Fordham Woods
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This beautiful wet woodland is a reminder of the former fen landscape |
Fordham Woods is a wet valley woodland with stands of alder trees, a habitat now rare in Cambridgeshire. It once formed part of the fen stretching past Fordham, and villagers would have cut reed for thatching and wood for fuel.
Alder, specially adapted to waterlogged ground, dominates the wettest places. It is our only native broadleaved tree to produce cones, and supports more than 90 insect species and many different fungi. The alders are interspersed with willows, poplars and ash. Large bushes of dark-leaved willow are found here – one of its few southern sites. Beneath the trees there is a diverse ground flora. In pools among the reeds and sedge you can see yellow iris and marsh-marigold. Look too for other marsh-loving flowers such as foamy white meadowsweet and bright pink ragged robin.
The woods also provide valuable habitat for birds, such as woodpeckers and marsh tits, with kingfishers along the river.
Plants: Alder, willow and hazel catkins Birds: Marsh tit |
Plants: Marsh-marigold, sedges Birds: Great spotted woodpecker, woodcock |
Plants: Yellow iris, meadowsweet, ragged robin, hemp agrimony, spindle Insects: Dragonflies and damselflies, musk beetle Reptiles: Grass snake Birds: Green woodpecker, kingfisher Mammals: Water vole |
Plants: Trees in autumn colour, guelder-rose berries |