Dormice Matter

A Dormice Sanctuary?

The logo of Foal Hurst Wood nature reserve features a Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), for it is one of the ‘special’ residents in the reserve. All life is precious and perhaps it is wrong of me to rank animals, plants, fungi into some sort of hierarchical system.  I use the term ‘special’ for the dormice because there are few of them and they are just about hanging on as residents of the wood. A survey in 2011 by professional ecologists confirmed that dormice were also to be found in Brick Kiln wood. This is not surprising, for I have long known that the thin line of trees between the two woods is and remains vital to the long term survival of the population of dormice in Foal Hurst Wood, maybe even in both woods.

Looking at a map of both woodlands I personally think that the warmer southern slopes of Brick Kiln offers the possibility of being a dormice strong hold, but I would need to visit this private woodland and survey the area to really know.

Hazel dormice are ‘special’ in the planning process because of their rarity and vulnerability to local and national extinction, which ensures that they currently receive international legal protection across the whole of Europe. It is illegal to kill, maim, injure or sell hazel dormice, as well as destroy where they rest or breed.  Training & a licence is required to survey and monitor the dormice population in Foal Hurst Wood and I personally feel I am privileged to be able to handle and view these endearing animals at such close quarters.

Future planning applications, in regard to development at Mascalls Farm, will require a mitigation plan showing not only how the dormice population will be protected from local extinction, but also how the area can be enhanced to ensure they have every possibility of remaining and increasing their numbers in the two woods and so remain in ‘Favourable Conservation Status’ as the jargon goes.

Can dormice be found elsewhere in the town?

Hazel dormice differ from other small mammals, like say wood mice, or field voles, in that they naturally occur in relatively low numbers and low density in wooded habitats, often only 3-5 adults per hectare in ‘good’ dormice habitat. Scientific studies in the 1990’s indicted that there needs to be a wooded area of a minimum of 20 hectares (30 acres) of suitable habitat, if their long term survival in a woodland, as a viable population, is to continue. They do also occur in hedgerows, but this is probably due to the removal , over thousands of years, of much of the woodland habitat across the UK and Europe; in many places leaving only hedgerows as their last refuge. Hedgerows also act as vital highways for dormice to move around the countryside, for they are reluctant to come to the ground, except if there is no other choice and at hibernation time.

Question  : Where in the town are there areas of woodland, or connected woodlands, totaling 20 hectares or more? Answer : nowhere other than Brick Kiln Wood (8 hectares) & Foal Hurst Wood (12 hectares). Indeed you will notice it needs both Brick Kiln Wood and Foal Hurst Wood to make up that magical total of 20 hectares !

What about Church Farm ?

I mentioned in my post of 15^th January, that I was aware that ecologists had set up dormice tubes last summer, to see if any of the furry dormice were living on the proposed development site. We will have to see if any are found, but unless they are living along the railway hedges, which could be a possibility, I would be surprised if they will be found here, for there is no suitable woodland nearby and the site has large areas of open farmland. But, you just never know.

..and the Mascalls Court Farm site ?

Well, small woodlands are adjacent to the site, but not large enough to support a sustainable population, according to current knowledge regarding suitable dormice habitat. Again, time will tell if this is the case.

Are dormice to be found nearby?

I am aware of dormice in the parishes of both Brenchley and Matfield . The latter is interesting for Cinderhill Wood in Matfield is the closest woodland to the southern edge of Brick Kiln Wood. Were these woods ever joined together in say the last 100 years ? if so, then maybe hazel dormice inhabited this larger woodland before it was split up? But of course we just don’t know, because few people studied, or wrote, about such matters many years ago. For it was never expected that animals and plants would vanish from the landscape within a generation.

The future

Ok now the tricky bit, what will happen to the dormice in Foal Hurst & Brick Kiln woods, over the next 25 years ?

Nationally and also within Kent, hazel dormice numbers continue to fall, despite all the survey work and habitat management which takes place. I monitor two other woodland sites in Kent and also communicate with a network of dormice surveyors within the county. Some woodlands in the county are doing fine and others have plummeted from being some of the best sites for seeing dormice, to becoming dormice ’ Bermuda triangles’ , where animals are no longer found.

