First boletus of the season

Found just off the ride. No others seen so far (1st week of October).
Instead for the last week or so the wood has been full of yellow russulas most of which have either fallen or been kicked over.
There are also quite a few hedgehog mushrooms Hydnum repandum  below the willow grove and a smaller group in the pines.
Earthballs are making an appearance in the birch, as are one or two Amanita citrina.   

Local experts

To the wood today to meet Matthew Hutchings, local mushroom expert and author of local fungii identification website - www.mushrooms.org.uk. Although June is far from being the mushroom season, we looked at the different woodland types - the alderwood, the pines, the birch wood and discussed the what mushrooms are likely to be found in each area.The bay boletes favour the birchwood, and to a lesser extent the pine. Ceps are more likely to be found in areas of  mixed birch and beech woodland - which explain why the richest hunting areas for these is in the most diverse areas of our wood. Oyster mushrooms are found on old beech, often on old beech limbs which have dropped from the tree. These may well grow a crop of oyster mushrooms a year later as they decompose. Chicken-in-the-woods (Laetiporus Sulphureus)  is a bracket fungus found on mature oak, beech and cherry (must check out the cherry in next door's wood).

Then went in search of the grebes and the mandarin ducks to see how they were getting on after the heavy rains and high water of a couple of weeks ago. The female mandarin has been spotted, but the other four have not been seen. According to the fishermen the grebes' nest was washed away, but both grebes are still around and the female seems to be carrying something on her back - so maybe one chick survived. I met a fisherman who explained why the mandarins were unpopular with anglers. Smarter than mallards, mandarins have learned to recognise the sound of bait going into the water, and will immediately hurry over and dive for the bait when they hear the swish of the rods. To the fishermen's dismay, when mallards see the mandarins fishing for bait, they too have a go. Mallards are more buoyant than mandarins, and have to wet their feathers to try and stay under water long enough to grab the bait before it sinks out of reach.

Dragonflies and Damselflies

 'The Dragonflies of Sussex', has prompted  this entry on finding several rarities among the species recorded last summer. The following were seen along the woodland ride which is 50 to 100 metres from Hawkins Pond -  a part of the headwaters of the River Arun.

Click on photos to enlarge

Small Dragonflies


Scarce Chaser Libellula fulva Male

British Red Data Book listed and Sussex Rare Species Inventory.
Nationally restricted to ten river systems including the River Arun. Records up to 2003 show this species abundant between Amberley and Billingshurst but only sightings in four tetrads more northerly the northernmost being near Slinfold which is about six miles away.  Its habitat is slow moving water and ponds and prefers sunny sheltered spots with plenty of vegetation, such as the woodland ride.



Downy Emerald Cordulia aenea Male

British Red Data Book and Sussex Rare Species Inventory
Nationally rare with a stronghold in the south-east there are just a sprinkling of recordings in Sussex although there are a number in the Old Copse vicinity.It has a preference for nutrient-poor, acidic, tree-lined or woodland (usually deciduous) ponds and lakes with overhanging branches.


Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum male
Nationally abundant and common in Sussex

Inhabits all forms of water.Adults require sunny hedgerows, woodland rides and clearings. Males are attracted to light coloured sun-bathing surfaces. This specimen was  spotted basking on a ride-side timber stack.

Large Dragonflies Also seen were:

Brown Hawker Aeshna grandis
Generally common in East Sussex. Numerous recordings in the vicinity.

It inhabits large and well vegetated lakes and ponds. A spectacular large bronze dragonfly that hawks to and fro along the ride without settling.

Southern Hawker Aeshna cyanea
Large and dark brown. The male has many large green spots which are greenish yellow on the female.

Common in southern England and Wales. Common all over Sussex, even away from water.

Damselflies


Beautiful Demoiselle Calopteyx virgo male

Widespread in Sussex apart from the Downs although relatively uncommon. The nearest recording is in east Horsham. Habitat is fast flowing water with a stony bottom, such as the sluice and in Frenchbridge Ghyll which feeds the hammerpond. Also abundant bankside vegetation, typically alders which Old Copse has. They need open sunny glades.The female is brown.


White-legged Damselfly Platycnemis pennipes

Sussex Rare Species Inventory. One reference book indicates locally common south of The Wash whereas the new book says it's common south of The Wash. There are a sprinkling of recordings across the High and Low Weald with recordings in eight tetrads from slightly north of Old Copse to Buchan Country Park. Apart from a concentration on Ashdown Forest the most significant proportion of recording are along the middle and upper Arun.It appears to inhabit unpolluted and well vegetated, slow-moving rivers and streams, occaisionally lakes and ponds but more research is needed.This is a pale cream form - 'A pale coloured damselfly that looks like a flying matchstick'. The male is pale blue. The female pale green.

Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhooma nymphula Widespread in Britain and common in Sussex.

The first damselfly of the year to appear as early as April it is found almost anywhere there are suitable water bodies from ponds and lakes to the quieter stretches of fast flowing streams and rivers. It is particularly abundant on sluggish acid streams and seepages.

The new ride's done

Back in late September we (sort of) completed the development of the new ride. A good start, but it will need to be widened. We  felled  the birch at each side, and a forester was employed  to fell a few pines at the Hawkins Pond end. This has made a great visual difference to the wood, creating a clear view from the ride to the pond, with the large Scots Pine framed against the water.

