couple of days later I caught a glimpse of a mink and found his “scats” left behind. Unfortunately the two creatures are not compatible. When non-native (introduced, released or escaped) mink move into a stretch of river bank the first thing they do is go through the area and eat all the water voles. Poor old Ratty ! They were so common in my youth. Every pond, ditch and sluggish stream had them. Now they are a rarity and it is real treat to see one. Fortunately the mink was in Abingdon and the water vole elsewhere on Hedgehog’s farmland. Let’s hope they don’t meet. The one glimmer of hope for Britain’s water voles is that as otters are slowly returning to our quieter and cleaner rivers they seem to be ousting the mink as the “top predators” and while otters are known to eat water voles, they do prefer fish. So mink disappear and voles might make a comeback. They are harmless and charming little creatures and like “nothing so much as messing about on the river”. Hedgehog’s tip for the autumn :- watch out for halcyon birds on inland waterways (including the glebe).
One flew over the garden fence
As many of you are aware Hedgehog farms a little with pigs, cows, sheep etc. More of a hobby really since it loses not creates money. Nevertheless it means I have a couple of hundred acres to manage. Management is partly to benefit wildlife and so wildflowers, birds, butterflies etc are encouraged wherever possible. With so many boundaries on my land I have an awful lot of neighbours, most of whom are very good. However, along with many other landowners and occupiers, I suffer from the “chuck it over into the field” mentality so that quantities of garden and sometimes domestic rubbish appear along my fencelines ! Grass clippings poison livestock as do a lot of shrub and plant materials. Woody material damages machinery and makes animals go lame when hidden in grass, and the worst of it all is fly-tipping in ditches which pollutes watercourses and impedes drainage. I would like to make a general plea for all of us land managers and for the land itself for people to take responsibility for their own rubbish, to dispose of it properly (composted preferably), and to ensure that any contractors they use do the same (and incidentally are properly insured but that’s another story !). How many folk have noticed the red kite around Sunningwell and Boars Hill since the winter ? Along with an increased presence of buzzards in the area we are seeing a lot more raptors (birds of prey) generally. Also we have a pair or peacocks who roam around a bit adding to the colour of the area. As I write this garden warblers, blackcaps and dunnocks are all trying to confuse each other with their similar songs. And while we are on the subject, how noisy are the songthrushes this year ! Have a good summer.
Lots happening !
With the winter disappearing and spring showing in snowdrops, daffodils and birdsong, we are looking forward to a very busy 2002. See elsewhere for events listings but also note that with this year being the 75th anniversary of the Oxford Preservation Trust (O.P.T.) and also the first full year of the Rural Skills Training Centre there are lots of other interesting activities to take part in.
At West Farm, Appleton there are courses / training days in hedgelaying, coppicing, basket making, hedgerow management, pond construction and maintenance, using grazing livestock and (busy) pigs as management tools, encouraging wildlife habitats for birds, bats, mammals and invertebrates and much more besides. Your Foxcombe Woods Warden is teaching some of the courses and may be contacted for further details or ‘phone 01865 864607 for a booklet. This training is heavily subsidised and courses are geared to the particpants’ needs. With much still to do in the woods to catch up with winter wet and wind damage it should keep me out of mischief !
If anyone wishes to help out with management or wildlife monitoring work in and around the woods please do give me a call. We already have an assistant helping out with cattle matters and into the long awaited show season. My woods assistant Tim is now a proud father and John too has his third. It must be something in the water ! Beware ! Anyway, if you are reading this you have paid your subsrciption to the Friends for the year -thank-you.
An Obituary
I know that many of you are very attached to your canine companions so will forgive me the indulgence of a few words about Bob. He passed away in late September last year aged a few weeks short of 18. Bought from the RSPCA for £12 the day before he was due to be destroyed when I was still at college he certainly was worth the outlay ! He was a happy dog and survived cancer, encounters with a lorry, a chainsaw, falling out of moving landrovers and not a few disagreements with other dogs. As my constant companion through many years of wardening our beautiful Foxcombe Woods he justified a burial beside his larger than life canine pal Paddy, within the wood.
R.I.P. Bob.
Tag and Ernie continue the good work !
