At the time of writing we have dealt with one of the three rides. Mowing is a doddle - but it's what comes next that is the problem. We must rake all the mowings and brambles off the ride because wild flowers are not partial to nutrients, so the more mowings on the ground the fewer the flowers. All of which takes time, and we had hoped to return to our forestry work well before now.

One of the minor pleasures of working on our reserve is the delight with which we discover plants and shrubs hidden behind mountains of brambles and bracken alongside a path. Last month we found another guelder rose when one of the green team saw red -- the colour of its berries - and we eventually uncovered the treasure. Last year we found a spindleberry in this way. It is all very exciting really, unless of course you prefer fast cars!

It was interesting to note that on one of the rides in an area plagued with squirrels, a row of hornbeams are still alive, despite the bark having been almost entirely stripped. On the other hand, across the ride, a young oak damaged in this way is completely dead.

I see that the Dartford warbler is making a comeback in Sussex, especially in Ashdown Forest. It is probably too much to hope that, because we are relatively close to the Forest, we may get a few coming our way. We have heather and a dense area of gorse which is their favourite habitat.

Hudson's British Birds tells me that the name of the warbler was given when it was first found in that Kentish town. Its old name was "furze-wren" which seems to be a more apposite with its cocked-up tail, and lively habit -- but with brilliant red eyes.

I fear that, however, that being an open reserve, we have far to many noisy dogs, so we will probably have be content with smaller mercies...

John Hall © 2002