Liz Carr organised a visit to Wild Oakingham near Nuffield on the hot morning of Tuesday 17 June. Owner Jane Ibrahim and Rewilding Specialist Professor Alastair Driver very kindly led 15 members round the site to see how rewilding is progressing. Before setting out, Alastair gave a brief introduction to rewilding, then showed members some of the moths which he had caught in his moth trap the previous night. The land at Wild Oakingham was formerly used for polo ponies. In 2021, the conversion to organic farming began and most of the internal fencing on the 200 acre site was removed. Creeping Thistle was flowering in the first field which the group visited. The flowers are very attractive to insects, including the butterflies Marbled White, Meadow Brown and Large and Small Skipper which were seen here. The dense tangle of thistle plants protects seedling oaks from browsing deer. The rough grazing supports 10 \u2013 20 times more invertebrates than traditional grazing. A 50 metre strip around the site is mown to reassure those neighbours who were worried by the sight of Creeping Thistle, Ragwort, etc. The resulting cut grass cannot be used for hay because of its high Ragwort content. Instead it is baled and left standing on edge. The path led past three fenced-in young oaks which had had their bark damaged by browsing deer. A drone survey had shown that there were large herds of non-native Fallow Deer in the area, some with more than 100 members. The native Roe Deer, on the other hand, live in small family groups. There are plans to actively manage the Fallow and Muntjac populations. A Kestrel flew overhead and mining bees were seen going in and out of holes by the side of the path. Nearby, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Wallingford has set up a machine, powered by 2 solar panels, for continuous monitoring of invertebrate life. There is also an acoustic recorder. A giant Privet Hawk moth was spotted perching on the machine. Further along, a fenced off restricted byway runs along the bottom of the field. Stiles have been replaced by kissing gates to improve access and to encourage community engagement. Requests are made via signage for dogs to be kept on leads in order in order to protect the ground-nesting Skylarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The walk continued through two matching gates on either side of the byway and into another grassy pasture, bounded on two sides by ancient woodland. A big bank of brambles is advancing into the field. The bramble blossom is very attractive to insects. Later in the year, ivy blossom will be another insect magnet. If trees fall here, they are left to decay. This field is the only one which had previously been fertilised, with grass cut for silage. A narrow path led through woodland, where sightings included Woodruff and the grass Wood Melick. The group then turned round, re-crossed the byway and walked across former pony paddocks to a collection of former pony sheds which are now being used as roosts by both Barn and Tawny Owls. A Barn Owl pellet was found to contain the jaw-bone of a vole. A number of owl boxes have been erected around the estate, but this year they have only been used by pigeons and Jackdaws. A birder in the group commented that it had been a bad year for Barn Owls, and that of six boxes on another site which he had checked, only one aborted nesting attempt had been observed. This field was not grazed. At its edge, Blackthorn was moving into the field. Alastair commented that approximately half of all rewilding sites are planting trees. Wild Oakingham shows that natural regeneration can be faster if there are any areas of woodland nearby, together with vectors such as jays or squirrels. The Knepp Estate is unusual in that it lies on former arable farmland. The route led through a gate and into another field which is being lightly grazed to provide suitable conditions for breeding Skylarks. Turning left along a footpath, the walk continued past a small herd of long-horn cattle which were sheltering from the sun in the shade of a group of trees. They use a fallen Ash tree in the field as a rubbing post. The footpath led back to the house where the walk had started. Our host Jane had kindly laid out a picnic lunch for everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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