Wells Farm

Visited March 5 2018 Best time to visit: March – November

http://www.bbowt.org.uk/reserves/Wells-Farm

The Challenge lives on! But differently…..

In the New Green Challenge I aim to go and see BBOWT reserves when they are at their best. Tricky for a reserve like Wells Farm which has different features which are at their best at different times of year eg the overwintered stubbles are at their best during the winter; the woodland and wildflower meadow are at their best in the Spring/Summer. The BBOWT website suggests March to November.

I vowed when I last visited Wells Farm (Feb 19) that I would return soon, and remember to bring my binoculars.

So…here I am again….complete with bins (see the strap round my neck) and a Corn Bunting sitting on my arm. I was hoping to see good number of birds on the winter stubbles and field margins sown with wild flowers and grasses. 2018-03-05 13.52.50

This reserve used to be an intensively managed arable farm. It is still a working farm but has incorporated various features to make it more attractive to wildlife, such as over-wintered stubbles and field margins – good in the winter months for birds.

I walked for about 2 miles – I wanted to see the full extent of the reserve – along public footpaths and bridleways that go through the arable fields, not just restricting myself to the much shorter Wildlife Walk which only goes through the wood and pastures.

I managed to see 29 species of bird – an improvement on the 23 I counted last visit without bins. The Rooks were wonderfully noisy in the tree tops – I counted 15 nests which probably have young in them already. And it was a real joy to hear several Skylark giving it their all.

Here’s the 29: Red Kite, Wood Pigeon, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Green Woodpecker, Rook, Skylark, Jackdaw, Crow, Great Tit, Black-Headed Gull, Yellowhammer, Buzzard, Stonechat, Robin, Stock Dove, Dunnock, Wren, Pheasant, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Kestrel, Magpie, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Pied Wagtail, Redwing.

I was really pleased to see the Stonechat – I reckon that was the species I saw last time sitting on the fence but, without optical aids, could not positively identify. Disappointed not to see Corn Bunting or Linnet.

Saw last time but not this time: Song Thrush, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Long-Tailed Tit, so my Site List is 33 species.

Sandwich this time was Stilton and Cucumber – will try and branch out to something a bit different next time…any suggestions?

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I went by bike – it was 20 miles in total from east Oxford and back. It’s so nice to not just ‘go for a bike ride’ but have a place to aim for and a purpose – and somewhere to sit and eat your sandwiches enjoying the beauty of the natural environment. And this reserve is a good distance for a reasonable ride out from Oxford, with pleasant quiet lanes and lovely views of the Chilterns.

Would be really nice if there was a bike rack I could lock my bike to 🙂

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