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If you’ve read my first report you will appreciate
that gathering baseline data on Wyeswood is a central part of the
current work plan. In addition to soil and habitat surveys (namely
grassland and woodland) a number of species surveys are in progress.
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One very special target species for Wyeswood
is of course the dormouse. Good populations of this rare species
exist on other Trust Reserves and in the neighbouring Pentwyn
Farm SSSI. Signs of dormice (hazel nut shells) have been found
on Wyeswood but it is hoped that by putting out dormice boxes we
can confirm their presence on the Common and in the long term
encourage greater numbers.
A few weeks ago Jan Kinchington, the Trust
Woodlands Reserve Officer, accompanied by a handful of our
regular mid-week volunteers arrived at Pentwyn with 50 dormice
box packs ready to be assembled. Unfortunately there wasn’t
enough room in the tool shed for me to join in though I did
manage to make one box. Naturally it stood apart from the others
in its precision of construction (I think not) so much so I
shall take it very personally if nothing moves in! |
As a result of all this effort we now have 20 dormice
boxes up at Wyeswood and 30 up at Pentwyn (replacing the ones that were
there before). The aim is to enter Wyeswood and Pentwyn into the
national dormice box monitoring scheme. So if you see what looks like
back to front bird boxes hung up around the woods, please don’t disturb
their inhabitants! If we don’t have dormice moving in we’ll most
certainly have other small mammals and birds, be they breeding or
looking for a warm place to shelter.
Habitat management at Wyeswood will be aimed at
stopping up gaps in the hedgerows and generally connecting isolated
pockets of woodland hopefully encouraging these adorable creatures to
spread! Here’s hoping our standard of word work is high enough to
make Wyeswood Common a dormouse des res.
I am most eager to build up a regular group of volunteers
to help me look after the site so if you have some time to spare I would love to
hear from you whatever your interest!
Annette Murray, Wyeswood Common Project Officer
Phone: 01600 740358 or 07810 853794. Email:
amurray@gwentwildlife.org.
Read Annette's October
08 Wyeswood report |
