Northern England – creating woodland habitats & supporting our wildlife
In the north of England we are lucky to provide habitats for some of the UK’s rarest of wildlife including Red Squirrels, Ospreys, and Water Voles.
Red Squirrels need protection
Once common in woodlands throughout Britain, a glimpse of the red squirrel is now a rare sight – except in the north of England which is the largest remaining stronghold.
The Grey squirrel is largely to blame for the demise of his Red cousin. The Grey eats more, adapts better to broadleaf woodlands and carries the Squirrel Pox Virus. This is deadly to the Red who becomes very lethargic, develop lesions and die within 2 weeks of contracting the disease.
Red Alert North England (RANEng) is a partnership of conservation organisations, woodland owners, universities and the general public to protect the Red Squirrel. With £1.2M funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund they set up a new project called Save our Squirrels (SoS) which is working to secure the future of Squirrel Nutkin and his friends. It is the largest single species conservation project in the UK.
Red Squirrel Reserves
There are 16 large conifer forest reserves that will support the population of Red Squirrels which also have a buffer zone to minimise the invasion of the grey squirrel. There are all in the north and we have provided you with a map so you can find the best place to visit them. Map of Red Squirrel Reserves in Northern England (pdf 303kb).
Top tip from Cumbria’s happy hens: If you are in the Lake District, we know one of the best places to see Red Squirrels AND Ospreys at the same time is at Dodd Wood near Keswick.
How do I recognise a Red squirrel?
Well, you shouldn’t use colour as a guide – instead look for ear tufts – you only see them on Red Squirrels. And look at the tail too, Grey Squirrels have white tips that create a white ‘halo’ around the edge of the tail – Red Squirrels don’t have this. Red Squirrels are also smaller, slender and shy – whereas the Grey squirrel is very bold.
What do Red squirrels eat?
Woodlands offer great protection and an abundance of food. The most important part of their diet are tree seeds like pine seeds, beech nuts, acorns and hazel nuts. They also eat fungi, flowers, berries and shoots which are all available at different times of the year.
Interesting links for Red Squirrels:
Map of Red Squirrel reserves in the north (pdf 303.6KB)
UK bio diversity action plan for the Red Squirrel (pdf 157.2KB)
Preserving and Creating Hay Meadows (pdf 140.0KB)
Preserving Upland woods (pdf 128.2KB)
The Water Vole facing extinction
Did you know that they are nearly as rare as hen’s teeth?
Lovingly named "Ratty" from Wind in the Willows, the Water Vole was once common place on our river banks, their demise has been catastrophic in recent years and they are now the fastest declining mammal in the UK. National surveys show they have been lost from more than 89% of sites they inhabited sixty years ago.
Predictions for the water voles future are bleak, based on the current population declines it is possible that the water vole may become extinct in the UK by 2016.
On a positive note, the Lancashire Plain in the north of England may support a national stronghold and like the Red Squirrel, the Water Vole is one of the top UK species identified for a UK wide bio diversity action plan.
A joint venture between Cumbria Wildlife Trust and Eden Rivers Trust aims to reverse this decline through the work of the Cumbria Water Vole Project .
Interesting links for Water Voles:
Find your local action plan for Water Voles
Useful documents:
Cumbria bio-diversity action plan for Water Voles (pdf 252.8KB)
Ospreys – a conservation success story in our region
Ospreys are spectacular fish-eating birds of prey with a wingspan of nearly five feet. Their white head and undersides, contrast with the rich brown upperparts. Driven to distinction in the UK the last recorded breeding pair in England was in1840.
The return of Ospreys as breeding birds in Britain is one of the most famous conservation success stories in the UK. There are now around 130 pairs in Scotland, having increased from a single pair which bred at Loch Garten in 1954. There are also Ospreys nesting in the north of England too.
Ospreys have summered in Cumbria since the mid 1990’s and in 2001 a pair became the first wild Osprey to breed in the Lake District for over 150 years. Ospreys have bred here ever since. The Lake District birds were encouraged to stay with the help of a purpose built nest provided by the Forestry Commission and the Lake District National Park Authority. This is the culmination of several years of hard work, the RSPB joined the partnership to provide extra support.
There is now a visitor centre at Dodd Wood in Keswick where you can observe the Ospreys, leaving them undisturbed to lay eggs and hatch their young.
This year the male and female returned almost at the same time at 2pm on 10th April 2008! Experts are astounded that both birds arrived back simultaneously after their 3,000 mile journey from Africa. It is thought that the birds that arrived this year are the male that first nested in 2001 and the female that he paired up with for the first time last year.
Top Tip: Our Cumbrian hens tell us you can also see Red Squirrels at Dodd wood too.
Things you might like to know about Ospreys:
Ospreys usually lay three eggs, which take about six weeks to hatch. The young stay in the nest for six or seven weeks. In late summer, the adult female will migrate south, leaving the male to teach the youngsters the art of fishing. They then fly south to Africa.
Young Ospreys don’t usually return to Britain the year after they hatch: they stay in Africa for two or three years but when they do come back, they often return to the area where they hatched.
Interesting links for Ospreys
Web cam of the Lakeland Osprey nest