Wildlife In Grizedale Forest

 

 

Grizedale Forest is a haven for wildlife. It’s home to the only remaining indigenous woodland herd of red deer in England. If you’re lucky, you can spot them roaming around the forest, especially at dawn or dusk. There are also roe deer living in the forest, while the birds include buzzards and barn owls as well as red kites, thanks to the recent Grizedale Red Kite re-introduction project.

The Brant Wetlands near the Visitor Centre are a great place to see butterflies and dragonflies in the summer whilst the many tarns scattered across the forest attract other species to drink such as fox and badger.

Our wildlife ranger team are involved in a number of projects to monitor and help protect wildlife in the forest. Have a look at the projects below to find out more about their work.
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dispersal map 2012 regional
red kite geoff halford
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releasing a chick

Grizedale Red Kite project

Red Kites were first reintroduced into Grizedale Forest in the summer of 2010, as part of a three year programme. Red Kites are a stunning bird of prey, similar in size to a buzzard, which were once widespread across the UK. In the past, the kites would have been found scavenging around every village and town in the country, before numbers dropped to such an extent that they became extinct in England and Scotland in the nineteenth century. Only a small population remained in mid Wales.

The final release of 30 chicks was in the summer of 2012 and the project is now focused on monitoring the birds from all 3 releases.There have been sightings as far north as southern Scotland as well as in the skies above Grizedale Forest itself and the team has set up a facebook page and survey form for the public to report their sighting of the birds. More information can be found here.

Bat Conservation work

The Grizedale bat conservation work helps a variety of bat species. Some bats, including common pipstrelles, brown long eared and noctule bats prefer woodland habitats for roosting and broadleaved woodland with closed canopy and well developed unerstory are its key foraging habitats. Suitable roosting sites for bats are in short supply in Grizedale, as the bats require the nooks and crannies normally found in old or dying trees. The bat conservation work has created artificial roosts at sites across the forest. A variety of box designs have been used to try to encourage different species to the area, including two maternity boxes in the roof space above Grizedale’s woodfuel burner, where bats will benefit from the extra warmth and constant temperatures of around 30 degrees centigrade. The lighting around the visitor centre has also been modified so as to cause minimal disturbance to foraging bats.

The figures from the monitoring of the scheme show that bats on the Grizedale estate are doing well, with different species recorded in the area around the visitor centre: soprano and common pipstrelles, brown long eared, noctule and myotis species.

The Rusland Valley Barn Owl Project

The Forestry Commission and the World Owl Trust at Muncaster Castle near Ravenglass are joint partners in the Rusland Valley Barn Owl Project, which aims to improve barn owl numbers and habitat in Grizedale and the Rusland Valley. The project aims are to to identify new habitat for the barn owls, install new nest boxes for them to breed in and monitor owl numbers to help understand potential threats and offer protection. Barn Owls are a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and have been in decline in Britain in the last 15 years due to an increased use of pesticide and a reduction in the number of derelict buildings. The project has led to six actively occupied nest boxes in the forest and a reported increase in the number of brids nesting in the area.

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