There is a very diverse range of wildlife and plant life in and around the orchard site. The area sits to the North-East edge of the village of Chinnor, over the railway lines, adjacent to agricultural land all the way up to the Ridgeway Path but below the designated Green Belt Area on the Chilterns and particularly Chinnor Hill. The Ridgeway path runs NE to SW which is a part of the Chiltern Escarpment and runs along the foot of Chinnor Hill. The Chilterns are part of the layer of chalk covering most of East and South East of England. Many species of flora and fauna favour chalky soil.
One of the most plentiful inhabitants of the orchard are birds. Over the years there will have been a huge range of birds but owing to a vast array of changes in human occupation, agricultural methods, introduction of non native species and not to mention climate change there will have been massive changes in the bird population in and around the orchard. Over the last 35 years some 38 or more species have been observed coming and going.
The chalky soil supports many plants favoured by our local bird population. Our recently planted boundary hedge features Cornelian Cherry, Dogwood, Guelder Rose and Hawthorn, all bearing tasty berries in the autumn. In addition, there are many brambles in the perimeter which not only provide berries for birds and other wildlife to eat but also robins, wrens, thrush, blackbirds, warblers and finches will nest in it as it provides protection from predators. We are working hard to build safe habitats in the orchard, particularly in the perimeter of the plot.
There were obvious habitat changes in the orchard since it was inhabited going from wild to domestic. It is also most likely that the occupants of the cottages had a few chickens, ducks or geese for their own use. After the houses had gone, we know that Derek Howlett kept chickens there in the 1950-60s. In time the area became very overgrown and choked and gradually a plethora of wild birds took over.
Green woodpecker regularly nest in a hole in one of the heritage fruit trees. They are seen regularly in the gardens foraging for ants and on the bird feeders. They can also be regularly heard flying across the fields. The greater spotted woodpeckers seem more numerous and are very much in evidence flying in and out of the orchard. Both varieties bring their young to feed in the gardens when they fledge. They are quite large birds 31- 33cms, the size of a pigeon. Both male and females have a red cap but the male also has a red moustache and a mark each side of its face just below the eye.
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| Green Woodpecker |
The photograph on the left was taken in early 2019 from an adjacent garden this woodpecker is a female, without the red moustache, and was perching just above the hole in the tree where it was nesting. The photograph on the right taken a month or two later is a male and may be the from the same family, it is looking for insects on the adjacent electricity pole but also seen on the same day sitting on a shed roof feeding insects to two fledglings. They are commonly seen in early morning raiding lawns for ants.
Greater spotted woodpeckers are commonly seen in and around the orchard and make a colourful spectacle. At 22 to 23cms, similar to a blackbird, they are a little smaller than their green cousins and are quite partial to seeds, nuts and fat balls. They are also keen to bring their fledglings to the bird feeders to feed and train them how to forage for themselves. The adult was observed to break up peanuts and feed it to the young. They are very striking birds with mainly black and white plumage with a red rump. The males have a small red crown and juveniles have a large red cap on their head which when they are newly fledged looks very comical with the grey down.
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| Greater Spotted Woodpecker |
Small birds such as chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch and several varieties of tits are quite numerous, they can be seen and heard regularly up in the trees. Because of the dense nature of the habitat it is difficult to identify the smaller birds unless you spend time quietly observing and surveying which is something that the group plan to do now that we have a meaningful method of recording through iRecord. Recording the birdsong identifies many species too, recently we identified a lesser whitethroat by its song on a bird identification app although we did not see it. We look forward to identifying more species through active watching and listening.
It is very rare to go into the orchard without seeing the ever present robin. Sparrows are present but seem to prefer being nearer the houses over the railway lines. Less numerous species like black cap, lesser redpoll, siskin, linnet and brambling are seasonal visitors to the adjacent gardens and fly into the orchard as they leave. Maybe you have been lucky enough to see the resident little wrens, with their distinctive upturned tails, busy in the bushes or trees at the Donkey Lane edge of the orchard when walking by.
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| L-R Robin, Wren, House Sparrow, baby House Sparrow, Chiff Chaff |
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| Greenfinch |
Greenfinch are very numerous visitors to the orchard and nest there, they are a chunky shape and roughly 15cms. long They are frequently seen and heard in the trees and regular and numerous visitors to the gardens adjacent to the orchard. In spring the male birds develop a very bright green plumage. The females do have a greenish hue when the sun shines on them but are more recognisable by the yellow flashes on their wings. They are one of the larger finches and have heavy beaks for breaking seeds. They like to nest in small trees and bushes, often favouring hawthorn and brambles for protection from predators.
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| Goldfinch |
Goldfinch are a lot smaller than greenfinch, roughly 12cms but still have heavy beaks. They are brightly coloured and are very numerous in the 6 figure OS map reference for the orchard. They are here all the year around and seem to stay in family groups. They like the seed heads of plants like thistles and burdock, so the orchard is an ideal habitat with its abundance of these plants now.
Blue tit, coal tit, great tit and longtail tit are regularly seen in and around the orchard, we are certain that at least 2 of these birds are nesting in there in 2022. Great tits have been observed feeding young and blue tits are busily flying in and out from the railway boundary. The very busy longtail tits are seen flying in and out in groups but are more likely to be roosting and nesting higher up the lane in the woods they are more likely to be seen in the colder weather. Coal tits are similar size to blue tits but have darker heads and a white ‘nape’ patch, they are often seen in autumn and winter in mixed groups foraging for food although they would prefer to nest in conifers or at least taller trees.
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| Left: Great tit, Right: Blue tit |
In the orchard there is a magnificent Ash tree which is, as yet, still healthy, this hosts larger birds who regularly roost there. Obviously there are many pigeons there but there is very often a red kite or two and a few magpies until they have a family when the number and noise increases dramatically. There are jackdaws and crows often to be seen there along with blackbirds scuttling about and small groups of iridescent starlings fussing in and out. A heron has even been observed resting there or possibly staking out the local garden ponds!
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| Red Kite |
Red kites. This photograph is a young red kite perching in the large ash tree on the edge of the orchard on the field side, September 2020. There are now numerous red kites circling over Chinnor due to a very successful re-introduction project in the 1980s. They are now spreading out over a much wider area although they need to spread further than they have. Given the current numbers, residents have been requested not to feed them in their gardens thus preventing them from foraging for themselves. It will be a disaster for the kites if the area becomes overpopulated and they become a pest once more and become hunted. For many years we have been used to seeing seagulls following the tractors when they were ploughing the field next to the orchard, for the last 10 years they have been gradually joined and to a large extent, replaced by the red kites.
Nearby there is a pair of sparrow hawks who predate other birds, they have been observed taking pigeons and more recently photographed, a male bird taking a blackbird whilst being bravely and very noisily mobbed by a group of its family and friends. Sparrowhawks are very tenacious and have been known to hang about for more than half an hour to catch a sparrow who is hiding in a hawthorn hedge next to the railway lines. They are spectacular when they swoop onto their prey, almost too fast to observe clearly with the human eye.
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| Sparrow Hawk |
Redwing, fieldfare and thrush can be seen in the late autumn and winter months in flocks near trees with berries, particularly hawthorn. They visit the orchard and are often seen in large mixed groups on the southern corner. They are a larger species and make an interesting spectacle when everything else is becoming brown and dismal. Each of these birds have very different colour schemes and are more easily identified when they fly, especially the redwing with the red flash below its wing which you see as it flies away and the white stripe over its eye. The fieldfare is very slightly bigger and has a grey head. The thrushes are startlingly speckled in the summer and although not always seen, mistle thrushes are almost always heard in the vicinity by bird recording apps.
