Pamber Forest Nature Reserve - Quarterly Newsletter - January 2024 | Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

It has been a relatively quiet end to the year largely as a
result of the very wet weather that has restricted wildlife
sightings and to a certain extent practical work. All three months have experienced above average rainfall and this in combination with the wet summer has meant that the rides and paths are about as muddy as they get.

Some wildlife highlights were the sighting of a large grass snake crossing a ride on the 18th November, a late date for this species as they would normally be in hibernation, reflecting the mild weather at the time. A stoat was seen on 16th October and several weasel sightings occurred in November. This is unusual as they are normally very elusive animals.

A large grass snake crossing a muddy path — Grass Snake - (c) - Kevin Chatburn

Redwings and fieldfares both arrived for the winter in mid-October and this was followed by a big influx of redwing with flocks of several hundred being regularly seen, and a flock of 8 crossbills were seen on 27th November.

The volunteer group has been busy working on the programme of coppicing. The last three months in between rain and wind put in 57 work days, bringing the total for the year to 513.

The frequent storms created quite a bit of work with plenty of trees coming down, particularly in Inhams Copse. After the pine felling there was a risk of wind blow and this duly happened with some pine and birch being blown over in the exposed areas and some coming down over the stock fence, meaning that we have had to keep the cattle out of Inhams Copse until this can be sorted.

At the end of November into early December we finally experienced some settled weather with several days of cold, frosty conditions creating visually spectacular views and the frozen ground providing a welcome relief from all the mud!