For more photos- click link
Creating the new ride

July

 We ignored the prolonged bad weather of winter 2010/11 and created a new ride to give views of the pond. It will do for the time being but needs to be widened. Some of the spindly  birch has been cleared around the sallow to create better conditions for this to thrive in the planned ' willow grove'. There's some regeneration along the ride edge and in the birch clearing, though  regrowth might have  been eaten by deer. There's some improvement along the road edge and at the sunnier end of the ride as a result of  our determined bracken control .

 The kingfisher didn't  appear again after the winter, and although a single great crested grebe was seen earlier in the year, there has been no breeding this summer.  No sign of the white admiral butterfly either. It is not clear if this is because they have been absent, or just been missed. Perhaps  rideside clearing has destroyed some  honeysuckle they use as a foodplant, although there is  still plenty of it growing  in shady locations next to the ride edges.

Sightings: A  group  of newly fledged birds including most of the tits,  young nuthatch, (with much duller plumage than their colourful parents) , and a family of treecreepers. Blackcap and chiffchaff were singing in the wood, rather surprising ,   as the wood lacks the shrubby growth they prefer.
A  grass snake on the ride,  sidling away rapidly up the bank . A short distance further on,  the loud  screeching of jays, which continued for some time before  3 emerged from the pines in pursuit of a tawny owl, whom they had disturbed from its roost.  Over the willow grove,  a small bank vole emerged from the scrub to explore nearby  logs  holding  a piece of bread in his paws.  A Roe deer, an unusual sight at Old Copse, and redder and springier than  the Fallow deer we see all the time. 

Birds

This year geese have been flying in and departing several times a day. They use the full length of the Pond to get airborn and clear the trees at the pond's southern end. Usually and often alternately these are either a pair of canada geese or greylag geese. Neither have nested.

For the past two summers great crested grebes have produced a brood on the pond, three in 2010. A pair were present for a brief time early in the spring this year (2011) and a singleton more so, but they disappeared without breeding.

In the winter siskins were feeding in the tops of the birch and alder and on one occasion the siskin search led to redpoll. Neither species have been seen since leaves appeared.

In March ,  first sighting of a grey wagtail  feeding on insects in a wet area - a shallow waterlogged area in the alder grove.

Last year (2010) the only nest discovered had been made by a blackbird in the top of the 'tipi' structure made of long poles on the side of the ride. This had been constructed when there was minimal disturbance during the week. Unfortunately the female blackbird was spooked by nearby timber moving activities at the weekend and the nest was abandoned. Many of the woodland birds have produced young ,  including  fledgling marsh tits, a red listed species.

A  bluetits nest hole was seen high in the alder grove. Around the third week of May a further bluetits nest was found in a deep crevice at the foot of a birch about two feet from the ground along the the Pond path. That same week  loud 'feed me' calls were located coming from a nest hole about twenty feet or so up a willow tree in the alder grove. This was a great spotted woodpeckers nest. The adults appeared to be wary of going to the hole  while we could be seen so we retreated to cover where we could just about see the hole. We waited patiently for some time before discovering the activity was at a second and less obvious hole higher in the same tree. Patience was rewarded with views of the adult perching outside to feed the young birds inside. After the adult departed, often a head would briefly appear from inside the hole. Two days later they were seen again. This time the almost fully fledged young had their bodies half way out of the hole when being fed giving excellent views of their juvenile plumage with red cap.These birds had fully fledged by June and fledgling woodpeckers and tits could be seen and heard.

In June an active corvids nest was discovered at the top of a scots pine within the alder grove. Unfortunately a clear view was not possible. Calls suggested jackdaw but there were carion crows also calling in the locality.On 13th June a heron was spotted landing on a fishing swim by the pond.

In May a very young mallard family with eight ducklings was seen on the pond but they seem to hide in the rushes.

 Since the two prolonged snowfalls and frozen pond of winter 2009/10 the  kingfisher was only seen once in 2010. Since a further period of snow and frozen pond at Christmas 2010 the kingfisher has not been seen so far in 2011. The unresolved mystery is a call  heard several times in April which may have been a rarely seen lesser spotted woodpecker. 

Winter comes early

4th of December and after four days of snow and freezing temperatures, the thaw has come and we are back above freezing. Visits to the wood have been out this week due to icy roads. The snow has now gone but all is raw, damp and dripping.

Over the autumn we have made slow but steady progress, with at least one day's work being done every week. Thinning on the east side of the ride is just about finished, although there will always be more to take out. With the leaves gone,  the results of our work are clear to see. The crowns of the young oaks are free from encroaching birch.  At the other end nearer the gate there are fewer oaks and we have not thinned back so far. The wood here is narrower and we need to leave growth between the ride and the road.

Disposing of the cut timber is now more organised. The cut timber is neatly in the cords awaiting the firewood man. The brash is now off the ride, in loose heaps out of sight and the excess has gone on the bonfire or into the dry hedge. We have enjoyed several bonfires, and are amazed at toughness of the rhododendron which refuses to burn away despite a roaring birch fire on the top of it.
At last we have our permissions and can start work on the rest of the wood. The plan for the winter months is to work on three areas:

• clearing the willow grove of birch 
• creating a new ride down to the pond
• thinning the west side of the ride 

Wet conditions are likely to hamper work in the main body of the wood, so when it is too wet to work on the slope we will thin from the ride - thinning around the trees we want to keep, and then reviewing.

During the autumn we have met several unexpected visitors who were very curious about what we were trying to do. One of the most interesting was an elderly man, out walking three dogs. He had known Old Copse since he was a boy, and remembered it from before it was sold by the timber company, when it was full of magnificent mature beeches. He also remembered the charcoal burners who set up camp in what is now the Forestry Commission  car park. They would stay for months, burning the charcoal in a large metal kiln.