Local Wildlife Site

Wildlife

The site is very steep-sided and its banks are heavily wooded. Sycamore is the dominant tree, although many have been removed and replaced with native species including ash, hornbeam and hazel. Dense, overgrown shrubs consist of hawthorn, blackthorn and bramble. There is a large plum that has been retained and gives birds an opportunity to forage. The ground flora is chiefly cow parsley, bramble and ivy. In places, this natural flora has been supplemented by planting wood anemone, gorse and greater stitchwort. There is also a dense stand of stag's-horn sumach. Part of the flat top of the embankment has been seeded with a chalk grassland mix. This results in a colourful display of salad burnet, bird's-foot-trefoil, oxeye daisy, hedge bedstraw and wild marjoram. To the east of this 'chalk grassland', bramble scrub provides cover and food for foxes and birds such as lesser whitethroat, long-tailed tit and blackcap (unusual in an urban location). There are three small ponds on site. The largest of these, below the embankment on the southern edge of the reserve, has a marsh of greater spearwort and reed sweet-grass at one end. At least two of these ponds support breeding populations of common frogs and smooth newts. Common darter dragonfly may also breed here.

Facilities

No information available