Wardening
The career of reserve warden or countryside ranger (which is not necessarily the same thing ) is an interesting one. There are not that many of us around the country due in part to the lack of funds in the industry. Job requirements are usually of at least one academic degree and physical abilities to match foresters and farmhands while paying a remuneration less than half the national average. The word martyr springs to mind ! However, on the other hand, being paid to wander around some of the best countryside we have and look at the birds and butterflies does have a certain attraction to it. One of the joys of the job is the people you meet in your daily round. You lot ! It is coincidentally one of the worst parts of the job too. Litter, vandalism, uncontrolled dogs, trespass, noise etc etc—need I say more ? Policing a site is part of the job and ensuring that all site users both human and animal get the most benefit is an important one. So at this point I have to say a few words about dogs. (I do apologise !). I am aware and indeed have had quite a few reports of unruly dogs within Foxcombe Woods. The owners know which dogs those are (as do I). I will simply make a generic plea that all dogs be kept under close control at all times (on leads if necessary) and they not be allowed to chase deer, squirrels, other dogs; go swimming in the ponds or tearing around the woodland rides. All of this behaviour makes the woodland environment less valuable for the peace, tranquillity and natural habitats which it should provide. I have been asked to keep a closer eye on this and will be doing a bit more of a policeman impression in the future. You have been warned ! However, do continue to enjoy this rare resource and do contact me if you need any particular help, advice or have any ideas to further our mutual aims. Stephen
Country life or death ?
Well 2001 was certainly a year to look back upon. I cannot remember another year when things were as tough on as many people in the countryside. The agricultural industry was already well into a downward phase of the cycle with farmers selling up, amalgamating and the drift from the land continuing. With Foot and Mouth disease there was hardly an area of the country or community unaffected. As a small farmer and especially keeping a flock of sheep adjacent to one of the only two confirmed outbreaks in the county I do speak from experience. We felt the double shock as did many others whose livelihoods depend on working in the countryside. I hope never again to see the funeral pyres of so much wasted livestock or to see the countryside shutdown and so restricted. Foxcombe Woods was closed for a short while following advice from the authorities and was reopened just as quickly. However the site has appeared rather quieter than usual all year. Early spring was very quiet and very wet if you remember and this following on from such a wet autumn. Now we have just had one of the mildest autumns on record. What is happening ?
What to watch for this coming year
This winter is already proving to be a very mild one and the birds began singing very early. Already in the middle of january great tits, robins, songthrushes and wrens are singing their territory announcements. Many redwings and fieldfares have been around in the county. These are northern european thrushes and come to escape the worst of the winter weather and strip our rose bushes and hawthorns of their fruit. In 2001 a buzzard was seen within the wood several times although admittedly a rather tatty specimen. Goldcrests were very evident and up in numbers rather a lot. A weasel was seen in the autumn, the diminutive relation to the staoat. Roe and muntjac deer are always around and may be seen on any day. 2001 was another poor year for butterflies on the wing so maybe 2002 will be better. Look out for early brimstones and other overwintering butterflies soon and later in the year watch battling speckled woods as they defend little patches of sunlight in the more open parts of the wood. Keep your eyes and ears open !
21st Century – where to next ?
Welcome to another year of “Friends’ ” membership. Thank-you to those of you who have renewed your sub’s, and extra special thanks for those donations which several of you have included. It all goes to the direct management of the woods (and makes the budget look better !). Apologies for the lateness in getting this newsletter out. I have been waiting for quite a number of subscription renewals, and still more to come. If there is a coloured dot on the address panel of this you have still to pay for 2000 membership. You will have to contact me personally to receive the new gate combination. Others of you will have the new number herewith.
We are very lucky in having Foxcombe Woods owned by the Cecil Pilkington Trust because fundraising does not have to come from commercial considerations. A wood as relatively small as Foxcombe would have to be very intensively managed for it to make any sort of financial sense. There would be no wet areas - these would all have to be drained. There could be no dead trees, no scrub, no open heath-grassland. The woodland rides would all have proper extraction routes with loading bays for big machines. There could, of course, be no warden. There would have to be high impact, high disturbance operations taking place in a short space of time and with little concern for birdlife, bluebells and aesthetics. So all in all, we should be very happy that the ownership and management of the woods is so assured. That is not to denigrate commercial forestry management in any way. No, timber has to be produced and there are returns of scale to bear in mind. Where it does occur, mainly in the uplands, often the local habitats are more diverse then the poor quality moor and grassland. Certainly much local community employment is reliant on it, and I for one like to see timber produced sustainably and produced well.
