Review of the Wildlife of Epping Forest 1999-March 2000 55
However, the species is vulnerable, to fish predation amongst other problems. At one pond exam-
ined in August 1999, in which recruitment had been very good in 1998, Sticklebacks were discov-
ered to have colonised. No young newts were seen and this was in direct contrast to two similar-
sized neighbouring ponds, only a few metres away, which produced double-figures of juvenile newts.
It is hoped to gather more evidence on fish predation and Great Crested Newt recruitment this year
and to remove the Sticklebacks altogether in the autumn.
Birds
The East London Birders' Forum continued to collect detailed records for the area and I carried out
random bird counts for the first time. This combination should ensure that over the next few years a
picture of breeding densities of common birds and the distribution and status of the scarcer ones
should become clearer. More detailed reports will be forwarded to the Essex Bird Report but some
of the highlights of the year included sightings of breeding Schedule 1 species. Amongst these was
a Barn Owl feeding over newly created grassland in the west of the Forest, although its breeding
location is off the Forest itself, and a pair of Firecrests with the male singing throughout the sum-
mer. Hobbies and Kingfishers were regularly seen through the summer at a variety of locations, but
the former were only confirmed breeding on land adjacent to the Forest's Buffer Lands.
Turtle Doves remained very scarce with only 3 pairs observed on Forest land, and only one in the
main body of the Forest at a traditional location. The contrast with their relative abundance at sites
elsewhere in Essex, like Tiptree Heath, couldn't be starker. Nightingales also are in a poor position
with only two songsters recorded for the National Survey in the main body of the Forest, and two
more males on the Forest's Buffer Lands. Scrub-coppicing work, under the title 'Project Nightin-
gale', is going on currently in the hope of retaining this lovely bird as a breeding species. Tree Pipits
seem to be slightly down with about 6 singing males but this is due to reduced numbers only at
Chingford Plain. A breeding pair of another bird at a very low ebb, the Hawfinch, was a very
welcome site for one of the Epping Forest staff, Leigh Miller, in Bury Wood, near Chingford. The
low numbers of Hawfinches in the UK at the moment are in astonishing contrast with the numbers
in the Netherlands which are "going through the roof" in newly developing broad-leaved plantations
there, the secret of which may be in the generous underplanting of fruiting shrubs.
In the early part of the year there were large numbers of Woodcock on the move with 8 seen with
one Snipe at Trueloves' in February on the western edge of the Forest. Woodcock were also seen
roding further south in the Forest than previously with several sightings over Bury Wood, Chingford.
This may be partly the result of the opening up of two woodland glades and the effect of the pollard-
ing work. A Peregrine was a very unusual visitor in April at the Furze Ground,seen by Keeper Alan
Woodgate in April. Another unusual visitor, but a returnee from 1998 was a Short-eared Owl again
seen on Chingford Plain in October, although this year only briefly.
References
BENTON, E. (1987) The Dragonflies of Essex. Essex Naturalist no.9, Essex Field Club.
DAGLEY, J.R. & ISMAY, J.W. (2000) Recent records from Epping Forest. Essex of Ctenophora flaveolata
(Fabricius) (Diptera, Tipulidae). Dipterists Digest 7 (1): 26.
DAGLEY, J.R. & SAMUELS. A.J. (1999) Heathland restoration at Long Running, Epping Forest. Essex
Naturalist 16: 59-70.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 17 (2000)