What to look out for – wildlife and plants

Please email us or tell us on Facebook about your discoveries. The animals and plants in the lists below have all been recorded in Grove Piece since October 2017

Full Species Lists

These can be downloaded as Excel files from the links below:

Existing trees

Oak
Ash
Field maple
Cherry
Hornbeam
Hawthorn
Silver birch
Blackthorn
Dogwood
Rowan
Hazel
Crab apple
Dog rose
Elder
Bullace

Bird record

Long-tailed Tit
Coal Tit
Partridge  4/17
Buzzard
Pheasant  27/4/17
Swallow  15/4/17
Yellowhammer 4/17
Jay 4/17
Kestrel 6/17
Song thrush 6/17
Sparrow hawk 1/7/17
Fieldfare 18/11/17
Wood Pigeon
Carrion Crow
Bullfinch 18/2/18
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Great Spotted Woodpecker 27/2/18
Woodcock 3/3/18
Barn Owl
Nuthatch 21/7/18

Mammal record

Hare 1/6/17, 5/7/17
Muntjac deer
Wood Mouse
Chinese Water Deer 26/12/17
Fox

Invertebrate record

Butterflies

Comma
Small Tortoiseshell
Orange Tip  22/4/17

Small White

Large White

Meadow Brown

Ringlet

Painted Lady

Brimstone

Red Admiral

Reptiles and amphibians 

Grass Snake 07/2017

Herbaceous Plants

Creeping Thistle                  Cirsium arvense 
Creeping Buttercup            Ranunculus repens
Dock                                      Rumex sp.
Cow Parsley                         Anthriscus sylvestris
Chervil                                  Chaerophyllum temulentum
Stinging Nettle                    Urtica dioica
Dog’s Mercury                     Mercurialus perennis
Common Avens                   Geum urbanum
Hedge Garlic                        Alliaria petiolata
Herb Robert                         Geranium robertianum
Hedge Bindweed                 Calystegia sepium
Bugloss                                  Lycopsis arvensis
White Campion                   Silene alba
Great Willowherb               Epilobium hirsutum
Pineapple Mayweed           Matricaria matricarioides
Greater Plantain                 Plantago major
Smooth Sow-thistle            Sonchus oleraceus
Nipplewort                          Lapsana communis
Forgetmenot sp.                  Myosotis sp.
Ragwort                                Senecio jacobaea
Scarlet Pimpernel               Anagallis arvensis
Germander Speedwell       Veronica chamaedrys
Lesser Burdock                   Arctium minus
Hog Weed                             Heracleum sphondylium
Common Cleavers               Galium aparine
Bittersweet                           Solanum dulcamara
Bristly Ox –Tongue              Picris echioides
Self -Heal                               Prunella vulgaris
Common Centaury              Centaurium erythraea
Field Speedwell                    Veronica persica

Dandelion                              Taraxacum spp

Prickly Sow Thistle             Sonchus asper

Ground Ivy                           Glechoma hederacea

Creeping Cinquefoil            Potentilla reptans

Grasses

Brome

Soft Brome                                  Bromus hordeaceus

False Oat Grass                           Arrhenatherumelatius

Rough Meadow Grass               Poa trivialis

Yorkshire Fog                              Holcus  lanatus

Cocksfoot Grass                           Dactylisglomerata

Squirrel’s Tail Fescue                 Vulpia Bromoides

Perennial Rye Grass                   Lalium perenne


 What’s in a hedge?


Species recorded in the workshop on September 14th.

This was very much a first look at the hedges – there will certainly be many, many more species to discover!

North Hedge

Mammals
Bat sp
Grey Squirrel

Birds

Bullfinch
Great Tit
Green Woodpecker
Jay
Tawny Owl
Wood Pigeon

Trees and Shrubs

Ash
Blackthorn
Bramble
Dog Rose
Dogwood
Field Maple
Goat willow
Hawthorn
hazel
Holly
Ivy
Oak

Herbaceous Plants

Avens, Common
Black Bryony
Centaury
Cocksfoot Grass
Dock sp
Ground Ivy
Hedge Convolvulus
Hedge Woundwort
Hogweed
Prickly Lettuce
Rough Chervil
Selfheal
Stinging Nettle
Thistle sp
Woody Nightshade

Galls

Field maple Red Pustule galls
Oak Spangle Galls

Lichens

Lecanora confusa


Butterflies

Large White
Meadow Brown
Small White
Speckled Wood

Moths

Brimstone Moth
Common Rustic
Flame Shoulder
Flounced Rustic
Green Carpet
Heart and Club
Light Emerald
Orange Swift
Setaceous Hebrew Character
The Snout

Dragon and damsel flies

Common Darter
Emperor
Migrant Hawker

Other Insects
Caddis Fly sp
Common Froghopper
Cricket/grasshopper sp
Devil’s Coach Horse Beetle
Green Shield Bug
ladybird sp
Sloe Bug
Weevil sp

Other Arthropods

Crab Spider sp



East Hedge

Mammals



Birds

Buzzard
Long-tailed Tit
Robin




Trees and Shrubs

Ash
Blackthorn
Bramble
Bullace
Dog Rose
Dogwood
Field Maple
Hawthorn
Hazel
Ivy
Oak
Spindle

Herbaceous Plants

















Galls

Oak Spangle Gall











Butterflies

Large White
Speckled Wood



Moths














Dragon and damsel flies

Darter sp



Other Insects
Bee sp
Crane Fly sp
Cricket/grasshopper sp
Flea Beetle sp
Green Shield Bug
Hoverfly sp
ladybird sp


