A lovely autumn day at Wapley Bushes

Pears at bottom of Lower Meadow

What a lovely Sunday we had! It had all the signs of our mixed seasons - on a walk round the Nature Reserve I saw ripe pears and apples, as what must be the last butterfly of the year fluttered past.

And then, at the top of the woodland, I caught a brief glimpse of a deer, leaping away into the undergrowth. About chest-high on me, it was too big to be a muntjac. I was close enough to get a reasonable look, but it was too quick for me to photograph. Based on the size and colour of its coat, I think it was probably a roe deer.

Apples at top of Lower Meadow, near Chris's Bridge

Ridge Wood Owl Prowl, Thursday 27 October

This popular family Owl Prowl event is back again in 2011 with bird of prey expert Ian McGuire who will guide us round the woods. Please wear warm clothes and bring a torch. Please do not bring any dogs to this event (even if on a lead).

Meet at the southern Quarry Road entrance to Ridge Wood, Quarry Road, Chipping Sodbury at 7.00pm.

Lower Woods Guided Autumn Colour Walk, Sunday 23 October

A seasonal guided walk around Lower Woods nature reserve, taking in the different aspects, landscapes and wildlife of this huge, fascinating and diverse ancient woodland. The route will be about 2.5 miles long, and will follow the narrow and occasionally steep paths along the stream. The woods will be muddy and slippery in places so please wear suitable footwear.

Meet at Lower Woods Nature Reserve, Inglestone Common, east of Wickwar, South Gloucestershire (OS Grid Reference: ST 746881, postcode: GL9 1BY), 2.00pm - 4.00pm.

Kingsgate Park Ponds Workday, Saturday 8 October

We shall undertaking maintenance of this important amphibian site including the cutting back of vegetation. Please wear gloves and wellington boots.

Meet at the Scott Way entrance to Kingsgate Park, Scott Way, Yate 10.00am.

The rooks are getting territorial again!

Our local rooks tend to get very protective of their territory when it gets close to the nesting season, but they've started extra early this year.

Walking round Wapley this afternoon, I was out on the Common when I heard the rooks calling and saw the full squadron launch. I immediately thought "Buzzard alert!", and I was right - a few seconds later a pair of buzzards appeared above the wood, being mobbed by the rooks.

One buzzard fled immediately, but the other was inexperienced enough to try to stick around. It soon realised the error of its ways! A rook is very agile and can very nearly turn within the wingspan of a buzzard. An outnumbered buzzard is not going to be successful.

Actually this was slightly different from previous occasions - the rooks were using different tactics. I normally see the rooks zooming up towards high-flying buzzards, but this time they got above the buzzards and were forcing them down towards the tree canopy where they wouldn't be able to manouvre easily. Isn't nature fascinating?

Go batty with the BBC!

A BBC Autumnwatch film crew are coming along next Wednesday to the bat walk at Goose Green at 7pm. They wish to film the walk and interview participants. They are hoping to get people to ask wildlife related questions to the camera which will then be aired during the Autumnwatch ‘unsprung’ show, where the questions will hopefully be answered by the team.

We are therefore hoping for a good turnout of local people and a handful of questions to ask. Here's what South Glos say about the bat walk:

"Walk around Goose Green Fields and along the River Frome in search of our magical native bats that can eat up to 3000 insects a night! Meet at the site entrance off Oak Close, Yate. 7pm to 9pm.

Free event! Children should be accompanied by an adult. Please wear sensible footwear and warm clothing. Bring a torch. No dogs allowed.

For more information call ✆ 01454 863592 text 07950 080 111”

Go batty with THREE local bat walks this month

• Tuesday 20th September, 7pm – 9pm. Ridge Wood & the River Frome - meet at Jubilee Park, Chipping Sodbury BS37 6BQ
• Thursday 22nd September, 7pm – 9pm. Yate Common - meet at main entrance of the Road to Nowhere BS37 8RZ
• Wednesday 28th September, 7pm – 9pm. Goose Green Fields, Yate

More details on the South Glos website here

Lower Woods Dormouse Safari - Sunday 25 September

This will be a guided two mile walk around Lower Woods nature reserve with dormouse surveyors Gef and Genny Lucena who have been studying the dormouse populations of Lower Woods. There will be the opportunity to learn about coppice management and to watch dormouse box inspections. Places are limited and so advance booking is essential on 01452 383333 quoting booking code 11SAF. Directions to the meeting point will be sent upon booking.

Report from Wapley work morning 4th September

We had an excellent work morning today. Around 15 of us pitched in and achieved a lot. Our main target was to clear out the leaf mould and debris from the small stream that runs down through the middle of the main wood. It may not look much, but when it rains hard the water really flows. If we didn't clean out the stream it would overflow and destroy the adjoining habitat, in particular affecting a very rare species of sedge.