Hazel dormice found in a monitoring box.

Dormice populations are monitored by putting up boxes, similar in shape and size to bird nest boxes and monitored monthly from April – October. One of my sites (near Tonbridge) was for many years a woodland where the number of dormice encountered was low. I then moved twenty of the boxes 50 -75 metres, either side of the existing monitoring area and bingo, suddenly I found lots of them and the site became a good reliable site for finding dormice. This lasted for around three years or so and then the numbers dropped right off. Why, I could not say. Maybe dormice are naturally ‘wild rovers’, never staying in one area for more than a few years?

The problem with Foal Hurst & Brick Kiln wood is that there is nowhere else for the dormice to go and crucially no way for them to recolonise from anywhere nearby. So if conditions become unsuitable and the dormice become locally extinct then, to paraphrase one of the national supermarket’s advertising jargons, “ when they gone, they are gone!”  And this is what I fear for the town’s dormice population, for my monitoring in Foal Hurst Wood shows that they are only just surviving  in the nature reserve, despite all our best efforts over the last ten years to keep the habitat suitable. 

A crucial blow came in October 2010, when contractors working for a national power network company, severed the wooded link between Brick Kiln & Foal Hurst Wood, by shredding all the trees !

These pictures show what happens to trees (& a dormouse box) 

when an industrial shredder clears the site of  all vegetation.

Since then numbers of dormice I have found, when monitoring Foal Hurst Wood, have been on the decline. It just shows how the wrong management of habitat in a tiny, but vital, area can have a drastic effect on wildlife populations.

The last dormice ?

Underground he stirs, as the air above slowly warms. Snug in his nest of tightly woven honeysuckle bark and moss, Solo, a hazel dormice, twitches. His body detects that spring has arrived. It’s time to wake from his five month long slumber. Hunger provides a primeval kick-start, to bringing Solo out of his deep sleep. It takes another 20 minutes for his body to warm sufficiently to start moving his stiff limbs and to venture outside, into the dark night.

Sniffing the breeze and driven by the urge to feed, Solo steady climbs a nearby tree and explores the thin branches, searching the leaves and flower buds for something to nibble. A few aphids and a little nectar provide a welcome boost of energy. A new season of activity has started for Solo, the last of his kind living in the wood. The previous summer he searched in vain for another dormouse, a female to start a family with and bring a new generation of tiny youngsters into his world of trees, bushes & brambles. But luck was not on his side and although he doesn’t know it, time is running out for him. This will be his last summer on Earth; the last autumn for a dormouse to hunt for hazel nuts in the wood. Over the last decade the world has moved on and new forces are in the ascendancy. The wood is home to many new creatures, who without knowing it, have made this once ideal dormice world into a shrinking island, for which there is no escape.

“I am sorry Solo, I fought for so many years to keep your home safe for you and your fellow kind. I failed to convince many of my own kind that your life was worth saving. I, we, everyone, has failed you, for we lacked the will & determination to ensure that an undisturbed area, for you to call home, remained as part of the town’s landscape”.

Is this how it is supposed to end ? 

Toad Update

Tucked up inside Toad Hall

Brrrrrr its freezing ! Ok, by historic standards it's not that cold, but by the standards set during this winter, we are currently enduring the coldest period of the season, so far. Anything below 5c and Mr (& Mrs) Toad stay tucked up, either under rocks, vegetation, compost bins, logs etc or resting at the bottom of a pond.

On Monday 22nd February, 14 toads, 3 frogs and 2 newts were rescued from the 'drains of doom', but 5 toads pancakes were unfortunately scraped off the tarmac. Whilst on Tuesday it started to get slightly chilly and only 3 toads needed saving. Meanwhile the count around the main Putland Pond on the same night revealed 139 male toads, plus another 61 pairs clinging together for warmth...and other matters! A total of 261 toads in or around the pond. You may ask why are there no single female toads? Well let's just say that the males spot the females well before they reach the pond and immediately hitch a ride ! 

