Friends of Shillingford Wood

Ensuring Nature has a Home 

Just because you don't see it doesn't mean its not there!!!

Our Wood and surrounding area is home to a wide variety of wildlife including fallow and roe deer, doormouse, badger, fox, stoat, hedgehog, polecat, slow worm, grass snake, green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, bullfinch, cirl bunting, tree creeper, nuthatch, goldcrest, blackcap, whitethroat, stonechat, buzzard, kestrel, barn owl, tawny owl, little owl, song thrush, skylark and chiffchaff to name just a few species. The wide range of invertebrates form the building blocks for all our wildlife. 

What to look out for in October

Fieldfare's and Redwings

  • During October fieldfare's and redwings start to arrive in the UK from Scandinavia.

  • The fieldfare is a large member of the thrush family and is slightly bigger than a blackbird while redwings are the UK’s smallest thrush, around 21cm in length with a wingspan of up to 35cm

 

  • Redwings feed on worms and berries, particularly hawthorn and rowan. When food is scarce they will venture into gardens and orchards in search of a bite to eat – apples are another favourite of theirs. Although fieldfares prefer berries they switch to insects an invertebrates. Both species can be seen in the wood until April when they'll return to their breeding grounds.

Redwing photo credit - Adreas Trepte

What might you see during your visit?

Butterflies

Butterflies are some of the UK's most diverse insects. They come in all shapes, colours and sizes. See how many different species you can find. 

Insects

Britiain is home to 27,000 species of insect. This includes bugs, beetles, butterflies, moths, bees and much much more.

 

Black fallow deer

Fallow deer are generally pale in colour but some of the fallow deer in the wood have the less common melanistic coat, which is almost entirely deep brown or black.

Roe deer

Roe deer are one of the smaller deer species in England, they have a black nose with a white chin, and small and simple antlers. 

Fox

A born survivor with a bushy tail. The fox sits at the top of the woodland food chain with a diet that takes in everything from birds and beetles to rabbits and rats.

Badger

The black-and-white striped badger is unmistakeable. However, unless you are about very early in the morning or late at night you are unlikely to see one.

Treecreeper

Treecreepers are active during the day. They creep up trees, exploring bark and crevices, using their long, sharp beaks to pick out insects such as earwigs.

jay

Although jays are colourful  they are quite difficult to see. Their screaming call usually lets you know they're nearby.

Nuthatch

The nuthatch is a distinctive bird with an orange breast and blue-grey wings. It has a long, powerful beak and a black streak running across its eye.

long-tailed tit

Living up to its name, the long-tailed tit can be easily recognised by its long tail. It is a small, pretty, pink, black and white bird. 

coal tit

Coal tits are active feeders, hunting out insects and spiders among the smaller branches and leaves of trees in woodlands.

greenfinch

Greenfinches are large, chunky finches that are mostly olive-green, but with a yellow patch on the wings and tail. Females are grey-green with less yellow.

Buzzard

Soaring buzzards are a common sight above the wood. They are large birds with broad rounded wings and a short tail.

Kestrel

A hovering hunter that strikes from above. The kestrel is a common sight along the woodland edges, using its razor-sharp vision to catch unsuspecting prey.

Red kite

An impressive but infrequent visitor. Look out for them wheeling high in the air. They are the only UK raptor with a 'V' shaped tail.