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CHADDESLEY WOODS

Robin Redbreast
The friendly robin is a probably the UK's favourite bird, and especially at Christmas time. The first time they appeared on Christmas cards was in Victorian times, when they represented postmen who wore red tunics and were known as 'redbreasts'.  The bright red breast is kept throughout the year and both sexes are identical. In the Spring most birds will have paired off and the females will stop singing. They stay together until September and in this time they will raise 2-3 broods of 3-8 chicks. The nest is made from moss, grass and dead leaves and lined with hair and wool. The nest tends to be in a hole in a tree, but they have been known to nest in old kettles, cars and even coat pockets! If you want to encourage them to nest near to a house it is best to try an open fronted nest box. The eggs hatch after 12- 15 days, chicks then take another 12- 15 days to fledge. The youngsters don't have the red breast, but are spotted with golden brown.
Males sing all year round and in towns often at night under street lamps, where they are often mistaken for nightingales.

But is the robin as friendly as it seems? 
The birds are real scrappers, most fights last less than a minute and start off with birds striking each other with their feet and wings. Then they roll over and over on the ground while each robin tries to pin the other one to the ground to peck its head around the eyes. Sometimes the loser gets away (the loser is nearly always the intruder), but often the loser is blinded or even killed. 
There are one or two other species that robins aren't very fond of, they tend to chase dunnocks (hedge sparrows) out of the area and will fight blue tits and coal tits for seeds out of bird feeders. The main diet however consists of worms and insects, hence the habit of following gardeners while they are digging for any easy pickings! 

"This is the weather the cuckoo likes, And so do I;
When showers betumble the chestnut spikes, And nestlings fly:
And the little brown nightingale bills his best, 
And they sit outside at "The Travellers' Rest",
And maids come forth sprig-muslin drest, 
And citizens dream of the south and west,
And so do I.

This is the weather the shepherd shuns, And so do I;
When beeches drip in browns and duns, And thresh, and ply;
And hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe, 
And meadow rivulets overflow, 
And drops on gate-bars hang in a row, 
And rooks in families homeward go, 
And so do I."

Thomas Hardy

Chaddesley Woods    -    Jan 1st 2006

As you have been walking in the woods in recent you may have seen some red/white tags on some trees. PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE.

The tags are marking areas of the wood where some new nest boxes have been erected. The boxes are to be used as part of a Birmingham University student's doctorate. Tim Harrison will be walking in the wood over the next three years. His doctorate is to test if supplementary feeding of birds has an effect on brood size, fledgling size and growth rate. Most of the boxes and feeding stations will be well away from footpaths, so the only evidence of the project will be Tim rushing round with ladder and clipboard. Do have a chat and make his time in Chaddesley as stress free as possible.

Along Jubilee Drive you will have seen that the volunteers have strimmed and cut off bracken and young shrub growth. The shrub roots will be ground out, which will help us to keep down bracken. This should help the ground flora and, in turn, butterflies and other invertebrates.

P.S. Woodcock have been seen in the wood over the last couple of weeks, possibly on migration as they are known to move around during the winter.

Mervyn Needham

Terrestial Caddis Fly in Chaddesley Woods - October 2005

The terrestrial caddis fly, Eniocyla Pusilla, is the only species of 198 species found in the UK whose life cycle is entirely land based, the other 197 have at least part of their life cycle in either running or still water dependent on species.

The life cycle of the terrestrial caddis is still not completely understood. Over the past few years H.Green and B.Westwood have searched many Worcestershire woodlands and have found the empty larval cases buried in leaf litter and at this stage it seems to be confined to Worcs., but examination in other areas of the country in the future may find a wider distribution. However, up until this weekend, 16th October, adult males had not been found in Chaddesley Woods since the 1970's and no females had been found in the wild in the UK since the 1880's. 
So, together with Ian Wallace (UK Caddis Recorder) and a small interested group, the aim of the weekend was to try and establish the presence of adult male and female caddis in Chaddesley Woods and Wyre Forest.

As the flight periods of adults was thought to be early October, from observations in France and Germany, it was hoped the timing would be right and, sure enough, after a few minutes searching in Chaddesley, males were found amongst the leaf litter in several areas. 

During the summer as we have been moth trapping, other species have been caught, so traps were set up during the evening and several male caddis came to the light. The females are flightless and again thought to inhabit the leaf litter, but are only a few millimeters in size, so the hunt was trial and error. 
After a good search Ian did eventually discover the first female. EUREKA! 
So the first female found and recorded in the UK at Chaddesley Woods 14th October 2005. 
Subsequently, after using technique of sieving the leaf litter, another two females were found. These have been taken by Ian to Liverpool to hopefully breed out. 

A successful weekend's quest for a little known and understood insect found in Chaddesley and surrounds and yet passed by, by us all who walk the woods regularly. What more is there to discover and understand?

MN

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Should you have difficulties with access or passage along the Chaddesley Footpaths, please bring problems to our attention by writing to the Footpaths Officer - footpaths@chaddesley-corbett.co.uk