We did a litter-pick right round the Woodland and the Common, and we were pleased to see that there was less litter than we expected. We checked out the new orchard trees, and these seem to be doing well apart from from some damage by wandering goats (!) - we've been assured that the goats have now been relocated toa field further away.

We cut back trees that have been intruding onto the woodland paths, which was very much needed due to the amount of growth because of the wet weather. We'll have to return to this task on another work morning because there are patches of dense bramble that will need to be attacked with slashers, rather than the croppers and bowsaws we were using today to clear the woody branches.

A big thank you goes to everyone who took part, both the regulars and the people who were taking part for the first time - we hope you enjoyed yourselves undertaking this very valuable work!

Our next Wapley work morning will be on Saturday 19 November - please watch this blog for details of Wapley and other events.

Please don't forget our work morning on Sunday!

10.00 at Shire Way Gate - please see our previous post for details

Work at footbridge over railway to Wapley Bushes

On Wed 31 August  Network Rail will be carrying out survey work for electrifying the railway line, so they will be digging a couple of test trenches in the approach slopes to Sergeant's Farm Bridge.

Despite the warning notices the footpath will not need to be closed, so you can still get across from Shire Way to Wapley Bushes. Network Rail will also attend to the sunken patches in the path near the Radar Gate when they reinstate the survey trenches.

How do you like our new design?

I thought it was about time this blog had a more modern design. Please let us know what you think (our contact details are in the right hand column)

Bat Walk on Yate Common, 22 September

Walk around the Common and its woodlands in search of bats. Meet at main entrance of the Road to Nowhere. Thursday 22/09/2011 7pm to 9pm.

And have you seen the new Friends of Yate Common blog?
http://yatecommon.blogspot.com

Wapley Bushes Work Morning - Sunday 4 September

This workday will be our annual stream clearance where we hope to clear the central watercourse through the main woodland. This work is required to preserve the habitat of the rare local thin-spiked wood sedge. You are welcome to come along and please wear walking or wellington boots and bring some gloves. Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, South Yate, 10.00am.

Butterflies in the Meadow

Isabel Ryan took these lovely photos during the Wapley Wander:

This wide shot shows the richness of the meadow, which is what attracts the butterflies and other insects.

This close-up of a pair of marbled whites shows clearly that the markings on the underside of the wings are different from the tops.

Coastal Fossil Hunt Saturday - 23 July

A tour along our very own local Jurassic Coast at Aust with our expert guide Mr Chris Townson. As we are by the coast we might even see some of the descendants of dinosaurs themselves - wading birds! Bring a magnifying glass if you have one, and please wear stout footwear. Meet for a car share at the Clock Tower, High Street, Chipping Sodbury, 1.30pm (Parking available in the Wickwar Road car park)

Wapley Bushes Summer/Autumn Newsletter now online

Click here for the Wapley Bushes Summer/Autumn 2011 Newsletter with details of wildlife events on the Nature Reserve and in our area.

Update 22/08/2011: Please note that the Ridge Wood Autmn Quest event on 15 October has been cancelled.

A butterfly's eye view of the Lower Meadow at Wapley

Report from Wapley Wander 3 July 2011

Part of the group looking at the flora in the Top Meadow

An enthusiastic group of walkers met yesterday afternoon for a tour of the Nature Reserve. The meadows were full of wild flowers and butterflies - if you haven't visited them lately, catch them now before the flowers set seed and the meadows are mown shortly. There are over 70 wildflower and grass species present in the rich Lower Meadow including many species that are beneficial for insects, including black knapweed, devil's bit scabious and betony. We saw one species of orchid on the day, te common spotted orchid, but we know that there are others which have already gone over. The Top Meadow also had a great collection of grasshoppers and crickets - as we walked through the grass they would explode away from where we were about to tread.

The main Wapley Wood has just been declared an Ancient Woodland by English Nature, meaning that it's over 400 years old, so we talked about the traditional woodland management techniques that we still use today, such as hedgelaying, coppicing and dead-hedging. We also explored the importance of drainage - our ditches and the underground stream - and historic concepts such as the bank and ditch system, and people being able to take wood "by hook or by crook".

We showed off our big projects from the past year, as mentioned previously on this blog - the new path up the Ride, the hedgelaying in the Lower Meadow, and the Orchard for the Future on the Common. We also mentioned our long-term planning and some ideas we have for improving habitat to attract owls.

Thanks to everybody who came. Please follow the links above to find out more about what we've been doing on the Reserve.

Burnet moths doing what comes naturally on the Common

Wildlife and history walk at Wapley - Sunday 3 July 2pm

Natural England has recently declared that Wapley Bushes is an Ancient Woodland - that means it's more than 400 years old.

To celebrate, there's a guided walk through the woods and meadows on Sunday. The meadows are currently full of wild flowers and butterflies. The walk will also showcase some of the major projects that the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group has undertalken over the past year.

Everyone welcome - meeting at the Shire Way gate, next to the zebra crossing. Please wear suitable footwear.