Urban wildlife isn't always the foxes
raiding your bins, or the pigeons in the
town centre. Pockets of remnant wild habitat
surrounded by urban sprawl count too.
Coyney Woods - Local Patch Mk. II. The closer and smaller natural retreat on my doorstep. I can be on this Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in 5 mins from my house, it's just 500 hundred yards or so from my back door. And while I say small we're talking about 75 acres in total give or take - that's still somewhere in the region of 50 football pitches for those who struggle to visualise an acre. No heathland here, not a lot in the way of wetland either, no ponds anyway. A few small streams emerging from springs, and associated marshy areas, which are interesting features. As the name suggests we are dealing primarily with woodland but interspersed with patches of scrub and rank grassland.
The woodland is mixed species, the main area predominantly Common Oak (Quercus robur), Hazel (Corylus avellana) and Birch (Betula pendula). Around the borders a wide range of species can be found, some native some non-native, too many to list here although I will try at some point. I assume the latter have encroached from surrounding gardens over time as the almost the entire site is bordered by either residential or commercial property. In the wetter portions are several species of Willow (Salix spp).
In the scrub areas Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and Bramble (Rubus fructicosus) are the most common shrub species but are intermingled with Bracken (Pteridium aquilinium), Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) and various thistle and umbellifer species, as well as the occasional Oak and Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris). With no grazing animals (other than the odd Rabbit) and no management in the form of cutting or mowing (other than the footpaths) it is massively over grown and rank, some periodic cutting would do a world of good.
Map
The above map, generated using DEFRA's online mapping tool MAGIC, highlights the several different pockets of woodland which together form the LNR, highlighted in red. The green areas of the map highlight the woodland areas, with the white areas within the red border the scrub and grassland areas. The aerial image screen grab from Google maps on the left gives a slightly better idea of the varied habitat and how the two main habitat types grade into each other.
The map also shows just how cut off these areas are, literally an island of green amongst a sea of urbanisation. Of course urbanisation doesn't necessarily mean isolation. The surrounding houses have gardens which themselves contain habitat suitable for many of the species found in the woods proper, or at least form corridors or stepping stones of suitable habitat for species to disperse into or out of the reserve. Dispersal is often a problem for urban wildlife but in this specific area not as much of a problem as is often the case.
The wildlife certainly don't seem to mind too much, Buzzards (Buteo buteo), Great Spotted Woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major), Tawny Owls (Strix aluco), Grasshopper Warblers (Locustella naevia), Kestrels (Falco tinnunculus), Sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus); the list goes on. If it's large enough for me to feel like I'm all on my lonesome in there, and to distract me for hours on end, then the wildlife that occupies it probably think it's big enough too.
As with Park Hall, I don't want to tell you everything about the site in one go, so I have something left to write about in the future. I hope this gives you a brief but insightful introduction to another local patch which you hopefully will be hearing a fair bit about in the future.
Richard
Map
The map also shows just how cut off these areas are, literally an island of green amongst a sea of urbanisation. Of course urbanisation doesn't necessarily mean isolation. The surrounding houses have gardens which themselves contain habitat suitable for many of the species found in the woods proper, or at least form corridors or stepping stones of suitable habitat for species to disperse into or out of the reserve. Dispersal is often a problem for urban wildlife but in this specific area not as much of a problem as is often the case.
The wildlife certainly don't seem to mind too much, Buzzards (Buteo buteo), Great Spotted Woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major), Tawny Owls (Strix aluco), Grasshopper Warblers (Locustella naevia), Kestrels (Falco tinnunculus), Sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus); the list goes on. If it's large enough for me to feel like I'm all on my lonesome in there, and to distract me for hours on end, then the wildlife that occupies it probably think it's big enough too.
As with Park Hall, I don't want to tell you everything about the site in one go, so I have something left to write about in the future. I hope this gives you a brief but insightful introduction to another local patch which you hopefully will be hearing a fair bit about in the future.
Richard
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