However the toads knew that great freeze was coming because on that Tuesday night, many of the toads were resting on the bottom of the pond, whereas on Sunday, when the temperature was 12c, they were happy crawling around on land.

Wednesday night the freeze truly began and it's stayed cold ever since. The next warm night looks to be Tuesday night (1st March), but the weather can be fickle and it might just warm up enough on Monday night, but we will have to see.

What do the toads do when its too cold? They just sit it out, tucked up somewhere out of the cold, as mentioned above, waiting for it to warm up again. They don't eat, indeed their last meal would have been around October last year, so they rely upon their fat reserves to get them through the highly active breeding period and then hope as spring temperatures rise a nice fat slug slithers passed, yummy !

In March 2013 it stayed cold all month and the toads never really got a 'one fantastic night of love', well actually it often lasts for 4 - 5 nights, but you know what I mean, it was too damned chilly !!!  It was well into April before night time temperatures rose above 5c. Lots of  toads died of starvation and  I found many thin skeletal bodies that spring :-(.

So, at the moment the toads have gone to ground, along with the frogs and newts and we wait for a warm rainy night. Toad watchers love rain ;-) , but hate the cold :-(. Time to stay indoors with a nice cup of tea :-)).

P.S. One of the Foal Hurst Wood volunteers, Peter, tells me that the frogs in Foal Hurst Wood have fared a little better and frog spawn has appeared in the main wetland pond, in the middle of the wood. Peter thinks Monday & Tuesday nights were when the main spawning occurred here.

Toad sex orgy in progress !!!

*** STOP PRESS *** STOP PRESS *** STOP PRESS *** STOP PRESS

Toad breeding in Paddock Wood has started early this year

The happy couple on the edge of doom !

Every year hundreds of toads migrate to the ponds found at the Putlands sports field, for their once a year sex romp ! Its normally sometime during the first or second week of March, but tonight with the temperature a balmy 12c they've started early. 

155 single males and 15 couples in the 'love position' were seen in and around the main pond tonight. Numbers should rise, provided the temperature doesn't drop too drastically, which it is predicted to do ;-(.

To reach the two ponds the toads have to cross the local estate roads and that is where the trouble starts. For they are in real danger of becoming either 'toad pancakes', or falling down the road side gully pots, where they drown after a few days.

Step forward the Paddock Wood Toad Patrol Team, a plucky group of around a dozen local citizens, who brave the darkness and weather to fish 'the unfortunates' out of their dark watery prison, or help them safely cross the road and make it to the ponds :-)

Last year the Toad Patrol Team saved 153 toads from death and on the 'top night' for maximum toad numbers (17 March)  we counted 525 toads in and around the pond, all hell bent on just one thing ....SEX.

....and you thought Paddock Wood was a nice quiet suburban town, where nothing dirty like sex orgies took place. You forgot about the toads :-).

Foal Hurst Wood & a few thoughts on nature

Part of the Town’s DNA

Imagine a place in the parish where the habitat is as nature intended, which for our part of the planet is broadleaf woodland; the climax habitat. Before people arrived in this part of Southern England, virtually all of the landscape would have been woodland. The plants , insects, birds, mammals, fungi, mosses, everything would have been beholden to and associated with the broadleaf trees dominating the woodland. This was the great ‘Andredsweald’, the Saxon forest which ran from Petersfield in Hampshire, across the countryside until the English Channel was reached in the east. From the bottom of the North Downs to the foothills of the South Downs, all trees, as far as the eye could see. We know it now as ‘The Weald’, of Kent and Sussex.

An aerial landscape view of Foal Hurst Wood, 

looking south from above the railway line.

Foal Hurst Wood is just a small block of that once mighty forest, part of our DNA, in the same way that the amazon forest, or the great plains of North America, were everything to the native peoples of America, before Columbus arrived in 1492. It is a part of the parish that we should return to, if we wish to try and understand why all life on this planet is sacred, not just those species we enjoy seeing, or (ab)use for our benefit.

The wood in springtime.

Appreciating our planet : a message from the Earth

There is no work involved with appreciating Me. Just come out into my spaces and love me, enjoy me, drink me, breathe me, sense me.

