Scrub Clearance and the Bird Nesting Season

[SomeMight]

I am currently in the middle of a scrub clearance project and am aware that we have to stop at the end of February due to the start of the bird nesting season.

One of my volunteers has asked if it would be worth spending between now and the end of the month chopping back the scrub and leaving it, and then spend March tidying it all up and burning it all.

My question is, is this feasible, or will birds try and nest in the piles of brash?

Thanks in advance

[Dogghound]

Some species like robin and wren will nest in brash piles. You will either have to check the brash before burning it or leave it spread out and pile it up directly before burning. The latter is the better option as brash piles left for a number of days may soon start to attract amphibians and small mammals (as well as birds).

[fairplay]

I think it is all down to the species you are aiming to attract and when they are likely to arrive to set up territory.
Personally, resident birds like Robin and Wren shouldn't be too put out having to rebuild a nest, although for a Wren, it's best it conserves its energy really.
You may also like to consider the possibilities of another cold snap moving in.

Other people may ask is it right to disregard our common species for the sake of whatever species it is you are hoping will move in ?

Neil.

[APC]

You don't have to stop. You just need to make sure that you don't bother anything. My woodland works will go on for another 2 weeks I reckon, then that'll be it until next year. I have the luxury of being able to put off any works until next year if needs be. If I notice anything nesting then I'll leave that zone alone but it's still quite early.

Personally, I would crack on but keep all your cuttings dealt with however you are planning on dealing with them, rather than leave piles of cut material. Better a high quality finish on a smaller area than a piles for bramble to grow through if you don't manage to sort it all out in the timescale you are expecting to.

[King Edward]

You could alternatively pile up some/all of the brash in permanent brash piles as a habitat feature, if this would be appropriate for the site, to provide food/cover for insects, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals etc. Subsequent colonisation by brambles in this case should be more an advantage than a problem.

[SomeMight]

Thanks for your replies so far. I am going down there later today and I will have a good look around. There are Robins in the undergrowth and seeing as it is sunny today I might get to see a lot more wildlife.

I agree with the sentiments about not leaving too much brash to be dealt with later. There is probably no worse a job than having to untangle hawthorn and blackthorn brash to throw it on a bonfire. We don't really have the luxury of leaving too many feature piles because we are on a disused railway line so space is limited.

[Tursiops2]

Originally Posted by SomeMight

We don't really have the luxury of leaving too many feature piles because we are on a disused railway line so space is limited.

Is there any scope for building a "dead hedge" - effectively, a linear brush pile - along one side of the site, or to demarcate a particular area? Dead brush is such a valuable resource for wildlife, it's a shame to burn it if it can be used in some way.

T2

[Brocakat]

One can have too much dead wood/dead scrub in any one particular area -and it suddenly changes into a Fire~risk.

[SomeMight]

We have got quite a lot of dead-hedges and also a living hedge that we have laid down. We also have piles of brash from previous workdays where we have not had a bonfire.

I guess one of the issues is that we don't really have the time to stake and thread a decent dead-hedge, so instead we just dump the brash on the edges and try and compact it by putting heavy logs on top. It looks messy and all that, but like I say, there is so much to do that we simply don't have the time to thread it into a really nice hedge.

Once we get to the end, we can then go back and cherry-pick the areas that we want to build nice hedges or other features. But at the moment it is all about covering as much ground as possible in the short time that we have left.

Our greenway runs just slightly under 2 miles and before we started, has not been touched for 30 years... You can imagine the scrub I am sure!!!

[fairplay]

Lets hope that 2 mile stretch is not a cutting with very steep banks, sounds like you have your work cut out !

Good Luck to you and I hope you are rewarded with a good show of flowers - some old rarities, in the Spring.

Neil.