Fritillaries For The Future Continues
Yesterday (15 February) I had an entire day free, so headed out to look at progress on a couple of projects. I started off in a private part of the woods at Small Dole, where a joint project involving the owners (Pete and Sally), BC (Fritillaries for the Future), South Downs National Park Authority (supported by the Volunteer Ranger Service) and Petra Billings (Consultant), is now under full steam.
Our contractor, Graham West (Weald Woodsman) and associate are bringing 1.5 hectares of overstood (unmanaged/overgrown) hazel coppice back into cycle, by cutting one third over each of the next three years, after which it will be managed by volunteers as six coupes (compartments) to produce hedge-laying materials for use in the National Park.
As each one third of the coppice is initially cut to ground level, the standards (large individual trees) are being thinned out, to allow more light to reach the woodland floor. This will improve the growth rate and quality of the regenerating hazel, improve the ground flora, and greatly improve the habitat for woodland butterflies and other wildlife.
Most of the trees being removed are Ash (which will inevitably succumb to 'die-back'), while the majority of oaks are being retained, particularly those which have been identified as having potential for bats, during an ongoing survey.
When I visited, the felling of standards had almost been completed, and the once-closed canopy was allowing the sunshine to flood through to the previously dark and floristically barren woodland floor. By reinstating traditional management practices (both hazel coppice and standards would traditionally have been harvested, on short and longer cycles respectively), this exciting project will bring sustainable benefits for a wealth of wildlife long into the future.
Graham reported seeing a Holly Blue the previous day (14 February), which although not a national first, is a 2019 first for Sussex.
I later moved on to Rewell Wood, seeing a Brimstone en route (Amberley Station), and Brimstone, Peacock and Red Admiral at my destination. Having walked over areas managed by the Norfolk Estate, SDNPA/BC, Plumpton College, the resident woodsman and commercial contractor, I suspect we'll be seeing very good numbers of Pearl-bordered Fritillary this year.