Your love for the trees, the streams, the rocks, the animals will help to keep them safe and show your love for me.

Your love of me, will strengthen me and I will be able to give you my beauty and love back.”

In this way I will save you and you will ‘save’ Me.

Bracken frond unfurling.

Past History

In the mid 1990’s the town council was looking for a meaningful millennium project for the year 2000. Something to last for another 1000 years and they happened upon Foal Hurst Wood, which the Kent County Council wanted to dispose of. In May 1999 the new nature reserve was formally opened by the Mayor of Tunbridge Wells and placed in the guardianship of the people of the town. Since then the Paddock Wood Town Council and a group of volunteers have continued to honour the desire of keeping the wood as a place for nature to survive and for people from the town to enjoy.

May 1999, the official opening walk.

The wood is 12 hectares / 30 acres in size (think of 30 football pitches), with another 5.5 hectares (13 acres) of grassland & meadow surrounding the wood, to complete the land covering Paddock Wood’s only nature reserve; dedicated to all of nature’s creation.

Although Foal Hurst Wood has always been woodland, as thus classified as ancient woodland, it is not virgin woodland. In reality it is secondary woodland, in which the trees which have grown on the land has been harvested and allowed to regrow. It is part of a national ‘wood store’ which was regularly cut, or coppiced, to meet our past need for building material and firewood, for more than 1000 years. This lengthy period of management of regular cycles of coppicing (usually 12 – 15 year cycles), has allowed the wildlife to adapt and survive.

A recently coppiced area.

It is tempting to see woodland as consisting of just the trees, but a wood is so much more than this. It is a community of plants and animals which co-exist together. However what makes woodland a self-sustaining community is the life which exists below the ground, which not only is far greater than life above ground, but often forms a symbiotic relationship with the trees, where all parties benefit. This is particularly true of fungi, which are often associated with particular trees, for example fly agaric fungi and birch trees. This all takes time to create. Whereas a pond can be a dynamic habitat within three years, when it comes to a complex woodland community, firstly plant the trees and then wait about 200 years for it all to knit together!

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

Why all this ‘nature love’ talk? Well because I think it is important to establish how vital Foal Hurst Wood is as a nature reserve for the town and why it needs careful management, if it is to continue to support all the wonderful plants and creatures which presently call it their home. At last count that included 183 plant species, 49 fungi, 185 insects, 16 mammals, 5 reptile & amphibians and 51 types of bird. Of these, 18 bird species are on the red or amber endangered list, 5 of the mammals are legally protected, along with two of the reptile species. And this is only the ones we have so far been able to find and identify. There is no doubt that if we had the resources of wildlife experts we could discover much more life in the wood.

A winter view.

The establishment of a major new housing development next to this nature hotspot requires very careful planning, if centuries of balanced coexistence are not to be broken. It can be done, for it has been done in the past, as I will explain in a future post. But for now that is probably more than enough of my nature ‘love in’ :-).

Kes & Mascalls Farm

The killer from above.

Watching from the behind the hedge I see her, the hovering killer, a hawk which first became embedded on my mind after watching the 1969 film ‘Kes’. Falco tinnunculus, the Kestrel, the poor man’s hawk, is hovering over the rough grassland near to the Badsell Road / Maidstone Road junction. She’s searching for food, in the form of a small furry mammal which lives amongst the rough grassland below. Short tailed field vole (Microtus agrestis) is the name we know the vole by, what name the kestrel gives it I know not.

Hovering Kestrel (from www.nature-photogrpahers.co.uk - Philip Newman).

Head rigid, eyes fixed, wings hovering to keep her position fixed in the sky, she looks for the tell tale signs of vole wee! Invisible to us, but a glow her eyes can see, through her ability to access the ultraviolet part of the light spectrum, this trail will lead her to her food. But it’s not to be at this moment and she gives up and rests on the power cables stretched across the field.

Kestrels used to be seen in greater numbers along the road side verges and rough pastures around Paddock Wood and indeed the county; searching for voles and other food to be found along the highway verges. Since the mid 1970’s kestrel numbers have declined and continue to do so. I feel privileged to have seen this bird, which I have also encountered, hunting around the meadows, close to  Foal Hurst Wood, on other occasions.

