Briddlesford appeal

The animals of Briddlesford Woods

At Briddlesford Woods, our nature reserve on the Isle of Wight, hazel dormice and red squirrels live side by side – one of the last places in the UK they’re found together. Look more closely and you’ll also find rare bats, barn owls, badgers, butterflies and countless other animals sharing this remarkable reserve. 

But woodlands don’t stay rich in wildlife unless they’re cared for. They can easily develop into an expanse of tall trees vying for sunlight with bare ground beneath, creating an inhospitable environment for native wildlife. Careful, ongoing management creates a healthy mix of old trees, dense undergrowth, sunny glades, open rides and undisturbed corners. 

Two rare bat species, Bechstein’s bats and barbastelles, live in our woods. They depend on vast swathes of connected woodland and old veteran trees, where cracks in the bark and holes in trunks provide secure places to roost, raise their young and hibernate.  

There are areas with dense undergrowth, clear, open sunny glades and rides for flowers and butterflies, as well as copses with sandy soil which badgers love. Well-established bramble, honeysuckle and native wildflowers are perfect for the resident hazel dormice who spend the warmer months foraging and bringing up their young. We coppice hazel on rotation, encouraging fresh growth, flowers, insects and a reliable crop of hazelnuts, all providing the food needed for dormice to successfully hibernate through winter and to build up their reserves again when they wake in the spring. 

Briddlesford is also a safe haven for red squirrels as there are no greys on the island, keeping the threats of squirrelpox virus and competition at bay. Unlike dormice, red squirrels don’t hibernate. They collect extra bedding for insulation and make sure they have a good stock of hazelnuts to keep them warm and fed until spring. When we clear the wide grassy pathways that criss-cross the woods, we make sure that there are still places where the branches meet overhead, so that squirrels can leap from tree to tree. 

Also up in the trees are barn owls – apex predators on the Isle of Wight. Briddlesford provides their ideal habitat and there’s a large breeding population here. They like the mixture of woodland, rough grassland and saltmarsh, where they can hunt. We’ve recently installed new barn owl boxes close to the woodland edge which means they can fly straight out into the grasslands to feed.  

We’re creating a safe, idyllic home for the animals who live on our nature reserve. It takes a lot of work, but with so much of our woodland across the UK lost, the ancient woodlands that remain are even more precious.  

If you could give a gift today, it could help us create the best habitat for these woodland animals for years to come. These woods really are special place, and while they are in our hands, the animals that live there are protected. 

Thank you.

Header image credit Gail Johnson | shutterstock