A Field to a Nature Reserve – a Rewilding Success? (Grayswood)

Leader: Jonnie Taylor (HNHS Member)

On a sunny morning with a bit of a chill, 24 members attended this private site, which was a new one for us. The site sits on heavy clay, wet and soggy in the winter but dry in the summer. The owners had a plan for ecological restoration, their aim being restoring the area with little human intervention.

Gazing over the site, it was hard not to miss a lot of bramble bushes: these weren’t being cleared and the protection they afford from grazers allowed tree saplings to grow through (it was clear from prints that deer visited the site). It is hoped when more mature the trees would shade out the brambles: part of a natural vegetation succession. Some of the bramble leaves had mines: this is where the micro-moth Stigmella aurella has laid its eggs, the larva then eating inside the leaf layers.

We found three different species of ants in the ant hills in grassy areas that deer and rabbits had cropped, the most frequent being Yellow Meadow Ants. These are seldom seen at the surface, except when their mounds are damaged. They “farm” aphids that feed on roots, and are important for meadow biodiversity.

Birds seen or heard were Bullfinch, Jay, Wren, Chiffchaff, Buzzard, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Robin, Blue Tit and Chaffinch. It might be interesting to visit this site again once it has developed further, perhaps in a different season.