Quantock Hills. An Area of Outstanding Beauty

On a glorious summer evening it is well worth taking a walk on the common and keeping an eye out for the red deer looking resplendent in their summer coats.

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Last summer the Commoners led a contract to spray areas of bracken by helicopters with the aim of helping stop the spread of this plant and ultimately the loss of the very valuable heathland.

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Last month I began to tell you about the bird ringing and I shall share the results with you once I’ve gone through the records and totalled them up.  However, on one of the days I came across something that was going to take a great deal of my time to sort out!

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This year has been a great year for Cuckoos with some still being heard within the last week.

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Over the past few weeks I’ve been working many late days surveying for Long Eared Owls and Nightjars as well as patrolling.

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On my travels around the AONB & further afield, I’ve seen a lot young birds & animals making the most of what has been a good spring.  From the pied flycatchers in the nest boxes, a young fox playing around their den to deer calves lying up quietly in the woods it’s a privilege to witness these things when going about your work.

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Cothelstone Hill has always been a good location to see Bluebells in all their glory but this year particularly they are truly amazing and well worth a visit.

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Something I really look forward to towards the end of May and into June is bird ringing.  With both my AONB and FC hat on I work closely with Doug Miller (British Trust for Ornithology Bird Ringer) as we visit nearly 150 nest boxes over the coming weeks to see what is inside and to ring the young before they fledge.

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Although the Iceland volcano may be affecting many commercial flights thankfully our migrant bird species have been flying in in good numbers over the past few weeks.

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Woodland birds have had mixed fortunes with some species populations declining whilst others have seen an increase.

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Our volunteers are definitely a hard working lot and last Wednesday they helped Owen and myself completed essential repairs to the Exmoor Pony corral on Cothlestone Hill.

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Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the deer count at the beginning of March (see earlier blog).

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The swaling season is well and truly over but last Friday smoke was seen rising from Woodlands Hill as a result of a wild heath fire.  Nigel (National Trust Warden) and myself met fire officers from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service just outside Holford before we took a look at the extent of the blaze.

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Any unplanned fire on the heathland isn’t just frustrating but can also have devastating affect on this nationally important habitat.

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Another fine day meant another fantastic opportunity to go swaling. Although swaling can be quite exhausting I must confess that I never tire of this traditional land management practice.

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On a very cold Sunday morning the Quantock Deer Management and Conservation Group’s (QDMCG) deer count took place.  For several years I have worked with Jochen Langbein to liaise with the many dedicated volunteers to cover 44 areas right across the AONB and with perfect conditions the count got underway at 06:00.

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There are plans to reintroduce cranes to the Somerset Levels.  However, one was spotted on the Quantock Hills.

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In a previous blog I wrote about an afternoon we spent with Chris Sperring from the Hawk and Owl Trust as we learnt how to use a recall method for surveying Long Eared Owls (LEO).  This involves playing a CD of a calling male LEO to entice other males or a female to call back.

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Has anyone seen their first snowdrop, heard a Tawny Owl declaring its territory or the blood-chilling scream of a fox calling for a mate? If you have or have any other interesting sightings I would be interested to hear from you.  Another species that is beginning to make themselves heard is the Long Eared Owl, a scarce species throughout the UK but associated with conifer woodland and heathland.

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Weather permitting, the next few weeks promise to be busy as the swaling season begins. However our volunteers have taken part in some training and with their help the work will be enjoyable and fun.

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There are times in this job when you are really grateful for the experiences you are given and when the ground is blanketed in snow, the skies are blue and the views are stunning it is definitely one of them.

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I’ve been a keen bird watcher for as long as I can remember and for me one of the greatest rewards you can have is your first sighting of species as they return whether it’s to breed or as now to winter, often in large flocks.

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On Saturday Tim and I took 14 photographers out over the northern end of the hills as the sun came up.  It was surprisingly mild and the views were fantastic but sadly there was little evidence of rutting deer. 

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I’ve been going out early for the last few mornings to see whether or not one of autumns wildlife spectacles has begun and this morning I was rewarded with a sight to rival anything you may see on the plains of Africa.

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