Page 55 - Bere Regis November 2023

November 2023 November 2023
WILD WOODBURY

As we notice the changes around us here at Wild
Woodbury as we welcome in Autumn, I find myself
experiencing lots of change myself! I am excited to
introduce myself, Daisy Meadowcroft, as the Wilder
Dorset Community Assistant, a role I took up at the
beginning of October. I have been working for
Dorset Wildlife Trust for two and a half years, so I am
thrilled to be taking up this new post alongside my
colleagues Seb and Rob who have been writing in
previous updates.

What a sensational first week I had at Wild Woodbury! I first visited the site at the
time of acquisition and the changes to the site have been nothing short of
spectacular. I would like to share some of the highlights from across the site in my
first week.
It’s very tricky to narrow down my

highlights, but I will briefly touch on
some. Walking through the site, my
trousers were coated in a thin layer of
spiderwebs, an indicator of the
abundance of invertebrate life. Two
spider species in particular stood out
to me, the Wasp Spider and the Four-
spotted Orb-weaver. The Wasp Spider
is a striking arachnid which mimics the
appearance of common wasps,
though not harmful itself. They create
stunning webs with a zig-zag running down the
centre, known as a “stabilimentum”. The Four-
spotted Orb-weaver is an equally gorgeous
arachnid, which varies in colour. The individual I
saw was vivid orange with four pale spots. These
creatures create webs close to the ground,
enabling them to catch jumping prey such as
grasshoppers.
During a visit to the site back in the summer, Rob
saw a large female adder carrying eggs (gravid)
basking in the sunshine. What a delight it was to
see four juvenile adders with tiny black zig-zag
patterning down their backs! It is very
encouraging to have breeding adder on site. Their diet consists of lizards, small
mammals, and ground-nesting birds, of which the Wild Woodbury is home to
many.

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