Short-eared owls at Heartwood

They may have flown north to breed but the winter resident short-eared owls at Heartwood have been causing quite a stir. I wanted to share these photos with you showing the beauty of these birds, taken over the winter at Heartwood by Katie Gallagher. Just gorgeous, enjoy!

Fancy a guided walk of Heartwood?

The weather may not be ideal for this time of year but Heartwood is still a lovely place to visit come rain or shine!

At the moment you can see our newly planted saplings all slowly coming into leaf and the bluebells are hanging on in there along the edges of the woodland. In just a few weeks the wildlfower meadows will be a colourful display and the birds who call it home will be raising the next generation of chicks.

It’s a perfect time to come and find out what’s new with the project and how you can get involved. Our experienced guided walk leaders are available to take you and your group around and tell you about the incredible achievements volunteers have achieved at Heartwood.

Why not get in touch today and set a date? Contact heartwood@woodlandtrust.org.uk for more information.

Heartwood Forest Wildlife Notes – March 2012

Heartwood Forest Wildlife Notes
April 2012

Well we needed the rain !!

A wet and cold April did little to discourage the wildlife although it did delay the Bluebell flowering , hopefully allowing more people to enjoy them.
Resident birds much as Skylark, Linnet and Yellowhammer were prominent as the breeding season got into full swing. Summer visitors such as Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Swallow have arrived in good numbers too.
Butterflies are becoming a more common sight will Orange Tip being most numerous. Last year 22 species were recorded at Heartwood Forest by Butterfly Conservation, hopefully 2012 will be even better.
The young trees have certainly appreciated the rain and many are showing plenty of leaf already, as well as rapidly growing taller.

If you see any interesting wildlife at Heartwood Forest please let me know so I can report it in these notes.
Geoff Horn geoffrhorn@yahoo.co.uk

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New permissive bridleway access at Heartwood

The long awaited horse and cycle access from Nomansland Common into Heartwood Forest is now open:

 

It can be accessed on the western side of the common. We are still working on the access to the east.

These and all other permissive bridleways at Heartwood are there for you to enjoy. Before you visit Heartwood ensure you know where you can and cannot go and encourage others to stick to these to safeguard your paths. If in doubt get in touch or check out our access map.

 

Fundraisers go the extra mile

Heartwood Forest was lucky last weekend to have a supporter pounding the streets of Brighton for 26.2 miles. Alex Mowe, the husband of one of our volunteers, ran his first Marathon in aid of Heartwood and MacMillan Cancer Support and completed this huge achievement in 3 hours 58 minutes.

His fabulous fundraising efforts meant that he raised £1,000 each for both charities, and Heartwood Forest can add this much needed financial support to the appeal fund.

We are 3 years in to this £10.4m woodland creation project, but we still have 7 years to go and around £1m to raise to complete the planting of 600,000 trees, a Community Orchard, Wildflower Meadows, Footpaths and Bridleways to construct and maintain.

Well done and thank you Alex!

If you would like to support us like Alex, no matter how large or small a donation, we would be very grateful, and you can do this through making a donation via our website.

Photography competition at Heartwood

Have you taken any photos at Heartwood that you’re proud of?

If so don’t miss out on entering them into the 2012 photography competition. You have until November to submit your entries for the four different seasons so get clicking!

Last year’s entries and winner can be seen here.

All the details are on the posters below. We look forward to seeing your photos.

Get fit and give

Get fit and give invite you to take a walk round Heartwood Forest.

Walks take around an hour and run every day at various times except Sundays.

Cost: single walk £3 charitable donation.

For more information and to book your place call or text Carol on 07801 651141 or email carol@getfitandgive.co.uk.