Borsdane Wood: Flora and Fauna
Borsdane Wood is composed of native tree species such as oak, ash, alder, elder, wych elm, silver birch, downy birch, beech, lime, willow, rowan, cherry, hazel, hawthorn, blackthorn, sycamore (not native), hornbeam and dog rose, and is also home to a wide variety of fungi.
Amongst the flora recorded are red campion, lesser celandine, bistort, wood sorrel, dog’s mercury, hybrid bluebell, hybrid daffodil, pignut, enchanters nightshade, opposite leaved golden saxifrage, ramsons (wild garlic), butterbur and wood anemone. Regarding wild garlic the leaves, flowers, and stem are all edible, but best consumed before you can smell the garlic in the woods, as this usually a sign that the plant is going past its best.
Amongst the wild life are red deer, grey squirrels, foxes, moles, frogs, woodmice, various bats (Noctule, Common Pipistrelle and Daubentons), and maybe an otter nearby!
Amongst the recorded bird life there are treecreeper, nuthatch, robin, wren, mistle thrush, song thrush, blackbird, great spotted woodpecker, grey wagtail, pied wagtail, chiffchaff, great tit, blue tit, coal tit, long tailed tit, willow tit, siskin, magpie, chaffinch, house sparrow, tree sparrow, whitethroat, rook, collared dove, wood pigeon, kingfisher, willow warbler, woodcock, goldcrest, little owl, raven, buzzard, and sparrowhawk.
There are also many varieties of moth, butterfly, hoverfly, dragonfly and damselfly.
Borsdane Wood and Rayner Park Friends Group 