Ashurst Woods

Wild Daffodils in Ashurst Woods

Much of Ashurst Woods is Hazel coppice with standards, mainly Oak, although in recent years there has been some clearance of the Hazel as in this area here.  The result has been a great flowering of wild Daffodils, the best we can recall. These woods are also outstanding for Bluebells and we will be making another visit soon to see them.  The signs are that it will be a good year for them.  Besides the Daffodils there are lots of Primroses,  Violets and one large patch of Town-Hall-Clock Adoxa moschatellina with its rectangular heads of tiny green flowers. Blackthorn is also out in flower in all the hedgerows, but only a few trees and shrubs are coming into leaf, mainly Elder and Hawthorn.

There was much bird song with Blackbirds, Songthrushes, Wrens, Robins, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Great tits and Bluetits all in great voice.  We heard our first Blackcap of the year and a Chiffchaff was seen but not heard.  We occasionaly heard the call of a Buzzard overhead and caught sight of several small groups of Fallow Deer.

Walking down towards Daylands Farm we heard Jackdaws making a lot of noise and then caught sight of two on the ground in the wood a short distance away, apparently fighting.  It was hard to make out what was happening as they were partly hidden by undergrowth.  When they caught sight of us one flew off and the other flew up into the nearest tree and sat on a branch to be joined by another that, I am almost certain,  flew out of a hole in the tree and clung on to the bark a few feet away from it, flicking its wings.  This one then joined the other on the branch and after a minute or two they flew off together.  One bird seeing off a rival and then pairing up with its mate near the nest site?  That is my interpretation of a rapid and confusing series of events.  I shall be keeping a look out for that hole in the oak tree next time I am up that way.

Most of the older woods stood up well to the winter storms, but younger areas of conifer plantation showed extensive damage.  In one area it was the trees at the edge of the wood that had been blown down.  It was easy to imagine how the wind might have funnelled up the farm track from the south and wreaked the damage.   The ground would have been waterlogged by the exceptional winter rains that we have had, making it easy for the wind to push over the shallowly rooted trees.

For more pictures of  wild Daffodils Daffodil Woods see: Wild Daffodil Woods