Countesswells to Cults Active Woodland Group

A New Community Woodland Group

We are a new community woodland group to the west of the city of Aberdeen, working with landowners, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), and Aberdeen City Council (ACC) to make the most of this natural woodland asset on our doorstep.

The aims of the group are to encourage the local community to use and enjoy the woodlands, whilst doing as much as we can to improve the biodiversity of these varied woods.

Where does the group operate?  The FLS areas can be seen in more detail here and here. More information about the third piece of land, Cults Quarry Woods can be found in this document.

The extensive area of around 20 square kilometres includes plantation woodland of larch, Scots pine and Sitka spruce.  There are also areas of mature beech trees, and a small area of naturally regenerating woodland. Because the space is designated for recreational use, dog walkers, cyclists, runners, and horseback riders love it.

The woods are also home to lots of wildlife.  It’s common to observe foxes, badgers, roe deer, and red squirrels in the woodland. It is one of the community woodland group’s aims to try to improve the habitat for the wildlife by undertaking practical conservation activities, and monitoring and recording the effects.

©Claire Marsden

Volunteer incentives

We usually provide high quality hot tea and coffee and home baked goodies for our volunteers, which always seems to recharge the batteries very well.

The North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership (NESBiP) has generously given tools and safety equipment to the group, which has greatly facilitated our ability to conduct regular work parties.

Activities and Events

Fungus Foray

So far we have had a number of events, the first of which was a Fungus Foray.  We didn’t have to go far down the track to find a huge array of toadstools.  Our two young fungus finders made the task very easy.  If you are interested in finding out more about fungus and the important roles it plays in woodland settings you will find what you need here.  There is also a very friendly and welcoming local group which organises fungus forays, the Grampian Fungus Group.

©Tiana Walker

Birch Thinning

Additionally, we have replanted a cleared area with a mix of native deciduous and coniferous trees after holding two days of birch thinning there. Birch seedlings have effectively self-seeded, crowding out some of the planted trees. By thinning out the young birch, we are giving the other species of trees a better chance of thriving.  Some very dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers have made real inroads to improving the light and space around the other native trees.

©Tiana Walker

We are hoping to remove some of the non-native rhododendrons from the woods, which have a habit of taking over large areas if left unchecked, choking out other native species.

Nest Boxes

Our most recent ventures have involved a variety of different nest boxes, which have been kindly provided by NESBiP.  Our National Nest Box week event in February allowed several families to come and build robin and blue tit nest boxes to take home, and we have enough kits left to repeat this event in September.

We also spent a very rainy day helping to put up four tawny owl boxes, and two kestrel boxes with Jackie Cumberbirch, Environment Ranger for Forestry and Land Scotland. We are hoping the boxes will be used soon, and we need volunteers to help us monitor them.

©Tiana Walker

Still to come…

… are six bat boxes, which will hopefully attract roosting pipistrelle bats, and we will be working with the local North East Scotland Bat Group to put these up and monitor their use.   If you have a particular interest in bats the local people to contact are the North East Scotland Bat Group.  For general information about all things batty, go to the Bat Conservation Trust.

This part of the project required a fair bit of research on my part. Making sure the boxes were built, sited, and fixed in the best way possible. I found the most useful sites were RSPB and BTO for providing information on nestboxes for birds. If you are wanting good quality nestboxes, the Natural History Book Service (NHBS) site has all you need.

We are very grateful to NESBiP for providing these start-up supplies. We now have the resources to encourage folks to participate in our Community Woodland Group. This also means we have more opportunities to share knowledge and appreciation of this wonderful local asset.

Get in touch Claire Marsden through the group’s Facebook page to get involved.