Fox Wood Campsite. Fabulous camping Sussex. Enjoy South Downs camping and glamping at beautiful woodland campsite. Explore forest trails right from relaxing Sussex campsite.

Fox Wood Camping

Environmental Camping

plant in lightbulb - Environmental

One person can make a difference.

– Greta Thunburg

A UK woodland bird guide. To help identify woodland birds in the UK. To me the sound of bird calls is an essential part of any woodland walk. Birdsong is calming and beautiful, a great alternative to the sounds of the city. There is something very satisfying about being able to identify birds from their song, or from flickers of colour seen through the foliage up above. It is also a great game to play with kids as you walk through the forest. Birds are more often distinguished by their calls, so always listen carefully! But as someone walking through their natural habitat, we also have a responsibility to respect and conserve birds, so remember to follow the Countryside Code. As you’re walking through the UK countryside, make sure you always keep an eye out for conservation signs. They often tell you not to step in certain fields or grasslands because birds nest there or to keep your dog on the lead to protect the birds, so it is vital that you don’t miss them. Make sure never to disturb a bird’s nest or take any eggs, and if you find an injured bird then contact the RSPCA (for England and Wales), SSPCA (for Scotland) or USPCA (for Northern Ireland). Other flying creatures are also at risk, such as bats which have suffered a considerable population decline over the last century. If you would like to know more about the conservation of bats, check out Conservation for UK Bats in Our Forests. I would recommend listening to pre-recorded bird calls so that they are easier to recognise in the wild. Although you may think that you know nothing about bird identification, you will definitely recognise blackbird, chiffchaff and robin calls without even realising it. Be sure to keep as quiet as possible and don’t make any sudden movements so as not to scare off the birds. You could even wear darker colours, which won’t contrast the environment as much and will make your movements less noticeable. And obviously, keep your eyes and ears peeled! Although the wren is a small bird (usually just 6-10 cm in length) they have a powerful song and you’re most likely to recognise their birdcall first. It sounds like a hard chiti, a dry rattle in a startlingly loud outburst. The wren is one of the commonest British birds and has a reddish brown upper part with pale brown underparts. Willow warblers (shown below) have a yellow or olive-green breast with paler underparts. They have a beautiful warble which descends a scale, one of the defining features that distinguishes them from the chiffchaff (which make a chiff-chaff sound). Swallows are dark blue with a cream underside, in flight their tails have two distinctive streamers. They are easily confused with swifts, house martins and sand martins. Swallows make a tswit-tswit sound, an alarm tswee and they have a prolonged song of calls and a rolling trill.   The green woodpecker can be identified by their long, laughing yaffle, the bird itself is often shy and elusive. But when seen is very easy to identify due to their striking red crown and green plumage, they also have a yellow rump. The blue tit is also one of the most easily recognisable UK birds, with its colourful mix or blue, green, white and green. They can be distinguished from the great tit because great tits are larger birds and have a black grown and bib with white cheeks.   Although less common than the species described above, the redstart can often be found in oak woodlands, as the holes and cavities in the trees are ideal nesting sites. They bear some resemblance to robins, but instead have chestnut red plumage and contrasting dark central tail feathers. They have a brief warbling song and plaintive call hweet.   Most birds only sing during the day, but there are a few notable exceptions. The nightingale has a rich and varied song that is delivered day and night, with melodic, flute-like sections. Nightjars (shown below) are nocturnal birds (as the name suggests!) and are best to look or listen out for at dusk on summer evenings. The male has a churring song that rises and falls. The famous robin is not only easily distinguishable during the day due to its iconic red breast, but is another bird that you can hear singing at night, its call is a tic-tic-tic noise.   The song thrush can also be heard at night-time. It is a small brown bird, and its birdsong can be distinguished from singing blackbird’s due to the song thrush’s habit of repeating song phrases. The dunnock (shown below) has a piercing peep, and its song is a high, pleasant warble, like a weaker, more rambling version of the wren’s call. For loads more tips on camping at night, check out The Magic of Camping After Dark (CE), which also contains tips on how to spot bats.   Sadly, a lot of bird species are in decline, with many being placed on the Birds of Conservation Concern 4 Red List. This is the highest conservation priority, and the drop in numbers is often due to habitat loss and persecution.   We have lost three out of four pairs of the lesser spotted woodpecker since the 1970s, and they are now one of the uk’s rarest birds. It is smaller than other woodpeckers, only around 13-14 cm and spends most of its time high in the tree, feeding amongst the smallest branches, but it will also feed close to the ground in hedgerows. Although they look very similar to the great spotted woodpecker, they are smaller, have a barred black and white back pattern and don’t have the red under tail coverts.   The capercaillie is an iconic Scottish bird, they have very specific habitat needs, which is part of the reason why it has such low numbers. They live in pine woodland containing trees with differing ages, boggy areas and open areas for them to perform their courtship display. The capercaillie is a big bird, the size of a turkey, and the male has black and brown plumage which can glisten green, a white shoulder patch and a pale bill.   The numbers of the wood warbler are in a steady decline, listen out for their two distinct songs, a high-pitched metallic trill that becomes more frequent and a series of descending piping notes. This bird has bright green upper parts, a pale breast and the wings have dark brown feathers edged with a yellowy green.   Hopefully this blog will help you to identify birds and respect and conserve their habitats while walking through the UK forests. Although it may be difficult at first, the key is practice so just remember to look and listen out for birds whenever you’re walking through the forest.

