New Forest Conifers and Coniferous Woodland

	New Forest Conifers - Denny Inclosure

But that’s not quite the case, for New Forest Conifers and Coniferous Woodland provide much of interest, particularly when the trees have been planted in relatively small blocks and are not too close together.

Indeed, New Forest Conifers occur in such potentially baffling variety that identification alone can be something of a challenge - look out for the native Scots pine, and for Corsican pine, Weymouth pine, Douglas fir and Sitka spruce, as well as many ornamental varieties.
 
But what about the wildlife value?

Well, hidden deep amongst New Forest Coniferous Woodland, fox and deer like to lie-up during the day on comfortable beds of needles and fallen cones, appreciating the warmth and safety of these largely undisturbed places.

Grey squirrels, too, are often abundant, and can be seen scampering about the woodland floor, or high above, acrobatically moving through the canopy. In late-spring and summer, they feast on a diet of small seeds obtained from deep within the cones. Look out for the evidence - large quantities of stripped cones litter the ground below the trees, and the remains of single cones are left on mossy stumps, the squirrel’s dining table.

Tawny owls, too, and many other quieter, less noticeable birds, shelter from the worst of winter’s weather amongst the dense, evergreen foliage, whilst sparrowhawks favour the lower parts of the canopy in which to build their bulky nests. Conifers also provide nest sites for hobbies, kestrels and buzzards.

	New Forest Coniferous Woodland - a Roe buck amongst conifers

And woodcocks use typically wide, Coniferous Woodland rides to guide their springtime display flights, at dusk and dawn flapping along at tree-top height, mixing odd, intermittent frog-like croaks with softer ‘tsiwick’ calls of love.

Other birds are specially adapted for life amongst conifer foliage. Indeed, increases in the numbers of some have been attributed to the widespread use of conifers in forestry plantations.

Coal tits, for example, have relatively long toes and claws that enable acrobatic movement in the confined spaces of thickly needled branches, whilst exceptionally fine bills are a match for the tiny insects typically there present.

The huge, crossed mandibles of the aptly named crossbill are also designed for life amongst pine and spruce, enabling the birds to extract spruce and pine seeds from cones still on the tree. Small groups of these sturdy, colourful finches can sometimes be seen and heard as they acrobatically clamber high above, often using their bills for balance and support. Presence is betrayed by sound, explosive, repeated ‘chip-chip’ calls amongst a range of other twittering notes.

Even clear-felled areas of New Forest Conifers are quickly colonised, once, of course, the dust has settled. Roe deer are usually amongst the first to move in, attracted by re-generating or newly planted growth. A range of common birds will not be far behind, and in mid-May, nightjars may settle to breed. Newly arrived from African wintering sites, nightjars nest on the ground, and find these newly bare areas to their liking, at dusk and dawn filling the air with their distinctive, ‘churring’ sounds.

Notice also in Coniferous Woodland, enormous, conical wood ant nest mounds, home to colonies sometimes tens of thousands strong. Usually placed on the edge of a clearing or beside a woodland ride that offers the prospect of warming sunshine, these bulky structures attract green woodpeckers with the promise of repeated feasting - listen for their unmistakable, loud, laughing cries ringing through the trees.

Yes, visit New Forest Coniferous Woodland with an open mind, and you might find it to be surprisingly enjoyable.

References:
The New Forest – A Natural History: Colin R. Tubbs
The Birds of the Western Palearctic, Concise Edition: D.W. Snow and C.M. Perrins