The Woodlands.co.uk Blog - Wildlife
Bark Beetles
In and around the Rocky Mountains, the wholesale destruction of vast areas of pine forests is occurring. The annihilation of these forests is due to a beetle – the Bark Beetle, which devours the soft tissues underneath the bark. The beetle is quite small, bit like a grain of rice. Vast tracks of forests have been ‘lost’ to this beetle; it has been estimated that some six million acres have been affected in the United States, and even greater areas in Canada, especially in British Colombia, where many more million of acres may be lost. Read more…
Oak Processionary Moth – a UK health threat?
The eggs of the Oak Processionary Moth (OPM) have just hatched into tiny caterpillars (mid to late April). These caterpillars go around in gangs of about 200 eating oak leaves and they follow each other in long columns – hence the name which is also in the Latin version, Thaumetopoea processionea. Read more…
Emerging from the Winter weather
We have finally emerged from winter. Met Office statistics confirm what we know and have experienced, namely that this last winter was colder and snowier than other recent winters. The average temperature in the UK this winter was 1.6oC; this is some 2.1oC below the average.* For England and Wales, it was the coldest winter since that of 1978/9. In Scotland, it was even more extreme; only the winter of 1962/3 was colder. The winter was also characterised by snow (and disruption); 20cm of snow was recorded in parts of southern England in early January and 30cm in central and northern Scotland in late February. At Aviemore 44cm of snow was lying on the 25th February, whilst Braemar recorded a temperature of minus 19.2oC! Read more…
Cuckoo Trouble
Compiled in the UK by organisations such as the RSPB and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO ), the Red List records birds that are considered critically endangered. Over the last few years the number of birds on the Red List has grown from 40 to 52, including the yellow wagtail, the lapwing and the wood warbler. A recent addition is the cuckoo. Read more…
Grey Squirrel Control – a video presentation with Julian Evans
Following on from his video on grey squirrel damage, Professor Julian Evans discusses ways of controlling them. Read more…
Sparrowhawks – at home in the South-West
Much has been made of the RSPB’s magnificent programme to reintroduce the Red Kite in Wales and many areas of England in recent years.
Their hugely successful efforts have been widely publicised, but over the same period the recovery in the numbers of another British bird of prey has been equally, if not more impressive, especially since the species has achieved this remarkable renaissance with just one vital piece of human intervention. Read more…
Woodland Courses 2010 Pt 1
There’s a bumper crop this year, so this is just a very small selection of courses up to June that caught our eye. Check on websites such as Woodlots , Small Woodland Owners Group and the Small Woods Association magazine for more. If you have been on any courses that you would recommend, or run some yourself, why not share it with others by putting a comment in the box below. And don’t forget that Woodlands.co.uk now includes £300 towards the cost of courses and training as part of its new woodland owner package. Find out more at Free Courses for Woodland Purchasers. Read more…
Trail Cameras – Woodland wildlife on camera
Our woodland is full of creatures: birds, squirrels and rabbits. We have seen a couple of deer and even a badger, but there is evidence of so many more! The boar dig enormous holes and wallow in the mud, and the badgers are creating homes all over the place. That is why Mike and I decided to invest in a trail camera, we wanted to know what everything was up to at night! Read more…