Table 1. Comparison of the breeding bird populations of Badby Wood,
Oxfordshire (1946-1950) with that of part of St Thomas' Quarters, Epping
Forest (1966-1969).
Species common to both areas
Jay
Starling
Bullfinch
Chaffinch
Tree pipit
Tree creeper
Nuthatch
Great tit
Bluetit
Coal tit
Marsh tit
Long-tailed tit
Willow warbler
Blackcap
Mistle thrush
Songthrush
Blackbird
Robin
Hedge sparrow
Wren
Great spotted woodpecker
Tawny owl
Total: 22
Badby Wood only
Carrion crow
Jackdaw
Willow tit
Spotted flycatcher
Chiffchaff
Wood warbler
Garden warbler
Redstart
Green woodpecker
Lesser spotted woodpecker
Cuckoo
Woodpigeon
Stock dove
Pheasant
Total: 14
St. Thomas' Quarters only
Mallard
Swallow
Whitethroat
Greenfinch
Tree sparrow
Total: 5
pattern for Epping Forest seems to conform more to the overall trends than to
reflect any peculiarly local conditions.
A B.T.O. survey of a 34 ha area of the Forest, in St. Thomas' Quarters,
near the Wake Arms, between 1966 and 1969 may be compared with the figures
obtained from a similar study of a slightly larger 40 ha pedunculate Oakwood in
Oxfordshire between 1946 and 1950 (Simms, 1971) (Table 1). Against the 36
species breeding in the Oxfordshire wood, 27 bred in St. Thomas' Quarters and
22 of them were common to both localities. The Epping site had 5 birds not
recorded for the Oxfordshire locality and the eleven Oxfordshire birds that were
not listed for St. Thomas' Quarters are known to breed in adjacent parts of the
Forest, suggesting that the bird communities of the two areas to be broadly
comparable.
Irvine (1977) studied the breeding bird community of an 8 ha area of the
New Forest. The site is part of the "Ancient and Ornamental" woodlands, and
is dominated by beech, including a number of ancient pollards, but with dense
stands of holly as well as glades of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum), heather
(Calluna vulgaris) and bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) being invaded by birch
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