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January 2020 January 2020
The Value of Dead Wood

You may have noticed that following
some of the conservation work parties
cut wood has been piled up. This is not
because we are lazy and can’t be
bothered to take it away! Rather, it is
intentional – the log piles provide a
safe habitat or refuge and food source
for many small creatures, including
small mammals, small birds and
invertebrates. With the actions of fungi
along with woodlice, beetles and other creepy crawlies the wood will slowly
break down. We also leave larger sections timber where they have fallen for the
same reason – they provide a valuable habitat. You may be able to see in the
photo below how the timber has been eaten away and pecked at by birds such
as tree creepers, nut hatch and woodpeckers all searching out grubs to eat.

Let Us Know What Wildlife You Have Seen
To many of us the Little Egret and the Kingfisher will be familiar sights along Bere
Stream. Buzzards and Kestrels are frequent visitors at Souls Moor over the winter
period as earthworms are forced to the surface by the rising water table and
provide easy and nutritious pickings. There are also other visitors that we only see
at this time of year, for example redwing and fieldfare. These are migratory birds
arriving at our shores from Scandinavia to escape the winter cold there. They
may be seen on hedges, scrub and woodland feasting on berries, and on
grassland and field margins looking for worms, slugs, leatherjackets and
sometimes grain.

We would be very interested to learn about the wildlife (be it birds, mammals,
fish, butterflies, reptiles, amphibians etc, common or unusual) you’ve seen locally.
Please send details of sightings to us at the email addresses below. We are
fortunate to have a wide range of habitats around the Parish (woodland,
meadows, heath, streams etc) and it would be good to build up a picture of the
wildlife resources we have in the area.

Contact Us

If you would like to know more about the work of the Wildlife Group or to be
included on our mailing list, please contact:
Tony Bates at tonybates19@gmail.com / 01929 471563 or

Amy Yates at AmyEyeats@hotmail.com
Mike Gee at mike.n.g@outlook.com / 0775 988 4942.

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