Other Arthropods
Spider sp


South Hedge

Mammals



Birds








Trees and Shrubs

Ash
Blackthorn
Bramble
Dog Rose
Elder
Field maple
Hawthorn
Hazel
Holly
Hornbeam
Ivy
Oak

Herbaceous Plants

















Galls

Field maple Red Pustule galls
Oak Spangle Galls








Butterflies






Moths














Dragon and damsel flies





Other Insects











The link below will download a copy of the species list as an Excel file

Grove Woods Breeding Bird Survey 2022 – Alan Miller

The woods were surveyed during 10 early morning visits between 2nd April and 2nd June. A total of 22 species were recorded nesting or holding territory, 3 less than in 2020. Sparrowhawk, barn owl, garden warbler and linnet were a new addition but kestrel, lesser whitethroat, long tailed tit, goldfinch were missing from the previous years survey. A total of 13 other species were recorded but only on single visits and therefore are not regarded as holding territory.

The additional bird species recorded just on single occasions were, pheasant, red legged partridge, common buzzard, common snipe, mallard, cuckoo, swallow, mistle thrush, redwing, golden oriole, lesser whitethroat, goldfinch, greenfinch. The appearance of a golden oriole on 19th May was a complete surprise to John and Marie who were carrying out that morning’s survey, but it was to be just a one-day sighting.

No major changes to species totals but pleasing to have barn owls nesting for the first time raising 3 young which were ringed on 16th June.

Eight of the 10 tit boxes on Grove Piece and 19 out of 24 in Vicarage Grove were occupied resulting in a total of 185 blue tits and 21 great tits fledging an increase on previous years.

Grove Woods Breeding Birds

Numbers of territories/nests

202020212022
Pheasant100
Sparrowhawk001
Kestrel110
Barn owl001
Stock dove101
Wood pigeon666
Green woodpecker111
Great spotted woodpecker111
Wren7108
Dunnock165
Robin658
Blackbird443
Song thrush111
Lesser whitethroat100
Whitethroat211
Blackcap445
Garden warbler001
Chiffchaff667
Long tailed tit110
Blue tit272324
Great tit646
Treecreeper110
Jay101
Jackdaw100
Carrion crow111
Chaffinch657
Goldfinch110
Linnet001
Bullfinch100
Yellowhammer012

Grove Woods Nest Boxes

202020212022
BoxSpeciesFledgedSpeciesFledgedSpeciesFledged
Barn owl boxJackdaw4Empty0Barn owl3
Tawny owl boxJackdaw0Empty0Empty0
Kestrel boxEmpty0Empty0Empty0
Tit box ABlue tit8Blue tit6Blue tit7
Tit box BEmpty0Great tit4Empty0
Tit box CBlue tit7Empty0Blue tit10
Tit box DEmpty0Empty0Empty0
Tit box E Empty0Empty0Great tit8
Tit box FBlue tit6Blue titBrood diedBlue tit4
Tit box GBlue tit6Blue tit8Empty0
Tit box HGreat tit4Empty0Blue tit9
Tit box IGreat tit6Empty0Empty0
Tit box JBlue tit6Blue tit9Blue tit5
Tit box KBlue tit7 deadGreat tit6Great tit5
Tit box LGreat tit!Great tit4Blue tit5

Breeding Bird Survey – Spring 2021

Breeding Bird Survey – Spring 2021

The woods were surveyed during 8 early morning visits between 31st March and 25th May. A total of 20 species were recorded nesting or holding territory, 5 less than in 2020. Yellowhammer was a new addition but pheasant, stock dove, lesser whitethroat, jay, jackdaw and bullfinch were missing. Pheasant, jay and jackdaw were recorded but only on single visits and therefore are not regarded as holding territory.

Other birds recorded just on single occasions were, common buzzard, sparrowhawk, mallard, carrion crow, green sandpiper, swallow, fieldfare, redwing, linnet, greenfinch.

No major changes to species totals despite the poor spring but the tit broods were generally smaller.

Only 7 of the 10 tit boxes on Grove Piece were used but 23 out of 24 in Vicarage Grove were occupied resulting in a total of 148 blue tits and 19 great tits fledging

20202021
Pheasant10
Kestrel11
Stock dove10
Wood pigeon66
Green woodpecker11
Great spotted woodpecker11
Wren710
Dunnock16
Robin65
Blackbird44
Song thrush11
Lesser whitethroat10
Whitethroat21
Blackcap44
Chiffchaff66
Long tailed tit11
Blue tit2723
Great tit64
Treecreeper11
Jay10
Jackdaw10
Carrion crow11
Chaffinch65
Goldfinch11
Bullfinch10
Yellowhammer01

Breeding Bird Survey – Spring 2020

Alan and Judy Miller carried out a breeding bird survey of Grove Piece, Malster’s Little Field and Vicarage Grove. The results are shown below, probably most notable are the incredible number of Blue Tits!

Grove Piece and Vicarage Grove Breeding Bird Survey 2020
Territories 
GPVGTotal
Pheasant101
Stock dove101
Green woodpecker011
Great spotted woodpecker011
Wren347
Dunnock101
Robin336
Blackbird224
Song thrush101
Lesser whitethroat101
Whitethroat202
Blackcap224
Chiffchaff426
Long tailed tit101
Blue tit62127
Great tit336
Treecreeper011
Jay101
Jackdaw101
Carrion crow011
Chaffinch336
Goldfinch101
Bullfinch101

An Excel file showing more detail can be down-loaded here: