Wild Business Trip: Riddy Wood

What's not to like about living out of doors, come all weathers, getting wet and dirty, working your socks off and going to bed exhausted and aching with the same again to look forward to the next day? 

As part of one of my 'jobs' I make regular visits to a few pockets of ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire which I am involved in restoring: this time of year that means coppicing and thinning to open up the canopy a bit in pre-selected areas where it is has grown too dense and overly uniform both in age and in structure, and to promote new growth, both regrowth on the coppice stools and natural regeneration (a habitat management plan guides all activities to ensure work is done sensitively and proportionately). This was the sort of work which drew me to a career in conservation in the first place, so these opportunities to get away for a few days and engage in this sort of work are quite literally a dream come true for me. 

The bluebells really getting into their stride in an area we thinned in February. 

I hadn't been down yet this Autumn due to the birth of my little boy just over a month ago, so was hoping for a solid few days of work. It wasn't to be as it happens - recent storms had blown down several trees and knocked a temporary shelter about a bit, soaking the firewood drying inside. By the time I'd fixed the shelter, cleared a few paths blocked by downed trees, arranged a meeting with the land owner to discuss our lease contract for next year and finished up coppicing one coup started a few weeks ago by my brother (who works with me on the project), it was the end of my first full day there and the light had gone (safe working light is pretty much gone by 4 pm at this time of year). I should have had another day but my little boy at home was poorly and I had to cut my visit short with a late night dash home. Oh well, Murphy's Law and all that. 

Despite my slightly not-to-plan trip I was great to spend some time out of doors. There is always something to see! On arrival the first task is always a little wander round to see what's what, if anything has changed (trees fallen down usually!) and inspect the work others have done since I was last there. On this occasion my initially wandering revealed Great Spotted Woodpeckers, plenty of Wood Pigeon roosting towards the Northern edge of the wood and various little birds including Gold Finches flitting through the buffer strip around the wood. The now pretty much leafless trees and shrubs along the woodland edge were heavy with berries and fruit: Haws and Rose-hips were present in abundance, outdone only by the Sloes making the Blackthorn look purple from a distance! Between these, the odd apple tree and the seed heads of thistles and sedges, grasses and teasels in the headlands and ditch banks (at least where they haven't been mown!) the local bird life don't have much to worry about just yet in the winter food stakes. 

The view from bed in the woodland shelter: a bright moon rises behind the trees, a nice warm stove to
take the edge off the Autumn night and a pack of chocolate biscuits close to hand (not in the picture).
Who could ask for more!

My first (and on this trip only) night was clear and cool, but not too cold. As always my evening (a pretty long evening at this time of year!) was far from lonely, with Tawny Owls making their presence heard. In fact, I can't think of a single night I've stayed there so far, and we are talking over a dozen nights since February when we first started, that I haven't heard a Tawny Owl, and often Little Owls too. While I didn't see one on this trip there are possibly as many as three or four pairs of Barn Owls which nest on the wider farm too, we frequently see them quartering the rough grass borders around this area of woodland and a few of the others we manage, five separate pockets in total. Short Eared Owl are also seen occasionally on the farm, but not by me yet: fingers crossed as this species is high up on my Bucket list! On the second night, prematurely cut short by the dash home, backing vocals featured a returning Tawny Owl, competing on this occasion with the bark of a Chinese Water Deer which there are no shortage of in the area. Muntjac barking is a pretty common night time soundtrack too, and while they are a lot less vocal, Roe deer also use the wood.

Part of our woodland management work involves managing these deer populations (by which to be clear I mean culling predetermined numbers each season to keep a stable number, just like the RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and various other conservation organisations do), particularly the Muntjac, for the damage they do to woodland ground flora and regenerating trees. We also perform this service for a local conservation group who manage a few small woodland reserves near by. On my second evening before I lost the light completely I drove a quick tour of the farm to check on deer numbers. With a lot of work taking place around the farm there was a fair bit of disturbance and I only saw about half a dozen Chinese Water deer (CWD), with no Muntjac or Roe. Not that many by my standards in this location but a lot more than most people see in a normal working day I dare say! A few months ago I saw over 30 CWD in one evening to give you an idea of how many can be seen! 

A Chinese Water Deer watches me (or more specifically my car) curiously from its resting place in stubble
- from a distance all you see is the ears sticking up!

A highlight of the tour for me was a Woodcock, startled up from an area of scrub as I walked through. I'd love to get a better look at these beautifully and cryptically camouflaged birds: I only ever seem to see them flying away! Perhaps one day soon. As I drove along the farm tracks on the return trip from the far side of the farm (it's a big farm!) I glanced to one side to see a Wren, matching my speed perfectly, but flying in the ditch alongside the road - it was a bizarre viewpoint, little wings whirring away but seemingly no forward movement as we paced each other perfectly down the track. 

Many may assume with the noise accompanying woodland management operations - chainsaws, axes chopping and splitting etc. - that you'd never see any wildlife. This isn't always the case however. Having just felled a long over stood Field Maple stool and processed the tree on the ground I turned off the saw, took off my helmet and looked up to see a Red Kite riding the breeze directly over my head at canopy height. It remained there for a few minutes, surfing the breeze which was being pushed up and over the wood by the dense shelter belt around the wood. A magnificent bird, and a beautiful sight! On a previous trip with two of use working we'd just stopped for lunch; sat around our fire a movement caught my eye. There in a stack of twigs and branches we'd just stacked minutes before, and no more than 5 meters away, a Gold Crest was picking its way through the pile foraging. I've also seen Wrens, Robins and various other small birds using these brash piles and dead hedges, and we even found a nest at the end of this summer in a brash pile we'd stacked in February. 

That pretty much sums up my 'business trip' this time round: at some point I'll post a more detailed account of these woods; they really are an extension of my 'local' patch, and one I am fortunate to be directly involved in managing, and hopefully improving, for the wildlife which call it home.

Richard