Stoke Managers - Frank Taylor
Permission for the next series of the Stoke Managers caches has been kindly provided by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. Each cache will continue the Stoke Mangers theme, while also letting you know about one of the inhabitants that may live in these woods. The trust is a great organization that does lots of great work up and down the county, all carried out by funding from the public. If you wish to put something back into the local environment, click on the following link and make a small donation http://www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk/donate
Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major
This striking black and white bird, 23-26cm, with a fleck of red is found in broadleaved woodlands like this up and down the country. I was lucky enough to see one in these woods not long back, it flew down right in front of me with a baby blue tit chick in it claws, I would not have belived it if I had not seen it myself. Generally, its diet consists of grubs and seeds, you can sometimes be lucky enough to spot these on your bird table, they are a big fan of the peanut.
The drumming sound made by these wood peckers can be heard daily around these woods, but actually seeing the bird is a lot more difficult as they are a very shy bird. The Spotted Woodpecker hops around the tree rather than climbing, when making its nest in boars into the soft or decaying tree for a few inches, then down for between 6 to 12 inches. It is for this reason that the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust leaves standing deadwood in these woods, as it is becoming an increasingly rare habitat.
While in these woods it is worth having a look at the great work that the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust do here.
Please post in your log if you see one of these animals during your caching adventure.
Frank Taylor 1952-1960
G 362 W146 D79 L137 Win % 40.33
Taylor was always going to be up against it, after taking over from long serving Bob McGrory who had been at Stoke for over 31 years. Stoke were relegated from the First Division in his first season in charge, after loosing the final match of the season. Taylors main task was to get Stoke back to the top tier of English football. Taylor narrowly missed out on promotion on 3 occasions in the mid to late 50s, finishing 5th 3 times.