SS15 wildlife watching: Trip away from SS15 – Essex, Sussex, Suffolk, Wales and Somerset

Wednesday, 8 May 2024

Trip away from SS15 – Essex, Sussex, Suffolk, Wales and Somerset – May 2024 (part 2)

On 1st May 2024, I visited the following site:

SWT Old Lodge is located within the wider Ashdown Forest, an ancient area of open heathland with scattered trees occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The ecological importance of the heathlands is reflected by its designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, as a Special Protection Area for birds and as a Special Area of Conservation for its heathland habitats. It is part of the European Natura 2000 network as it hosts some of Europe's most threatened species and habitats.

Ashdown Forest is also famous as the setting for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories written by A. A. Milne who lived on the northern edge of the forest and took his son, Christopher Robin, walking there. The artist E. H. Shepard drew on the landscapes of the area as inspiration for many of the illustrations he provided for the Pooh books.

SWT Old Lodge lies in the heart of Ashdown Forest and is a wide open landscape of heather, gorse and grassland plus stands of oak and birch trees and small plantations of Scots pine. Its character is subtly but noticeably different from true lowland heath due to its height above sea level and it is more reminiscent of some of the upland and moorland areas of western and northern Britain.

My visit proved to be slightly challenging due to the dense fog on arrival which only improved to a slight mist.

However, I did have a successful visit and the highlights included the following (heard only records in italics): Common Redstart (2 males plus 4 other singing males heard), Wheatear (1 female), Woodlark (1 singing male plus 2 other birds), Tree Pipit (1 singing male plus another singing male heard), Nightingale (1 singing male heard), Willow Warbler (at least 5 singing males heard), Chiffchaff (1 singing male and at least 5 other singing males heard), Garden Warbler (1 singing male heard), Lesser Whitethroat (1 singing male heard), Cuckoo (3 calling males), Lesser Redpoll (c.10 flew over), Coal Tit (2 plus several other calling birds heard), Goldcrest (2 plus several other calling birds heard), Stonechat (1 pair plus an additional male), Hobby (1 flew over), Stock Dove (1), Mallard (male and female flew over), Fallow Deer (1), Rabbit (1)