There is a large car parking area at N51 41.433 W002
38.400.
This dry and wet heathland habitat is managed by spring and summer
grazing by cattle and sheep. Livestock used are rare breeds, namely
Hebridean sheep, Gloucester and White Park cattle. Rabbits are
present on the site and assist in maintaining the heathland
vegetation.
The nationally rare nightjar breeds here with two males seen in
recent years. The characteristic chirring call can be heard in the
evenings from mid May to late summer. Stonechat can be seen
throughout the year and sometimes breed. Other interesting birds
during the summer include Hobby, Woodcock, Yellowhammer and Linnet.
During the winter, Snipe and Reed Bunting are present. Recently the
site hosted an over-wintering Little Bunting, the first ever for
Gloucestershire.
Smooth Newt can be found in the ponds on site, the waters are also
patrolled by dragonflies, including the locally rare Black Darter,
at it's only Gloucestershire site. The Green Tiger Beetle can be
seen flying up from the bare soils from early spring through the
summer. Common Lizards, Grass snakes and Adders are also present.
Butterflies include the Green Hairstreak and Grizzled Skipper.
The co-ordinates above will take you to an information board. On
this information board you will find that the Heathland here is
important for three particular birds. Taking the name of the third
bird listed which also has it’s picture in the top left hand
corner of the board take the letters and turn them into numbers
using the keypad of a mobile phone (eg. abc = 2, def = 3 etc). You
will then have a sequence of numbers representing the letters
A B C D E F G H I
Use these numbers to take you to a micro cache at
N51 41.(B-A) E C W002 38.G (E+H) F
The best way to approach the nano is to retrace your steps to the
parking area, cross over the main road and go through the kissing
gate into Poor’s Allotment. Cattle and sheep graze freely on
this common land so it may be best to keep dogs under
control.
Inside the Nano you will find the co-ordinates for the main
cache which is a small cliplock container with the usual
contents.
Please ensure that the cache is totally concealed from all angles
as this area is very busy at times with walkers.