The 2011 toad migration has started. Warm air has settled over the southern half of the UK over the last 48 hours, bringing an end to a cold spell that has lasted ten days or so, which delayed the start of the toad migration. Toads will not move when the temperature is below 8c. Last [...][...]
Archive for the ‘Wildlife News’ Category
March 5th, 2011 - 12:47 pm § in Wildlife News
2011 Surrey Hills Toad Migration
Signs appeared up and down Woodhill Lane last weekend – “Slow – Toads Crossing“, indicating the start of the annual Toad Migration. Regular visitors to the site will know that Woodhill, Shamley Green and its surrounding countryside is home to one of the largest toad populatio[...]
November 29th, 2010 - 8:47 pm § in Weather, Wildlife News
Cold Snap Puts Robins at Risk
The cold snap is putting robins at risk. A major new study suggests that there are 27% fewer robins this year and that they are at their lowest levels since 1997. It appears that the birds suffered badly in last year’s hard winter when temperatures across the country were at their lowest for[...]
November 6th, 2010 - 7:36 pm § in Weather, Wildlife News
Autumn View From Newlands Corner
Looking out across the Weald from Newlands Corner this afternoon, we were treated to an amazing display of autumn colour from the trees of Blackheath, Albury Heath, The Hurtwood and Winterfold Forest. The diminishing daylight hours and falling temperatures in autumn induce trees to prepare for the w[...]
September 30th, 2010 - 8:48 pm § in Wildlife News
The Tawny Owl’s Autumn Hoot
The Autumn evenings here in the Surrey Hills are alive with the sound of hooting Tawny owls. The Tawny owl is the UKs most widespread owl, it hunts at night and makes that well known nocturnal hoot that we often associate with ghost stories and halloween. We have had three or four hooting around the[...]
August 19th, 2010 - 1:41 pm § in Wildlife News
Late Summer Swallow Chicks Have Hatched
The swallow chicks have hatched in the barn at Woodhill Cottage. Visitors to this site may have read that we have late nesting swallows and that their lateness may be due to the late arrival of swallows in the UK as a whole. This was due to the unusual north winds that we experienced in [...][...]
July 25th, 2010 - 8:25 pm § in Wildlife News
Nesting Swallows
We have nesting swallows in the barn at Woodhill Cottage. Visitors to this site may have read a post in April announcing the arrival of the first of the summer swallows. In fact it turned out that numbers of arriving swallows were way down on average due to the prevailing north winds we experienced [...]
June 29th, 2010 - 7:56 pm § in Wildlife News
Hundreds of Infant Toads appear after the rain
A torrential summer shower brought thousands of infant toads out into the grassland surrounding the ponds and along the lanes of Woodhill, Shamley Green this afternoon. The pictures here do not convey the vast numbers that, at first glance, appeared to be swarming flies. They are tiny, measuring les[...]
May 21st, 2010 - 7:20 pm § in Wildlife News
Buzzards kill first of the Spring Ducklings
The first Spring ducklings have hatched over at the Woodhill Farmhouse lake. [Click here for pictures] The lake is home to a number of Indian Runner ducks and a goose called Lucy. The Indian Runners were reared from chicks and are expected to start breeding next year. The ducklings in question, howe[...]
May 8th, 2010 - 8:19 pm § in Wildlife News
This Year’s Bluebells are Spectacular
If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to get out into the Woodlands in the Surrey Hills. The bluebells are putting on a spectacular show, carpeting the woodland floor in a haze of blue that is sometimes so beautiful it takes your breath away. Bluebell’s, voted Britain’s f[...]
