Wildlife of Stover Park & the Local Nature Reserve. 

John Avon, Head Ranger 10^th January 2006

Stover Country Park and nature reserve originated as part of the landscaped estate of Stover House near Newton Abbot which was built in 1777 by the first James Templer. The fate of the estate was closely linked to that of the Templer family, to a fortune won in India, to Bovey Basin clay transport and Hay Tor granite quarrying, and finally to a fortune lost. Stover house is now a school and much of the estate owned and managed by Devon County Council for “the benefit of wildlife, recreation and the local community”. A fairly tall order! But one that seems to be successful on all counts; I’ve never been to Stover Park but John’s talk made me determined to visit it.

The Park and Reserve may be relatively small and bounded by a dual carriageway and the busy Trago Mill's road to Newton Abbot, but it is rich in biodiversity of both habitat and species. The lake of 10 acres is surrounded by about 114 acres of marsh, lowland heath, broadleaved woodland and conifer plantation.

These are the facts, but what can I see when I go there?

First the lake and the marsh, where vigorous waterlily management is apparently necessary – John talked about ‘coppicing’ which I wouldn’t have normally put in the same sentence as watelilies! There is a pair of resident mute swans, coot, moorhen and mallard. Great crested grebe breed there, and a pair of kingfishers. Visitors include heron, cormorant (depending on the number of fish) and winter migrants such as tufted duck and pochard. There are 21 species of dragon- and damselfly, hence the designation of a SSSI, and the Stover Country Park logo. At one time the Keeled Skimmer damselfly disappeared, but by ‘getting the habitat right again’ it returned.

Broadleaved woodland; what could I see? Or hear?  There are 6 pairs of great spotted, and the occasional lesser spotted, woodpeckers in the reserve. Tawny owls nest in the nest boxes, their breeding success linked to the number of mice, while the numbers of blue and great tits using their nest boxes appears, for some reason, to be decreasing.  There are migrants such as willow warbler, chiffchaff, and spotted flycatcher. And I didn’t know that you could tell the age of a sparrow hawk by the colour of its eye, which changes with age from grey to yellow.

I could see crossbills, siskin and goldcrest in the conifer plantation, which is owned and managed by the forestry commission. These species need clearings in the plantation and, like so many other species, their presence depends on the successful management of the reserve to provide suitable habitat for feeding or breeding.

This is especially true of the heathland where rhododendrons have been controlled to allow the original heathland species to regenerate. Trees regenerate too and must be removed to maintain a habitat that offers the optimal balance to wildlife of food, cover and breeding sites. Sensitive management has allowed longtailed tits to start nesting (and did you know that each nest contains an average of 1000 feathers?). Since 1989 nightjars have bred successfully, rearing 26 young over 15 years. John told us that they had found that if they create an ideal roost with a pile of logs the male would return to the same spot each year. Nests are a simple scrape in the ground and adders apparently compete for these spaces. By creating more bare patches the risk to the nightjars has been reduced.

You’ll notice that the word ‘management’ crops up again and again, and indeed it is key to the success of this reserve. Success being not only conservation and an increase in breeding and visiting species, but the accessibility of the reserve to visitors,  and its use for recreation, not just for those with binoculars and a knowledge of wildlife. Thus there has to be ample car parking, picnic areas, toilets and pathways. There is good wheelchair access (including to the picnic tables) and robust boarded walkways; dogs are allowed on the paths. A new Interpretation Centre has been built, on stilts to minimise the disturbance to the ground, and with sustainability being the guiding factor. The insulation was recycled newspaper and the heating system uses heat from the bottom of the lake. From here visitors can find out about what goes on, can join pond-dipping, fungus forays, evening bat and nightjar walks – have fun and learn about conservation without it being a ‘lesson’.

John’s knowledge and enthusiasm for Stover was infectious; this is the reason that what I have written may sound a bit like an advert! But soon I shall have been there, and then hopefully, some of this will be my own experience too.

Penny Avant