Here are a few photos of this year's bluebell display, fading a bit now, as they've been early this year due to the warm Spring. The cabin may just be glimpsed between the trees in a couple of the photos. I wish I had recorded the absence of bluebells in previous years in this area. While, in theory, bluebells are unaffected by the bracken as they flower before it is full grown, in practice we have noted that a thick covering of dead bracken definitely inhibits them. By dogged bashing every year from May to September the bluebells are now thriving.
The absence of' understory is very noticeable, as the deer eat everything that tries to come up. At this time of year, thousands of rowan, and other seedlings can be seen in the ground layer, but they'll soon be browsed off by deer. We are considering enclosing a section of the wood in the SSSI with temporary deer fencing (depending on cost) , to monitor the difference made by excluding deer .
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