Owlbeech Woods

Mike Ayling carried out a survey at Owlbeech Woods this weekend which produced the following:

Black-headed Gull 3, Blue Tit 4, Common Buzzard 2, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Herring Gull 7, Magpie 2, Robin 1, Tawny Owl 1, Wren 1, Blackbird 2, Bullfinch 2, Carrion Crow 3, Great Tit 2, Jackdaw 1, Nuthatch 1, Song Thrush 3, Woodpigeon 12

Grey Squirrel 2

Chesworth Farm

Stonechat - D. Verrall

Stonechat - D. Verrall

Ryan managed to find a Stonechat or possibly two a week or so ago when leading a GreenGym task at the Farm. But despite a few looks whilst checking the livestock in the proceeding days I couldn't seem to find them. However today in the pouring rain when checking the cows in Parlour Mead Field this little beauty popped up right in front of me and showed down to about 20ft which was fantastic. Unfortunately I did not have a camera to hand but David Verrall once again came up with the goods and managed to photograph the bird later that day.

Chesworth Farm

Platt Pond Reflections - R. Allison

Horsham Green Gym were down on the Farm this morning and the two main jobs were some Bramble clearance in Parlour Mead Field as well as some reedbed management. If you visit the Farm you will notice that a section of the reedbed at Platt Pond has been cut down to water level and some of the reeds roots removed to help create a new reedbed at Warnham Local Nature Reserve.

The reeds are cut in the winter for a number of reasons, the main reason is to stop the reed totally covering the open water area which would happen if left to its own devices. The second reason is that having a mixture of different aged reeds within the pond gives the best diversity for the reedbed itself.  It is also very important to remove the cut reeds as this stimulates growth in the cut reed as well as stopping the pond silting up as the cut reed begins to rot.

Before

During

After

As you can see from the photos above the volunteers were very busy and managed to get all the reed cut that we wanted. Straight away you can see the benefit of this job as it has created a muddy edge to the pond which is perfect for birds such as Moorhen and Water Rail to feed around during the winter months.

Lastly we have now moved the cattle into Parlour Mead Field so please be aware they are now on the Riverside Walk and remember to close the gates if you are using the path through the field. On the wildlife front the following species were noted:

Meadow Pipit 9, Redwing 12, House Sparrow 8, Herring Gull 1, Cormorant 2, Moorhen 1, Grey Heron 1, Goldfinch 20+, Jackdaw 2, Carrion Crow 2, Woodpigeon 8, Blue Tit 3, Chaffinch 3

Chennells Brook Castle

Scrub Bashing at Chennells Brook Castle

Horsham Green Gym were out again today with 23 volunteers scrub bashing at Chennells Brook Castle on the north side of Horsham. The job today was to quell the Bramble growth which was beginning to cover the scheduled ancient monument. Armed with loppers and shears the gang managed to get through all of the target area as well as get the majority of the arisings burnt too.

Chennells Brook Castle is a motte and bailey which is a type of medieval fortification which was brought to Britain by Norman settlers. It is hard to make out on the ground the remains of the castle however the ditches around the motte and the bailey sections are immediately obvious when visiting the site. Sadly the wooden structure of the monument is buried underground and it is only the earth shape which gives any hint to the places rich history. Below is a very simple picture of the principle behind the motte and bailey style of castle. For more information about this particular ancient monument follow this link: Chennells Brook Castle, Horsham

If you would like to get involved or know more about the Horsham Green Gym group then click on this link https://www.horshamgreengym.org.uk/. The next task with this group is at Owlbeech Woods on Tues 14th November and we will be birch pulling on the heathland enclosures.

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Horsham Green Gym at Warnham LNR

Horsham Green Gym visited Warnham LNR today to carry out a task of woodland thinning and coppicing. Ryan led a group of c35 volunteers as we began to thin some of the overcrowded young Birch and Ash in the Millpond Plantation. The volunteers also made a start on the coppicing of the Hazel stands which will be used for hedge-laying later in the year.

Most of the interest on the bird front tin the first couple of hours of light this morning with the obvious highlight being another single Hawfinch over west at 7.40am. Good to see decent numbers of Redwing still moving over and the Mistle Thrush tally is slowly increasing with four birds feeding on Mill Meadow today. Again there was no sign on Sundays Great White Egret but the Little Egret was around all day. Totals from this morning are below:

Woodpigeon 242 (Over NE), Starling 47 (Over W), Redwing 226 (Over W), Fieldfare 20 (Over W), Stock Dove 9, Great Spotted Woodpecker 3, Goldfinch 9, Mistle Thrush 4, HAWFINCH 1 (Over W), Chaffinch 10, Feral Pigeon 2, Mallard 52, Coot 2, Great Crested Grebe 2, Blackbird 3, Song Thrush 5, Cormorant 7, Water Rail 3, Green Woodpecker 1, Jay 2, Little Egret 1, Greylag Goose 162, Moorhen 2.