UK Kestrel Population (from BTO website)

Mascalls Farm

Previously I have posted initial nature reviews on two of the proposed housing development areas, namely Church Farm (14 & 15 January) and Mascalls Court Farm (5^th February). It’s now time to provide a review on the ‘johnny come lately’ site of Mascalls Farm, in Badsell Road.

Yes I know the names are similar, but it all adds to the fun!

If it makes it any easier, Mascalls Farm is next to the town’s designated nature reserve, Foal Hurst Wood, in the far south west of the town’s current urban area. The kestrel I saw, was hovering over part of the farmland, in an area destined to become houses and no longer a hunting ground for ‘Kes’.

I call it the ‘johnny come lately’ site because initially, in 2013, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council officials ruled this area as unsuitable for housing, on ecological and landscape reasons. Then politicians got hold of it and as if by magic, with no changes to the results of the development assessment criteria undertaken earlier, in late 2014 Mascalls Farm got added to the proposed housing land for the town and the number of houses due to be built in Paddock Wood by 2026 went up by another 300 dwellings. To paraphrase a well know saying  ‘God moves in mysterious ways…. but councils move in even weirder ways’ !

The developer's current idea for new housing at Mascalls farm.

Nature Assessment

Like the other two main development sites, the land is mainly farmland with limited access, so I have relied upon my personal knowledge, published ecological reports, nature watching from public footpaths & highways, and escorted visits undertaken during the planning process, plus good old Google Earth, form an opinion and assessment.

The farmland consists of a 50/50 mix of orchards and arable land, plus ancient woodland in the south west corner, namely part of Brick Kiln Wood. As with the other two sites it is also important when reviewing the wildlife of a site to acknowledge adjoining land; for wildlife tends to live in areas of varying sizes, generally ignoring human imposed boundaries. In this case the wildlife associated with the Foal Hurst Wood nature reserve needs to be considered. Like the Church Farm site I will therefore publish my knowledge and thoughts on this area, over more than one post.

The Farmland

Let’s start with the orchards and arable land.

I have commented previously that the orchards around Paddock Wood are really important for wildlife during the late autumn and winter periods, particularly for the thrush family of birds. The oldest orchard on Mascalls Farm land, is immediately adjacent to Foal Hurst Wood and is a magnet for fieldfares, redwings, mistle thrushes and blackbirds, along with starlings, who flock to the area to feast on all the discarded apples lying underneath the trees. 

Fieldfare and apple (from warrenphotographic.co.uk)

As I mention on the bird survey post on 31^st Jan, at any time from November – late February you can stop on the edge of Foal Hurst Wood and see large numbers of these birds feasting on part of their ‘five a day’ fruit intake. The presence of nearby Brick Kiln & Foal Hurst woods ensures the birds also have a save refuge, should danger arrive, plus overnight roosting sites.

I must admit I chuckled when I read an ecology report in 2012 saying that this orchard was not important for wildlife. Yep, I suppose if you are an ecologist who is stationed in Hampshire and you only visit the orchard in summer, then it is disappointing that you will miss this important wildlife spectacle in winter and your assessment will be wide of the mark.

For the record most of the orchards around the town are great in the winter time for the thrush family of birds, when the unwanted apples are left discarded on the ground. It just shows that even on a highly commercialised farm, farmers can make their land more wildlife friendly, either through intentional or unintentional actions.

As with the two other farmland sites, the arable area is not so inviting for wildlife, which is mainly to be found along the hedges around the headlands, plus the few hedges crossing the arable areas. There are a couple of ditches across the site, but nowhere near as wide and deep as the East Rhoden stream or Tudeley Brook, mentioned in earlier posts. As such their importance for wildlife appears more limited.

Very close to where the public footpath reaches the Badsell Road there is a heavily shaded and silted pond. Access to the pond is difficult and dangerous and so I have not been able to assess its general importance for wildlife.

On the other side of this footpath, looking eastwards, is the Kestrel’s hunting ground.

