Little Linford Wood

Dormouse
© George McCarthy

Little Linford Wood is an ancient woodland dominated by Oak and Ash trees. Beneath these tall trees is a dense under storey of Hazel and Blackthorn, along with Crab Apple, Hawthorn and Dogwood. The nuts, fruits and berries which they produce provide valuable food for birds and small mammals.

One such small mammal is the Dormouse. Dormice were reintroduced to Little Linford Wood in 1998 but, because they are only active at night, you'd be very lucky to see one. The best way to tell if Dormice are nearby is to look for hazelnuts, one of their favourite foods. They open the nuts by making a neat round hole in the shell and they leave characteristic tooth marks around the edge.

Little Linford Wood is home to all three species of British woodpecker; Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker and the rarer Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. You can also see Nuthatch here, the only tree climbing bird that can move head first down a tree trunk. 

One hundred years ago most of the wood was felled and then, just before it passed in to the local Wildlife Trust's care in 1986, a third of the wood was felled again. Helped by quick growing species such as birch and willows these areas of young woodland are beginning to grow and provide an alternative habitat to the older parts of the wood.

Nuthatch
© Richard Bowsher

Some of the species that are found in the wood

• Oak
• Hazel
• Primrose
• Wood White Butterfly
• Nuthatch
• Great Spotted Woodpecker
• Fox
• Blackthorn
• Bluebell
• Purple Hairstreak Butterfly
• Green Woodpecker
• Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
• Dormouse

For more information call 01296 696012 or email erc@buckscc.gov.uk

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