Nature - Melwood

Nature

Melwood Local Nature Reserve

As I write this on a cold, wet winter’s day, Melwood is very quiet. Most of the creatures are sheltering, with a few hibernating. The trees have lost their leaves and there is a soft covering around the wood protecting the seeds and bulbs waiting to arrive in their splendour about the time that you read this.

Luckily we have the birds that stay, or migrate to us for the winter, and the wood is still full of their song as these small species clean up the insects left behind from the summer. We have identified over 40 bird species in the wood over the years. Grey wagtail, fieldfare and redwing are winter visitors that have been spotted in the past, goldcrests and coal tits are generally present, and the tawny owl is more likely to be around in the wood in the winter.

Mammals that are likely to hibernate in or around Melwood are hedgehogs and pipistrelle bats. Hibernation is a state of decreased metabolism and hence inactivity. The particular metabolic changes distinguish it from normal sleep. Some amphibians go into a similar state of torpor; a state involving a significant drop in body temperature but not full blown hibernation.

When hibernating, a hedgehog’s body temperature gets close to that of the outside. The heart rate slows to about 20 from 190 beats per minute, with hardly any breathing activity. It can thus survive the winter months on the fat stores built up in the summer and autumn. Four of the butterflies regularly seen in the wood also hibernate over winter.

Bats hibernate because their normal food source of insects is scarce during the winter. We have bat boxes in the wood to assist this process. There is a similar adaption of bodily functions as the hedgehog, with reduced breathing activity and heartbeat.

If the early spring is mild, the creatures will have come out of hibernation by now and will be actively feeding to restore their reserves. Birds will be becoming more active and will soon be preparing their nesting quarters. In 2019 a great spotted woodpecker reared a brood in a natural hole in a tree trunk in the wood. The wood also has several birdboxes distributed towards the back, and one of the winter work group tasks is to check the boxes, clean them out and repair if necessary. When we cleaned them in December we found that 9 of the 13 had been used, a very good percentage. Unfortunately, owls have not yet made use of their specially designed box, but the squirrels seem to like it, gnawing the wood to get access!

Photograph above and below Jim Reid

Early flowers will be already appearing, with snowdrops being one of the first. We have a variety in Melwood that was spotted on New Year’s Day this year. There are two other snowdrop cultivars in the wood, one which flowers relatively late. In the last couple of years there has been a magnificent display and we have had to move some of the clumps off the side of the paths to prevent damage. Later there will be the flowering bulbs and we hope that our newly planted natural daffodils will begin to appear this year to join the hybrid varieties already in the wood (planted by the Girl Guides in the early years of conservation). We hope that the natural bluebells will also appear in larger numbers in April to complement the Spanish variety.

There used to be quite large patches of primroses, cowslips, oxlips and hybrids flowering from April, but these were not as extensive last year – possibly rabbits eating the young plants after the chicken wire protection got disturbed... The small dark purple flowers of Dusky Cranesbill will also first appear in April, lasting sometimes into early June. Hopefully the few wood anemone plants seen last year will also have spread and will flower again this year, and we have recently planted some foxgloves.

The Brimstone is usually the first butterfly to be seen, as it can emerge from hibernation in warm weather and go back to sleep again if things go downhill. Peacock, Comma and Small Tortoiseshell are safer if they wait until the warmth is more settled. Other butterflies will begin to appear again in April if the spring is mild. Last year Peacock and Brimstone butterflies made an early appearance and Orange tips were in good numbers by mid- April. The Holly Blue was recorded but seems to be far more at home in gardens. By mid-April the Speckled Wood was present in sunny areas and along the sunny side of the meadow, confirming its status as the wood’s most consistent resident, and a Red Admiral was spotted in mid-April as the first example of this migratory species.

We hope that you will be able to wander through the wood as it wakes up after its winter slumbers and experience the rich variety this small nature reserve can offer.

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Photograph above and below Tim Gane