What we do in Foxcombe, and indeed what a lot of lowland woods do best, is perpetuate an almost disappeared type of habitat - largely woodland edge and supporting a great variety of wildlife. Here we also concentrate on the aesthetics and beauty of the thing, the craftsmanship also now sadly declined, and the important educational resource which the whole creates.
I have been priviledged to be the warden for ten years now. I have seen old trees decline and fall over. I have seen clearings from plantation thinning scrub up and become full of bird song in spring. I have continued to monitor populations of varous wildlife groups and seen numbers of butterflies, dragonflies, badgers, deer and birds fluctuate. With the Common Bird Census we have now records for the territorities held by our commoner bird species present going back to 1985. I have also seen the effects of my management - what happens when areas are cleared, when new trees are planted or encouraged to seed naturally, when more, or less is done.
I love the place, I think it is peculiarly special. It inspires me, relaxes me and helps to make me realise what “it” is all about. There is no doubt that we should cherish greatly the little gem which is Foxcombe Woods.
I have included a piece from a personal letter to me from one of our “Friends”. I have kept it anonymous as requested. I know exactly what the author means. If anyone else wishes to put down their thoughts on the place, please do write to me at the usual address.
Best wishes for the twenty-first century.
Stephen
"Dear Stephen,
The Woods mean a lot for us both - for me they hold memories of tobogganning in the snow as a child (when they were still private gardens) and running up and down the hills in the summer.
Nowadays (my daughter) and I walk there regularly and usualy talk over any “differences of opinion” we may have. Maybe the place has “special powers” as we always sort things out without tears.
For me, it is a place where I go, sit on the male / female seat, and do serious thinking. It is where decisions are taken and where I can really sort my mind out.
It is indeed a special place, and I intend to continue our membership for as long as possible."
Thank-you for that ! Yes, it is a special place and particularly now as spring is in full force. Come and visit, see the daffodills, hear the bird song and smell the warming earth (but not all at once !!).
On a worm being eaten by a robin...
demons & fishhooks he exclaimed,
I am losing my personal identity as a worm,
my individuality is melting away from me,
odds craw I am becoming part & parcel...
of this b....y robin
from Archie and Mehitabel, for CW
(and Warty Bliggens)
Time for renewal
Yes, winter is here again and the time for many things to be renewed. The trees in the wood already begin to prepare for the spring and new leaves. Buds have swelled in anticipation of warmer and longer days. Many birds too are renewing territories after the autumn quiet period. Some are even singing and very welcome it is too after the quiet and dull days of late summer and early autumn. Listen out for the mistle thrushes singing from the very topmost branches of the trees. The stormcock of fable broadcasts its news far and wide. To some he heralds the wet weather but to me his is a foretaste of things to come. Great tits also sing from time to time through the winter but only on days when they may be fooled into thinking that spring has come early. The robins’ song is a melancholy one but on many occasions he may be the warden’s only companion in the bleak reserve. Strangely enough this warden actually likes the winter. Even wet days have their good side (if they prevent drought times in the next year). Truly content people learn to appreciate all things at face value and find good in everything. I am not truly content, rather an angry young(ish) man. However, allowing for human beings and their manifold foibles happiness can readily be found in the woods during the winter. It just takes some lateral thinking and some good thermals !
If you have persevered with this so far you now reach the crux of the matter. If you and your loved ones wish to continue to appreciate the beauty and benefits of Foxcombe Woods, support the vital conservation and education work we carry out here, and if you wish to take part in the many exciting and interesting events planned for the forthcoming year now is the time to renew your subscription to the Friends of Foxcombe Woods scheme. Please do so ! Simply send a cheque payable to the Cecil Pilkington Charitable Trust (£20 families, £15 individuals, £30min. groups & £5 schools) giving your name, address and membership number if you can remember it to the warden, Stephen West,2 Dark Lane, Sunningwell, Oxon. OX13 6RE. Do this before you forget as reminders are costly and unneccessary. What about giving membership of our scheme to a friend or relative as a gift ? Twelve months of beauty, discovery and privilege - what a present !