Brick Kiln Wood

Brick Kiln Wood is designated as ancient woodland, as is Foal Hurst Wood. This means that as far as anyone can tell both areas have been woodland, continuously since the year 1600, or earlier.

Technically Brick Kiln Wood lies just outside my self-imposed boundary for the area I am investigating this year, but like the East Rhoden stream on Church Fram, the planned housing development at Mascalls Farm is likely to have an impact on this woodland and so I feel it is important to report on its present condition.

As mentioned before, I have only had limited access to this woodland, but know that it differs to Foal Hurst Wood.  A look at historical aerial photographs (on Google Earth) shows that the area of Brick Kiln Wood, in the ownership of the developer, has remained virtually unchanged since the earliest available photograph in 1940.

Brick Kiln Wood c1940

Brick Kiln Wood c1960

Brick Kiln Wood c 1990

Brick Kiln Wood - April 2015

(Bold Yellow = developers section of the wood)

Brick Kiln Wood has subsequently developed more as a ‘high forest’. This means the trees are larger and more mature, with a denser canopy. This dense canopy results in less light reaching the woodland floor and so there is far less ground vegetation to be found and a more open vista to the woodland. If I can gain access to Brick Kiln Wood, then I will explore this aspect of the wood in greater detail later during the year.

I do however know that Tunbridge Wells Borough Council have requested that a management plan, for areas of Brick Kiln Wood under the ownership of the developer, will be required for its future management and access. It remains unclear at present if such a plan would result in it becoming a nature reserve, like Foal Hurst Wood, with less public access, or whether it will be managed more like a country park, where public access and physical activity within the wood (e.g. walking, cycle tracks etc) will be encouraged. The level of access, either official or unofficially, will be critical to how the wood changes in the future. More public access is likely to result in plants and animals requiring less disturbance to diminish, in both area occupied and numbers of individuals. Conversely, wildlife species able to cope with greater levels of disturbance are more likely to prosper.

Of all the areas within the town, it will be especially interesting to see how Brick Kiln Wood develops and changes over the next 25 years or so.

Future promises

The developers have so far produced eight ecological reports on the whole of the Mascalls Farm site and are currently suggesting the following mitigation measures be undertaken :

 The reinstatement of abandoned beneficial traditional management practices for

      ancient woodland and hedgerows across the site;

 The retention of as many of the older orchard trees as possible;

 The strengthening, protection and enhancement of a key woodland shaw linking up the

     areas of ancient woodland at the west of the site, as well as along a proposed wildlife

     corridor for hazel dormice and other species, linking habitats at the western and eastern        ends of the site;

 Significant new habitat creation including new woodland and wet woodland planting,

     and the creation of species-rich mesotrophic grassland, combined with habitat creation

     as part of a SUDs scheme; and

 The creation of a large area of species rich grassland and scrub mosaic with new planted

     coppice and hedgerows.

Much of this concerns Brick Kiln Wood and its wildlife, particularly the European protected Hazel Dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius), a species I will write more about in the next post.

But, from these proposed measures you can see that there is much wildlife to be saved and it is hoped that mitigation measures will protect and enhance the wildlife interests of the site. 

Of crucial importance is the strengthening of the woodland link between the two woodlands and creation of many more ponds on the site. I’ve counted 15 ponds on the proposed plan!

As always the devil is in the detail and it matters greatly how the measures are initially implemented and managed in the future. Time will tell if these are meaningful measures, which enhance the wildlife possibilities of the area, or promises which are sadly not fulfilled.

The killer returns

Resting on the electricity power lines the wind gets up and ‘Kes’ takes to the wing again, allowing the wind to take her over towards the Maidstone Road. She heads higher towards the clouds and then starts hovering above the rough grassland once again. Her wings flutter continuously, her body pivots in the buffeting winds, but her head remains still, eyes focused on the ground below. Suddenly the wings fold and she plummets to the ground and pounces on an unseen and probably unsuspecting animal. I wait to see what happens and find out if her hunt has been successful. She takes to the air again, but no small vole can be seen in her talons, so I guess she will remain hungry for a while longer.

