Spring 2017

Now is the perfect time to visit Badock's Wood. There is so much to see. As well as bluebells and celandines there are wood anemones on the sloping banks and along the sides of the stream.
From time to time you will also pick up the fragrance of the wild garlic and see its white flowers.

Of course birds are very busy now and many are already into nest building. You will see magpies, crows and pigeons carrying quite large twigs to shape their nests and there is a lot of bird song where birds are establishing their territories and trying to attract a mate. This robin was just at arms length and surprisingly stayed there for several minutes while I stood and listened. Perhaps it was just pleased to have an audience.

This group at the Triangle were on an FOBW walk in March and are watching a Nuthatch doing a Spring clean on last years nest. It was carrying leaves out and away from a  hole in the tree and dropping them a distance away so as not to give away the nest site. There is a tit box on an adjacent tree which was in use last year so watch out for nesting activity in that area.

 It is always a pleasure to see cowslips in the meadows. The photos on the left are of Meadow 1 and the cowslips are probably at their peak about now. Meadow 1 is towards the Greenway Centre end of the wood. Unfortunately the variety of flowers that we find in the meadows are reducing because the grasses are becoming more vigorous and crowding out the flowers. The meadows need careful management to counteract this trend. To help this AWT (The Avon Wildlife Trust) with Council funding will be cutting some of the meadows on Tuesday April 18th. It is very important that the grass cuttings (arisings) are removed or they will compost and feed the grass even further.
AWT are looking for volunteers to help rake the cuttings so that they can be loaded onto a trailer and removed. The more volunteers the more can be mowed and the better will be the flower show in future years. Of course this is also important for butterflies, other insects and birds.
See the note at the end of this blog if you might be able to help Badock's Wood and the wildlife in this way.




The FOBW (Friends of Badock's Wood) organise walks right through the year. The photos on the right are from a Fungus Foray which was held last October. There are many types of fungus seen in the wood, particularly during a warm, damp autumn but some are also seen at other times. Even at this time of year you can see large bracket fungi on fallen trees by the stream, near the bamboo at the  Triangle. The black fungi in the lower photo are called  dead man's fingers but we also found about 20 other species including candle-snuff, snot fungus, jelly ear and King Alfred's Cakes.

There are two events coming up in April. There is a Story Telling Walk on the 23rd April and a Spring Flower Walk on Sunday 30th April.
I will give more information about these events below.






 




UPCOMING EVENTS


Sunday  23^rd April 2.00 - 3:30 p.m.
Storytelling Walk - How the Caterpillar Gets its wings
Led by Jenny Sanderson,  Badgers Forest School
& Frances Robertson, FOBW
Bring the children for an interactive walk!

Sunday 30^th April  2.00 - 3:30 p.m.
Spring Flower Walk
Led by Tony Smith & Tony West
An introduction to the Spring flora of the wood.

For both of these walks meet at the Northern Gateway, Doncaster Road.

If you like to keep fit and would like a measured 1km walk around the woods then  click here.

Meadow Cutting
We will meet at the Northern Gateway (Doncaster Road entrance) at 10am on Tuesday April 18th. Equipment can be provided but if you have a rake please bring it.
This is organised by the Avon Wildlife Trust and they will continue until 3pm. There will be a half hour break so if you plan to stay the whole time then bring refreshments but whatever time you can give to the project will be appreciated.
If you feel able to help with this important task then please email: fobwlitter@yahoo.co.uk so that we know numbers.

Note:
You can contact me or make comment about the content of this blog by emailing me at : badockswood@virginmedia.com. 
If you would like notification of future posts of this blog, however infrequent, please put you email address in the box at the top right of this blog.
You can find out more about:
 The Friends of Badock's Wood here. 
The Avon Wildlife Trust  here.
 

I have put a map of Badock's Wood below.  You can enlarge all the photos and the map by clicking on them. The 'You are here' tag points to the Lakewood Road entrance to the wood. It is not the most useful of maps but will give an idea of the layout.

Finally, I hope you will be able to take advantage of whatever good weather we have to enjoy all that the wood has to offer,


mike townsend