Voltaire's Wood Biodiversity Program

Alongside our management of Hazel Woods, restoring coppice and thinning dense areas, we are conducting a biodiversity monitoring program so we can see the effect that our work has on the woodland life over the years - a sign that we are managing it well. We are currently collecting baseline data on what species are present as well as surveying the habitat quality.

Goldfinch (Flickr: HaPe_Gera)

We have over 200 species of plant and 50 species of bird recorded in the woodland already, but we hope to increase the diversity of some the lower quality areas through our habitat management. Cutting coppice and thinning out dense areas allows light to get to the floor so that more plants can grow which may attract different insects which may attract more birds to the woods. We are also looking at butterfly numbers as an indicator of habitat quality hoping to attract some of the rarer species. One day we may have small pearl bordered fritillaries flitting down butterfly glide. That will be a sure sign of success.

Here's a snapshot of where we are in May 2020.

Voltaire’s Butterflies

Brimstone	Holly blue	Orange-tip	Fritillary
Comma	Common Blue	Painted lady	Small tortoiseshell
Common blue	Large white	Peacock	Small white
Dingy skipper	Marbled white	Red admiral	Speckled wood
Green-veined white	Meadow brown	Silver washed

Silver-washed Fritillary (Flickr: HaPe_Gera)

Voltaire’s Birds

Non-passerines
Barn owl	Kestral	Stock dove
Buzzard	Mallard	Swift
Collared dove	Merlin	Tawny owl
Great spotted woodpecker	Pheasant	Wood pigeon
Green woodpecker	Sparrowhawk	Woodcock

Passerines
Black bird	Goldcrest	Magpie	Skylark
Blackcap	Goldfinch	Marsh tit	Song thrush
Bluetit	Great tit	Mistle thrush	Spotted flycatcher
Bullfinch	Greenfinch	Nuthatch	Starling
Carrion crow	Grey wagtail	Pied wagtail
Chaffinch	House sparrow	Raven
Chiffchaff	Jackdaw	Redwing
Coal tit	Jay	Robin
Dunnock	Linnet	Rook
Fieldfare	Long-tailed tit	Siskin

Voltaire’s Plants

We over 200 species of plants at Voltaire's wood. For the full list, see the table below or click on the link below to download:

Plant Species at Voltaires Wood

.pdf

Download PDF • 85KB

Herb Paris (Flickr: johndal)

Voltaire’s Plants

Angelica Annual meadow grass Ash Barren strawberry Bearded couch Beech Bird's nest orchid Bittersweet Black bryony Black currant Black medick Blackthorn Bluebell Box Bracken Bramble Bristly ox tongue Brittle bladder fern Broad buckler fern Broad leaved dock Broad leaved helleborine Broad leaved willowherb Brooklime Buckthorn Bugle Bush vetch Butterfly bush Cleavers Cock's foot Colt's foot Columbine Common chickweed Common dog violet Common figwort	Common gromwell Common hemp-nettle Common knapweed Common lime Common mouse-ear Common sorrel Common spotted orchid Common twayblade Common valerian Common vetch Common white beam Corn mint Cow parsley Cowslip Crab apple Creeping buttercup Creeping cinquefoil Creeping thistle Cuckooflower Cut leaved crane's bill Daisy Dandelion Deadly nightshade Dewberry Dog rose Dog's mercury Dogwood Downy birch Early dog violet Elder Enchanter's nightshade False brome Field bindweed Field elm	Field maple Field rose Forget-me-not Garlic mustard Germander speedwell Giant fescue Goat willow Golden rod Goldilocks’ buttercup Gooseberry Great horsetail Great willowherb Greater burdock Greater plantain Grey willow Ground elder Ground ivy Guelder rose Hairy bittercress Hairy St John's wort Hairy violet Hair wood rush Hard shield fern Hart's tongue Hawthorn Hazel Heath speedwell Hedge woundwort Hemp agrimony Herb Paris Herb Robert Hogweed Holly Holm oak	Honeysuckle Hornbeam Horse chestnut Imperforate St John's wort Ivy Lady fern Larch Lesser burdock Lesser celandine Lesser pond sedge Limestone fern Lords and ladies Male fern Maritime pine Marsh marigold Marsh thistle Meadow buttercup Meadow vetchling Meadowsweet Narrow leaved hawk's beard Nettle Nettle- leaved bellflower Nipplewort Norway maple Norway spruce Opposite leaved golden saxifrage Pale St John's wort Pedunculate oak Pendulous sedge Perforate St John's wort Pignut Prickly sow thistle Primrose Purple orchid	Ragwort Ramsons Raspberry Red campion Red clover Red currant Remote sedge Ribwort plantain Rosebay willowherb Rowan Sanicle Scots pine Self heal Sessile oak Silver birch Silverweed Small leaved lime Small teasle Soft rush Soft shield fern Sow thistle Spear thistle Spindle Spurge laurel Square stalked St John's wort Starved wood sedge Sycamore Thin spiked wood sedge Three nerved sandwort Thyme-leaved speedwell Traveller's joy Tufted hair grass Vervain Wall lettuce	Water avens Water figwort Water mint Wavy bittercress Wayfaring tree Welted thistle White clover White dead nettle Wild cherry Wild privet Wild service Wild strawberry Wood anemone Wood avens Wood barley Wood dock Wood meadow grass Wood melick Wood millet Wood sedge Wood sorrel Wood speedwell Wood spurge Woodruff Wych elm Yarrow Yellow archangel Yellow iris Yellow pimpernel Yellow rattle Yew Yorkshire fog