A UK woodland bird guide

The sound of bird calls is an essential part of any woodland walk and here's our UK woodland bird guide during your ramble into nature. Birdsong is calming and beautiful,
Read More
National Unplug Day The national day of unplugging falls on the first Friday of March each year. Embrace national unplug day with help from our guide on how to be screen free for 24 hours. The idea is that from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, people try to go completely screen-free. It is a simple idea but may be a lot more difficult than you’d expect, as we now rely on technology in almost all aspects of our lives! If you find that parts of the experience are beneficial for you and your family, this blog will suggest ways to reduce technology usage in everyday life. If you’d like to try out unplugging for more than just one day, then a camping holiday in the great outdoors is another great excuse to try and go screen free. Why unplug? It’s hard to argue that we aren’t all addicted to technology to a certain extent. We use tech to work, find recipes, listen to music, connect with friends and a lot more. Although these things aren’t necessarily all bad, it can be interesting to remember that there are also ways of going about our lives without technology. And although tech isn’t always damaging, it has been proven that spending less time on screens improves your sleep, lets you spend more time with friends and family as well as giving you more time for the things you love. Having fewer distractions from a phone/ computer also helps you to be more productive. Going tech free at home There are lots of little things you can do to make going completely tech free a bit easier. Why not consider what you want to cook before the day itself, and print recipes out beforehand, or you could just look in cookery books. Likewise, if you are going on an unfamiliar car journey then you could print out or buy a map, instead of using a phone or satnav. If you turn off notifications, then it will be a lot harder to get distracted by your phone. The pinging sound makes you think you’re missing out on something, and even a phone that vibrates can persuade you that something more important than what you’re doing needs your attention - so make sure everything is set to silent! Now you can focus on what you’re doing in the moment and (if you’re not going completely screen free) you can actively check your phone once you’re done. When do you find yourself checking your phone. Replacing your phone Instead of using your phone as an alarm, use an alarm clock to wake yourself up in the mornings. Using your phone first thing in the morning, even for an alarm, makes it so much easier to check social media, worry about emails or scroll as your first activity of the day.   Why not try to encourage your children to replace video games with meeting up with friends in person - it’s only for one day after all! And if you have younger kids, then you could organise a playdate with their friends after school so they can connect with friends without using tech. Just for this day, try shopping in person rather than online. Technology does make shopping a lot more convenient, but if you have the time in your day to actually go to the shops then why not try it out- you won’t have to pay for shipping and will also get some time outside! Another advantage of this is that you can go to markets or take your own bags to reduce the amount of packaging or plastic used, and support local shops. Instead of listening to music on your phone, listen on the radio or even a record/CD player if you have one. Use paper instead of your phone, for to-do lists, shopping lists and a calendar. You could get stuck in a good book, which is a great way to replace the escapism of scrolling on your phone in a way that uses more imagination. Reducing usage Although all the tips above are useful if you’re trying to do a screen-free day, there are also loads of ways you can use tech less, or in a healthier way. For instance, try to avoid using any screens at least an hour before bed as the white light can keep you awake. Similarly, don’t check your phone immediately when you wake up, instead give yourself some time to wake up before overwhelming yourself with information. You could have a rule in your family that there no one can use their phone when you’re out at a restaurant or while you’re all eating together to encourage conversation with each other instead. Although not exactly screen-free, in our household we have a ‘one screen’ rule when we’re watching telly together - so you can’t go on your phone at the same time. This makes watching TV together so much more communal and fun. Why not introduce no tech zones, such as your bedroom, so that it can be a place of relaxation rather than one of scrolling and work. Or you could ban using your phone at your desk to aid productivity. Something that helps a lot is to keep phones in another room when you’re working or relaxing with friends and family. Out of sight, out of mind! A tech free holiday? Camping is the perfect time for a tech free holiday. As you’re spending so much time outdoors it is easier to leave phones in the car or the tent and replace spending time on screens with other activities. Why not see if you can get the whole family involved. You may find that everyone enjoys the trip more, finding it easier to relax and be present. Why not pick a campsite with no wifi to make going tech free a bit easier, this also has an added bonus as it means you won’t have to nag people to get off their phones. Leave tech that you don’t really need at home, like the laptop and ipad. Camping isn’t the place to be checking emails! Although, this may not work for your teenagers. Check out my tips for surviving a camping trip with teenagers, and hopefully encouraging them to enjoy camping as much as you do! Instead of using tech, plan loads of outdoor activities that the whole family will enjoy. You could go on hikes, find swimming spots you can walk or drive to, head out on a bike ride or learn how to identify wildlife in the UK countryside. For tips on how to do this check out Tree identification - Bark and leaves uk trees and Wildlife guide to the Woodland Animals of the UK. You can also play games with the whole family to replace screen-time. Pack cards, and all your favourite boardgames. Also bring penknives, sketchbooks, colouring books, art supplies and a favourite book for each child so that they have something to entertain themselves with if they get bored. If you’re still struggling to keep kids off their phones, check out Entertaining the Children during your Camping Adventure. If you’re camping with older kids or teens, then why not consider camping with another family, or letting them bring a friend or two along. When teens are camping with family, away from their social life, phones become a vital tool to connect with friends and not feel too isolated. But if they have friends with them, you’ll find that teens are a lot more engaged with the whole camping experience, as they have someone their age to enjoy it with. Camping with other kids often also means they can play big group games together, which is also such good fun and also means you don’t have to do so much organising. Hopefully you'll feel inspired to give national unplug day a go, or to go screen free on your next camping holiday. At the very least I hope that some of the tips will help you to reduce time spent on screens.

National unplug day

The national day of unplugging falls on the first Friday of March each year. Embrace national unplug day with help from our guide on how to be screen free for
Read More
More Topics

Fox Wood Campsite,
Selden lane, Patching
BN13 3UL

Phone: 07983 151 780

FoxWoodCamping@gmail.com

© Fox Wood Camping

Sitemap