Explorers in the woods!
Finally after months of waiting the wood had young people in it again. The Central Explorers visited over two weeks, split into 2 groups in order to comply with Covid regulations. One group had a socially distanced fire,...
Orienteering
The Cart Wood team would like to say a big thank you to Graham Smith and Nick Harrison for their recent hard work at our facility putting together an orienteering course and installing the signs.
If you would...
Common Butterflies
Following on from our previous post about Moths we thought it only fair that we turned the spotlight onto their generally more colourful cousins.
In Kent there are 42 species of common butterflies, and we have certainly...
Thank you Woodlands.co.uk for supplying us with some new signs, to replace the ones that some kind person decided to remove! We are going to rebate these ones into their posts to make them harder to leaver off!
Jersey Tiger Moth- (Euplagia quadripunctaria)
Well done for correctly getting this one!
The Jersey tiger is an unmistakable tiger moth which flies from mid-July to early September during warm days, visiting plants like buddleia to feed on nectar....
What is this?
Whilst at the woods recently carrying out regular maintenance, this beautiful creature landed on my leg! Any ideas what it is?
P.s Its not a butterfly!
Do you know your crows from your jackdaws?
Both of these birds are commonly seen around Kent and indeed at Cart Wood.
Jackdaws ‘Corvus monedula’ are the smallest member of the crow family, and often nest in holes...
Common Rabbit
Over the weeks we try to find various flora and fauna in the woods that may be of interest, and post about them, mainly for interest.
Well we have recently reported on lots of flora, invertebrates and birds...
Green Orb Weaver Spider
On a recent visit to the woods the team spotted this unusual looking arachnid. It’s almost luminous green body stood out and made us wonder what it was!
The scientific name for this beautifully...
Foxgloves
Just as the bluebells make a spectacular display at the woods in the spring the foxgloves burst into flower shortly after.
The scientific name for these beautiful blooms is Digitalis purpurea. This well-known plant produces a spike of purple-pink...
Coronavirus
With restrictions easing and the NYA altering the colour coding from red to amber it may be that your section is thinking about returning to face to face scouting.
Cart wood may be ideal location for activities, as...
The team have recently completed a socially distanced maintenance day at our woods. With the potential for small group face to face scouting being feasible in the not too distant future, it was decided that a little ‘spring cleaning’ was needed, above and beyond the...
Whilst eating lunch in the woods recently an orange ladybird crawled onto to my lunchbox, making me think it was a little unusual.
In the UK there are 46 species known to be resident, around 26 of which are called conspicuous...
The team also added some new signs to politely remind members of the public where the public footpaths in the area are, as during this recent period some members of the public have become a little disorientated!
Unfortunately Cart Wood still...
Another job the team wanted to address at the woods was the drainage in the central area. This large channel becomes very waterlogged and unusable, particularly during the winter. The team dug a drainage ditch (all by hand,) following a natural channel, using the spoil...
Recently the team have noticed there were two pairs of buzzards circling above the woods. Hopefully these beautiful birds of prey are nesting somewhere in one of the compartments of woodland. This would not be surprising as there is plenty of their prey about, in...
Our grant application has been successful. In November we will receive another 420 whips to plant in our woods. Since Tonbridge District Scouts purchased the land 2 years ago we have added over 800 trees to the facility, giving our members the opportunity help the...
Whilst going through some photos, we came cross some pictures from earlier this spring when the bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) were in flower. This typical woodland species has spectacular blooms at Cart Wood with large areas completely carpeted. The new track we opened up from the...