Remember, that by the renewal of your subscripotion you are helping to support the whole set up here and take a moment to contemplate the possible alternatives.
Finally, another word about renewal. Remember last year when all that felling work took place. Hundreds of larch trees felled, timber dragged around the wood, piles of brash all over the place and the noisy intrusion of chainsaws ? Well, its all going to happen again (and will, of course, occur in a working wood regularly). However, the gaps created by last season’s thinning operations have now allowed light to reach parts of the woodland floor and stimulate ground flora. Natural regeneration of trees is already underway !
What sort of year was it ?
Us natural historians like to categorise everything. We categorise plants and animals according to type, age, sex. We do so according to geographical area, season, time of the day etc, etc. We record numbers of species present in a place, numbers of individuals if we can and so on. We’re never really happy if we cannot list and order. In addition to this if we are ‘Ecologists’ as I am, we like to play with statistics and computers ! It sounds bizarre, I know, but that is what the scientific study of ecology really involves. (Mind you when I was at university we were still in the dark ages with computers - we had to stoke the boilers several hours before we wanted to do anything with them).
As the Warden, I keep records of weather conditions, species present from year to year and even numbers of human visitors using the woods. From the animal records we can categorise certain years according to notable events, (just as the “Year of the Great Storm” is now rooted in history). Thus 1992 was a “Holly Blue Year” i.e. one in which these beautiful little butterflies were in great abundance, 1994 was a “Clouded Yellow Year” when these European butterflies flew accross the channel in their thousands and added a golden colour aspect to our most favourite of insect groups. (Incidentally, why is it butterflies & not moths ? They are every bit as colourful and far more important from an ecological point of view, not to mention the economic consideration). Anyway, 1996 was a “Painted Lady Year” (you must be getting the picture now). I regard 1993 as the “Pied Flycatcher Year” when this particularly uncommon, striking songster was present in Foxcombe Woods for the main part of the breeding season. (This fact was kept from the “birders” until after it had left (with some photographic evidence and corrobative visits from a select few), for obvious reasons). 1995 was the “Drought Year” but then so was 1990, 1996 and probably some more yet to be ! 1995 was also the “Year of Oak Mast” and much of my management is now concerned with nursing the phenomenal amount of oak seedlings to replace their elders in years to come. But just what was 1997 ?? Was it the “Year of the Fire” for so it would have been if the fire brigade had not been so efficient. What do you think ? Send in your suggestions for the next newsletter.
Wildlife considerations and consternations
The trouble with managing land for several purposes is the balancing act which has to take place. With a woodland such as Foxcombe Woods, the manager has to consider whether trees take precedence over animals and indeed whether the converse may be the case. More often than not, of course, a reasonably healthy compromise can be achieved. I have said it before in these pages but I will repeat it; all of Britain is heavily affected by Man’s influence. There is no natural habitat strictly speaking (that which would be here were it not for historical and continuing interference). It is now impossible to achieve this state, particularly when global climate change is happening !
On a level closer to home the problems of our ‘faunal inbalance’ are significant. What I mean to say is that we are missing several of our native animals and we have rather more which we did not start with. In woodlands this means that the introduced rabbits, squirrels, fallow and muntjac deer are here causing problems in the absence of wolves, bears, martens etc. Man, therefore, may become the most important limiting factor. Thus the decision to control or not control has to be taken. There is certainly no question whether deer, rabbits and squirrels do damage to trees, grasslands etc because they undoubtedly do. In my tenure as warden over the past eight years or so the damage from deer particularly in Foxcombe Woods has increased greatly. Perhaps the damage can yet be tolerated especially on a site such as ours where timber production is not necessarily the main priority. However, if it reaches the stage when no new saplings are being recruited to the wood by natural regeneration then some tough decsions may have to be made.
In the meantime the author will continue battling for sustainable managemment of land which may well involve controlling problem species but in a way which does the least amount of harm to the system as a whole and which causes the absolute minimum amount of pain to all involved. Thus, shooting and live trapping rather than the use of poisons and chemicals.