About the reserve

An oasis of calm

Take a slow wander around the bushy scrub and tussocky grassland of Hodgson's Fields, and you'll be rewarded with a heady mix of seasonal sights and sounds, as well as a sense of calm and lungfuls of fresh air. 

In spring, the chattering song of whitethroats and distinctive trill of grasshopper warblers complement farmland birds including yellowhammers, linnets and tree sparrows. Some areas support scattered bushy-scrub of varying age range and structure. This, along with mature hedgerows of hawthorn, rose, blackthorn and bramble are excellent sources of food and shelter for many birds. Scrub also provides shelter for insects and butterflies such as large skipper, meadow brown, ringlet and small heath. A small farm pond provides hunting ground for migrant hawker dragonflies.

 Watch for whimbrel stopping by to feed with their curved bills on their spring and autumn migration. 

In summer, a vividly colourful covering of marsh orchids blankets the fields, attracting butterflies like small tortoiseshell, large skipper and ringlet.

Yarrow, wild angelica, self-heal and meadow vetchling thrive and an impressive display of southern and northern marsh orchids bloom during June and July.

The site is a great spot for mammals including brown hare, harvest mouse and short-tailed vole – look out for the white rumps of roe deer bobbing along the hedgerow as you walk along. The tussocky grassland is ideal for small mammals, and barn owls and kestrels can regularly be seen hunting for them throughout the year. A visit at dusk may well reward you with the sight of several species of bat feeding in the sheltered flight lines between scrub patches and hedgerows.

Management here focuses on rotational hedgerow management, maintenance of scrub of different ages, as well as traditional meadow management and grazing by rare breed cattle to keep areas of grassland open.