Thrift wood ewt
Mature woodland with the specialist species you’d expect
Thrift Wood is an ancient semi-natural wood, south-east of Chelmsford, having mixed oak with a Hornbeam coppice underneath. There are also some Birch, Ash and coppiced Sweet Chestnut. There are also a number of Wild Service Trees. The wood is run by the Essex Wildlife Trust and coppicing is having a great effect on the flora and fauna, so much so that the benefit of the coppicing saw the Heath Fritillary Butterfly reintroduced in 1984. The loss of an income from coppiced timber meant that this wood
and others failed to cut the woods, leaving it dark and no use for butterflies. More than 20 species of butterfly can now be found here, with other species, like Brimstone and Speckled Wood. Coppicing has even helped the Nightingale, which is the real prize for the birders here. With such a large population crash in the UK this bird needs to find thick scrub to nest in. The new clearings will flourish into thick scrub in time before closing in until a new coppice will be cut, starting the whole process over again. The site also holds three species of woodpecker, with the Lesser Spotted again falling in numbers in its range around the UK. Southern Wood Ant here means there is lots of food for ground feeding Green Woodpeckers. Opening up the wood has encouraged the ant to expand. With so many trails in the wood, coppice stems have been used to restrict access to these open areas which team with dragonflies thanks to an old clay pit which holds water most years.