Farthinghoe Nature Reserve
Farthinghoe Nature Reserve
Welcome to protecting wildlife close to home
Farthinghoe Nature Reserve is a small wildlife reserve hidden in the countryside, on the road to Banbury just past Farthinghoe, near Purston (part of it running alongside Farthinghoe recycling centre) and is open to all members of the public to walk around and enjoy the countryside. Under the care of Brackley & District Wildlife Trust, the reserve is just 5 miles from Brackley.
The reserve is looked after by Volunteer Reserve Warden Tim Pridmore, and offers a safe haven for all kinds of wildlife which live on the developing woodland, open grassland and ponds. The ponds and wet areas attract dragonflies and damselflies in late July. There is a colony of marbled white butterflies on the site as well as crickets, grasshoppers and lots of other insects.
There are obvious signs of mammals, especially badgers who have taken to digging up the paths looking for food. This year they dug up a wasps nest in the middle of the path - they certainly can make life difficult for human visitors and indeed the wasps! Pipistrelle and long eared bats find an ideal hunting ground here. Birds seen include bullfinches, sparrowhawk’s, buzzards, siskin, goldfinches, treecreepers, redwings and several species of warblers, the long-tailed tit and many more.
A walk taking in the reserve has just been published in the Brackley Walking and Cycling Guide
Working Party
On the first Sunday of the month a few nature loving people meet up at the reserve and under the guidance of Tim, clear meadows, coppice trees and plant hedges.
Most of the reserve is covered by vegetation that has developed naturally. We cut the grassland annually and remove the hay. We cut woodland on rotation to create a diverse structure. Occasional we clear material from the ponds to prevent them silting up. What a perfect way to keep fit and help nature at the same time!
The group is friendly and always welcomes new faces. So if you feel like coming along, meeting new people and helping wildlife please contact timothy.pridmore12@virgin.net
Farthinghoe Through the Seasons
Wildlife at Farthinghoe
We have recorded over 100 bird species at Farthinghoe including numerous warblers, tits, and finches. Listen out for the rhythmic drumming of great spotted
woodpeckers in the spring and the raucous ‘laugh’ of green woodpeckers as they dip and bob over the grassland. In sunny weather you’ll see plenty of different butterflies along the rides, such as speckled woods, small coppers and orange tips; we have recorded 27 species. The meadows are full of colour in summer with a rich variety of flowers, notably knapweeds, St. John’s wort, ragged Robin and the curiously named sneezewort. Later
in the season, the grassy areas are alive with grasshoppers. Hornets hunt over the grasslands during the day and pipistrelle bats hunt there at night. Look out for dragonflies chasing their prey over the meadows. There are plenty of smaller damselflies too. Beautiful demoiselles flutter in the eastern meadow – the males display their resplendent metallic blue-green colours from prominent perches in their breeding territories. As well as bats, many other small mammals live on the reserve such as field and bank voles, and common and pygmy shrews. These small mammals in turn attract foxes. Badgers reside in several setts across the reserve.
Toad
Wasp Beetle
Roesels Bush Cricket
Migrant Hawker
Marbled White on Ox Eye Daisy
Siskin (Male)
Beautiful Demoiselle (Male)
Wood Blewit (with warden Tim Pridmore taking the photo!)
Farthinghoe nature reserve, which covers four hectares, is an amazingly diverse site with a mosaic of developing woodland, meadows and ponds. Formerly part of the London North Western Railway, the area has also been used as landfill. It was capped with a variety of soils gathered from across the county, which explains the site’s richly varied plant life. The Wildlife Trust has managed the site for the benefit of wildlife and people since 1984.
Brackley & District Wildlife Trust can be contacted through their secretary Alice Adams Tel: 01280 701983 brackleyWT@mypostoffice.co.uk
If you're visiting Farthinghoe Nature Reserve why not visit the nearby historic market town of Brackley with it's range of niche shops, coffee shops and massive indoor Antique Cellar underneath Waitrose superstore. For more information on Brackley visit the Brackley website by clicking on the logo below.