In fact she flies off, over the Mascalls School playing fields, to pastures new, Maybe she is heading for the rough grassland in Mascalls Court Farm, which I mentioned in my post on the 5^th February. An area which will become part of the new primary school grounds in the future.  Another of her hunting grounds, soon to disappear. Where will she go to hunt then?

Female Kestrel 

(From http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/greylake/f/12425/t/87958.aspx)

It’s changes, such as the disappearance of the kestrels hunting grounds, which I hope my blog will highlight for future readers. As I have written in earlier posts, there will be both gains and losses for wildlife in the town. By providing a written account of the town’s wildlife, as it exists in 2016, I am providing a baseline for these future changes to be compared with. Some of those changes will be as a direct result of changes in land usage, some as a result of more people in the town creating greater disturbance in the currently ‘wild’ areas of the town. Other changes may come from climate change, environmental pollution, changes to the water systems and other factors we cannot as yet predict.

This blog is history in the making, for others to view in the future, in the same way that we sometimes look back at old photographs of the town. Kes is part of that history and with luck her descendants will still find areas to hunt in, around Paddock Wood and all of us in the town will still be able to marvel at a kestrel hovering in the sky. Lose that ability to watch nature as it occurs for real and not just on a screen and we lose something of what it is to be human and part of this amazing planet, which we and 30 million other species, cherish as our home.

Our home (from www.c4dexchange.com)

Making space for nature

I finished the last post with a few thoughts about making space for nature.

One person in Paddock Wood had done just that in her garden. In fact she has done such a good job that she has won local wildlife gardening awards every year for the last six years and even won the best amphibian garden in Kent in 2014 !

What makes it all the more remarkable is that Becky lives in the middle of a housing estate (built in the mid 1960’s) and has only a small back garden measuring 15m x 7.5 m to create her wildlife wilderness. Isn’t that fantastic, that right in the geographic center of Paddock Wood, someone has taken the time to say ‘yes I want to share my living space with many other creatures, who have just as much right to live in my garden as I do’.

Providing welcomed food for a local hedgehog.

Becky has lived in her house for about 7 years and during this period she has dedicated her leisure time to improving her garden for wildlife, providing an aquatic habitat, warm basking areas for insects and other heat loving creatures, as wells as flowers a plenty and nooks and crannies ( both natural and man-made) for a whole host of mini beasts to call their home.

A home made mini beast shelter.

Amphibian Aquatics

Given the position and history of the garden, Becky has chosen to concentrate on improving her outdoor space for amphibian and water loving species. This includes a small pond, c. 1.25 m across, which has sloping sides and with vegetation providing cover and extending over the edges. There is ample aquatic and marginal vegetation. Frogs are regularly seen resting on the surface clinging to the aquatic vegetation, or amongst the vegetation surrounding the pond. In addition toads and small newt species are also seen in and around the pond throughout the year.

A small oasis.

Bobbing up for air.

Around the oasis.

 Space on the land

Away from the pond Becky has really thought about how to provide the amphibians in her garden with suitable resting and hibernation places, as well as feeding opportunities. There are stones piled up around the pond and a rockery providing refugia. Also there are log piles, tucked in under the ivy along the fence and a composting area, just for wildlife to use, in a shady corner of the garden. 

Even the water butt tops are utilised, as a space for for small insects to find a home !

Water butt world, a land for mini beasts.

As the photographs below show there is a mosaic of shade and warm areas spread throughout the garden, offering a wonderful variety of potential homes for many small creatures, which form the foundation of the 'web of wonder' which is Becky’s garden.

Both shade and basking spots.

Nearer to the house there is a small lawn & flower bed for butterflies and bees, a bird feeding area and an ivy covered fence to provide safe cover for birds and also hibernating insects.

A view from the patio.

Becky loves to just sit in the garden and watch all the creatures who share her garden, whether it is tiny mini beasts, her favourite frogs and toads, or the butterflies, bees or birds, which fly in to enjoy her garden.

Colour & calmness.

Creating wildlife reserves across the town

There is no doubt that many of us could do the same as Becky and together create homes for wildlife right across the town. Individual small wildlife reserves in each of our gardens, which added together would create an area which is bigger than the fields which surround the town ! What a super legacy to leave for future inhabitants of the town.  

