many breeding pairs of yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella Linn.) and linnet
(Acanthis cannabina Linn.). Large areas of grass attract breeding skylarks
(Alauda arvensis Linn.) and in winter small flocks of meadow pipit (Anthus
pratensis Linn.) and lapwing (Vanellus vanellus Linn.). Solitary snipe
(Gallinago gallinago Linn.) and woodcock (Scollopax rusticola Linn.) have been
flushed from the stream and sallow (Salix spp.) thickets respectively. The
willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus Linn.) is the commonest summer visitor.
The common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis Latham) and lesser Whitethroat (S.
curruca Linn.) breed in bramble (Rubus ssp.) and blackthorn (Prunus spinosa
Linn.)
In the woodland, blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla Linn.) garden warbler (S.
borin Bodd.) and Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita Vieil.) regularly breed and
there is at least one pair of jays (Garrulous glandarius Hart.) and a suspected
pair of breeding magpies (Pica pica Linn.) Four tit species (Parus spp.) are
known to breed. Two male nightingales (Luscinia meganrhynchos Brehm) sang
in birch and sallow scrub in 1977 but we have no conclusive proof of breeding.
The thistles (Cirsium spp.) in the disturbed soil on the disused rubbish tip
attract many goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis Hart.) and among the rusty pots
and pans beneath bracken (Pteridium aquilinum (Linn.) Kuhn) a pair of red-
legged partridges (Alectoris rufa Linn.) nested in 1977. An interesting oddity
occurred in 1975 in the shape of a part-albino robin (Erithacus rubecula Hart.)
with white primary and tail feathers.
Clearance work along the banks of the stream has exposed a stretch of
shallow water that is ideal as a bird watering site and attracts many species for
a last drink and preen at dusk.
Mammals
The rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus Linn.) plays an important dual role on
the Heath as a highly effective grazer and as a food source. The population is
large and crop damage has occurred in the Spring on surrounding land
suggesting that by the end of winter the available food on the Heath has been
exhausted. The numbers are difficult to control as they live above ground in
dense gorse making the normal trapping methods ineffective. Shooting on the
Heath is not permitted. Following a gorse fire the vegetative regrowth from the
unharmed rootstock is often nibbled into a dense rounded pad about 15 cm high
and this constant pruning allows the colonisation of the new ground by grasses.
Fox (Vulpes vulpes Linn.) stoat (Mustela erminea Linn.) and disease
account for many rabbits and carcases are a common sight. Small rodents are
prolific, especially in the gorse, bramble and woodland. In a recent Longworth
trap survey the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus Linn.) was found wherever
traps were set whereas the yellow-necked mouse (A. flavicollis Melch.) was
trapped only where the heath abutts arable land. In the same survey bank vole
(Clethrionomys glareolus Schreb.) and pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus Linn.) were
also trapped and remains of common shrew (Sorex araneus Linn.) and water
shrew (Neomys fodiens Penn.) were found in bottles. A nest of the harvest
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