Nagshead is a woodland reserve, located on the western edge of

Parkend Parkend is a village, located at the foot of the Cannop Valley, in the Royal Forest of Dean, West Gloucestershire, England, and has a history dating back to the early 17th century. During the 19th century it was a busy industrial village with s ...

, in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, and is home to

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

Nagshead. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review'. More than half of the reserve consists of 19th-century oak woodland, which is now managed solely for its conservation and landscape value. In 1942, nest boxes were erected at Nagshead, in the hope that pied flycatchers would control oak leafroller moth

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

, which were defoliating trees needed for the war effort. In 1948, the ornithologist, Bruce Campbell, began recording detailed observations of the boxes and they have been continually monitored ever since; making it the UK's longest-running bird breeding programme. Nagshead includes a

biological Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

( SSSI).

Facilities

The reserve is open all year. Entrance and car parking are free. Facilities include; * Visitor centre and toilets (open at weekends during the summer). * Large car park. * Two viewing hides. * Two way-marked walks (1 mile and 2.25 miles). * Picnic area. * Information boards.

Flora and Fauna

Birds

Birdlife in the reserve includes great spotted woodpecker,

Eurasian nuthatch The Eurasian nuthatch or wood nuthatch (''Sitta europaea'') is a small passerine bird found throughout the Palearctic and in Europe. Like other nuthatches, it is a short-tailed bird with a long bill, blue-gray upperparts and a black eye-stripe. ...

, northern goshawk and

common buzzard The common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. It is a member of the genus '' Buteo'' in the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of ...

. Breeding birds include common redstart, pied flycatcher, and common crossbill and wood warbler, some typical species of woodlands in the west of Britain. Redwing, hawfinch and

Eurasian woodcock The Eurasian woodcock (''Scolopax rusticola'') is a medium-small wader, wading bird found in temperate and subarctic Palearctic realm, Eurasia. It has Camouflage#Cryptic coloration in nature, cryptic camouflage to suit its woodland habitat, with ...

can be found in winter.

Other wildlife

More than 30 different butterflies and 20 dragonflies and damselflies have been seen at Nagshead. 8 of Britain's 12 reptiles and amphibians breed here; common lizard,

slowworm The common slow worm (''Anguis fragilis'') is a species of legless lizard native to western Eurasia. It is also called a deaf adder, blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple, steelworm, and hazelworm. The "blind" in blindworm refers to the lizar ...

, adder,

grass snake The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian semi-aquatic non- venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecie ...

common frog The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog or simply the frog, is a semi ...

common toad The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a toad found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, parts of Scandinavia, and some List ...

smooth newt The smooth newt, European newt, northern smooth newt or common newt (''Lissotriton vulgaris'') is a species of newt. It is widespread in Europe and parts of Asia, and has been introduced species, introduced into Australia. Individuals are brown ...

and palmate newt.

Wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

also roam Nagshead, but these are rarely seen.

Nagshead SSSI

A relatively small area of Nagshead reserve is designated a

. This comprises 120.12 hectares and lies adjacent to the Nagshead Plantation, with the B4234 running through the middle of it. It is in the region of Nagshead Hill, Cleave Hill and Fetter Hill.Ordnance Survey Get-a-map for grid reference SO608090
/ref>

References

External links

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)Nagshead Nature Reserve Forestry England webpageNatural England
(SSSI information)
RSPB Nagshead, official websitePromotional video for RSPB Nagshead

Bibliography

RSPB Nagshead Trail Guide (leaflet) {{SSSIs Gloucs biological Forest of Dean Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserves in England Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Nature reserves in Gloucestershire