{"id":10524,"date":"2022-01-23T07:08:10","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T06:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/?p=107346"},"modified":"2022-01-23T07:39:21","modified_gmt":"2022-01-23T06:39:21","slug":"day-out-highnam-woods-gloucestershire","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/day-out-highnam-woods-gloucestershire\/","title":{"rendered":"Day out: Highnam Woods, Gloucestershire"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Tolga Aktas\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 23 January 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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RSPB Highnam Woods Nature Reserve<\/a> is part of the largest area of ancient woodland in the Severn Vale, with a series of rides and glades, managed scrubland and piles of dead wood, making it a refuge for a wide range of fauna and flora. It is particularly special in spring when the melodies of birds fill the reserve.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re lucky, you will hear the enchanting calls of the nightingale<\/a>. The RSPB maintains a scrub and\u00a0coppice habitat here for these woodland songsters, who return in April to nest and raise their young among the cuckooflowers, wood anemones and plentiful bluebells that shine atop the forest floor like starlight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\""Spring\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Highnam Woods RSPB Reserve in spring\/Credit: Mike Lane, Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Wildlife at Highnam Woods<\/h2>\n

Nature provides a very precise order of appearance for the springtime flowers at the reserve. First come the primroses, wood anemones, wild daffodils and lesser celandine, then violets and early purple orchids. A little later in the season, bluebells appear, scattering the woodland floor with a mix of violet and sapphire, brightening any dull day with their beauty. The scent of cow parsley, cuckooflowers, wild basil and garlic mustard further enrich the senses.<\/p>\n

\""Small\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Blue tits are one of many species of bird to reside in the reserve\/Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Nightingales aren\u2019t the only birds to bless Highnam. I live just five minutes from the reserve and on my walks have heard calls from blue tits<\/a>, robins<\/a>, great tits, wrens, marsh tits, hawfinches, song thrushes, green woodpeckers, great spotted woodpeckers, lesser spotted woodpeckers (a rarity in the UK), nuthatches, treecreepers, jays<\/a>, chiffchaffs, blackcaps and buzzards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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