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| L-R Redwing, Fieldfare, Thrush |
Yellowhammer arrive in small flocks usually in the spring but there are occasionally a few resident birds who forage in the gardens and feeders in the winter and spring. Flocks often appear on the Southern corner of the orchard and are seen perching on the branches of the hawthorn bushes or on the ploughed earth searching for seeds. They are sometimes in mixed groups with other buntings although we do not have any photographic evidence of this yet.
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| Yellowhammer |
Another brightly coloured yellow bird seen in this area is the Siskin. It is a very agile little bird it visits gardens and wooded areas and has been seen on the margins of the orchard foraging for seeds. It is unlikely to be nesting in the orchard as it favours pine trees for nesting in woodland. Siskins forage in flocks often with Redpolls and Linnets who also visit the gardens next to the orchard and move in flocks on the margins and in the field next to the orchard.
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| Siskin |
Redpoll display similar behaviour to siskins, foraging for teasel and thistle seeds and weeds in the fields. They have finer beaks than a lot of the other finches and favour smaller seeds on the feeders such as niger seed which is more like the smaller seeds it favours in the countryside. It prefers larch, birch and pine seeds but in the absence of that will almost any smaller seeds. These little birds are very pretty with their pinkish breasts.
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| Red Poll |
Linnets are often found in tight, sociable groups with redpoll and siskin. In winter they lose most of their bright colour and are often seen feeding on the ground in farmland. At this time it is quite difficult to identify them. In the breeding season they are much bolder and are mostly seen foraging in bushes in and around the orchard for insects to feed their young. They are smaller than a house sparrow and has a long forked tail with white edges to the flight feathers. Their song can be heard throughout the summer but they are not easily seen.
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| Linnet |
Magpies have been regularly nesting in the orchard for at least the last 10 years. When the young fledge, they seem to have large broods who visit the local gardens in family groups in early summer they tend to be very noisy. They will often raid the bird feeders scattering the smaller birds and seem particularly keen on the fat balls. They do however make a lot of mess with their large beaks and the family can empty the feeder in one visit. They are very agile and can access most bird feeders but also spread out over the ground in spring in their family groups looking for ants and worms. When the young are no longer reliant on their parents they seem to move away leaving just a few in the vicinity.
Jackdaws are always present in noisy sociable groups. They are in and around the orchard all the year round and are also regular visitors to the adjacent gardens and have a habit of trying to nest in chimneys, leaving large amounts of twigs and grass wedged in there. They are easily distinguished from crows and rooks by their bluish, grey ‘hood’ on their heads.
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| L-R Magpie, Jackdaw |
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| Crow |
Crows are often seen on their own or in pairs foraging in the field. They have a flatter head than rooks and jackdaws and have neater plumage without the baggy trouser effect on their legs like rooks. Often a solitary crow or a pair will be seen perching in the ash tree or foraging around the area. Because there are few tall trees for nesting in the Orchard there has not yet been a rookery.
Around the margins of the orchard there are often a few game birds. Very often, several male pheasant strut around vying for the attention of their ladies, often fighting with each other and boldly wandering into the neighbouring gardens.
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| Pheasant |
For the last year four red legged partridge have shared the edges of the orchard with the pheasant. These are not indigenous birds. They were deliberately introduced in 1673 as a game bird and have increased in numbers. They are often confused with a close species, Chukar but ours are definitely red legged grouse, identified by their black necklace.
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| Red Legged Partridge |
Kestrel, starling, bullfinch, pigeon, tawny owl, barn owl, goldcrest, whitethroat and lesser whitethroat are all present in and around the orchard, identified on a birdsong app but as yet not photographed. It will be an interesting task to spend dedicated time surveying the birds in the orchard and recording them so that we can monitor changes over time and build up our store of photographic evidence and recorded birdsong.
If you would like to know more about the Donkey Lane Community Orchard project or get involved, please contact Linda on 07973 788993 or email greeningchinnor@gmail.com.
Carol Stewart May 2022
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