It’s really not difficult and just requires the desire to leave a small amount of space for nature to thrive. As Becky says “There is a lot of trial and error in wildlife gardening and the key is to leave undisturbed areas. My garden is a good combination of well-designed and manicured, whilst at the same time being beneficial to wildlife”.

A birds eye view.

So could 2016 be a start of a wildlife gardening revolution in Paddock Wood? Let’s hope so, for as well as having a wonderful garden to relax in, we get the opportunity to get closer to nature; but just as important, so many creatures get the opportunity to share our living space and make it their own home.

Wood Pigeons buck the trend, in pigeon paradise.

Part of wood pigeon flock on the wing.

As a cold northerly wind whipped across the field I peered through my binoculars, trying desperately to count the number of wood pigeons which had just taken to the wing. Too many to accurately count ! My best estimate was around 350 – 400 individual birds in the sky.

The best spot for wood pigeons this winter?

Standing on the roadside verge of Badsell Road I was looking across a field of brassica fodder, which seemed to be mainly a commercial Kale variety of some sort. Planted in the early summer, the leafy plants were a great attraction for the town’s wood pigeon population, which like in most of England has soared over the last decade or so.

A windswept paradise.

I mentioned in my garden bird watch post on 31^st January that wood pigeons are quite common in both urban gardens and the countryside. 

From the garden.

Unlike many farming practices, which have caused a dramatic drop in farmland birds, the switch to oil seed rape, brassica forage crops and winter wheat has helped the wood pigeons to find readily available food and so survive the winter. Regular surveys by the British Trust for Ornithology have shown that wood pigeon numbers in the UK have risen by 79% since the late 1970s. Indeed garden surveys show that as well as being seen in the countryside, they are now encountered in our gardens more often than ‘common’ birds such as blue tits and robins.

Anyway, back to the brassica field and the freezing wind….plus the trucks speeding past me ! Camera out, I attempted to get a few shots, but it was difficult, for the birds were quite some distance away. The wood pigeons were now spread out, some in the trees along the overgrown hedgerow and many hunkered down in the field of kale, steadily stripping the plants of their leaves. In winter, brassica leaves are a great attraction for wood pigeons, particularly in late winter when other available food has dwindled and is difficult to find. 

Wood pigeons in the field and hedgerow.

I sat watching the birds for some time before they took to the air again. Wondering why they had stopped feeding, I glanced across and saw a man with a gun & portable hide, making his way down the edge of the field.

Wood pigeon numbers are such that they are now a serious agricultural pest and farmers freely allow hunters to shoot them on their land. For the last few years this particular field has contained a mixed variety of brassica plants and for a few weeks in early springtime the farmer has a flock of sheep in the field to fatten them up, by foraging on both the brassica leaves and roots. As well as a food crop for sheep (& cows) most farmers also receive an EU farm payment to plant brassica forage crops, for brassicas provide much needed food (& shelter) for many smaller farmland birds in the winter, Birds, such as finches, buntings & thrushes, doing less well in the countryside than overfed wood pigeons !

Close up on the kale.

Marrow stem kale flowers, left over from last year.

Marrow stem kale root.

Black mustard flowers. 

Again left over from a previous years planting.

I left the hunter to his solitary pursuit of shooting one, or one hundred, pigeons for the pot and as I headed for home I heard the shots ringing out across the field.

Up to now, when writing posts for this blog, I have focused upon how the planned  increase in housing in Paddock Wood will affect different wildlife species. But as you can see, in the case of the wood pigeon, it is a change in the management of the farmland, surrounding the town, which has resulted in wood pigeon population of Paddock Wood bucking the trend of other bird species and rising in numbers, over the last decade or so.

Whether its housing, or agricultural practices, the number and variety of wildlife we are likely to encounter, either in the town or the countryside, often depends upon the use we make of the land under our stewardship. 

If land use is driven solely on a ‘profit per hectare’ basis then little space will be left for wildlife, but if you value seeing flowers, birds, butterflies and bees, then just maybe you will find space for nature to prosper.