Working
forest  |
Crychan Woods is a beautiful, dark forest covering
4,000 hectares of land between the Brecon Beacons and the Cambrian Mountains in
Wales. It's a top wildlife spot for
watching rare birds and amphibians. 听 | | A
wealth of recreational opportunities. Photo - Brian Hanwell |
This
working forest is run by the Forestry Commission and is still worked for timber,
creating a mosaic of habitats from young conifer plantations to ancient deciduous
woodland. As a result the forest is in constant flux and the mix of woodland
is excellent for wildlife including birds and amphibians. Rare
birds  The
forest is home to some birds which are normally very difficult to spot including
the Nightjar, the Goshawk and the Black Cap.
There are only about 450 pairs
of Goshawks to be found in Britain so Crychan is fortunate to have a sizeable
population of them. These birds spend a lot of time in woodland, making
them very hard to spot, but Crychan has one of the highest densities of these
birds in Britain. You're most likely to see the birds out hunting in the
woods - they are ferocious hunters and eat a huge variety of birds from songbirds
to owls. The Goshawk looks a little like a Sparrowhawk but they are much
bigger and have a distinctive orange eye - the males are also a third smaller
than the females. There are several Goshawk nests at Crychan, but remember
not to disturb them as they are a specially protected 'schedule one bird'. Throughout
Crychan woods there are large areas of clear fell where areas of forest have been
harvested聟 It's here that you're most likely to find Nightjar - this
well camouflaged bird is best seen at dusk.
Another rarity is the Black
Cap, one of the most beautiful woodland song birds in spring. These migrants
arrive from Africa, the females sporting a brown cap. Newts
and frogs Another creature that has made a migration to the wood
is the Common Newt which lives in the woodland ponds.
These amphibians
have made a considerable journey from the surrounding woodland where they spend
most of the year out of water. Newts come to the pool in spring to breed
and, unlike toads and frogs which lay masses of eggs at once, they lay seven to
12 eggs a day, eventually laying up to 400 over a few weeks. The eggs hatch
two-three weeks later as tadpoles - ten weeks after that they metamorphose into
air-breathing juvenile newts, ready to crawl back into the forest. Newts
are usually very difficult to spot but when the water is crystal clear and free
of weeds, you can see them in their environment with out disturbing them. Photo
credits Crcyhan photographs courtesy of
Brian Hanwell and the Forestry Commission. 听 | 
