Langford Lakes
Langford Lakes is a stunning nature reserve combining the lake area providing a wonderful habitat for birds and a half-mile stretch of the wildlife-rich River Wylye. There are five bird-watching hides overlooking the lakes, providing good close views of the regular species of wildfowl. There are chances of rarities too, especially during the spring and autumn migrations.
Vincients Wood
Despite being surrounded by houses, Vincent's Wood is still a haven for wildlife, and offers a great display of woodland flowers in the spring including wood anenomes and bluebells.
The Firs
A small woodland in the heart of Braydon Forest. In spring, Wood Anemones, Primroses and Bluebells flower. Dead wood is an important feature of the ecology here, and birch stumps are especially important for mosses and bracket fungi. Recent management has involved thinning of mature trees in the western section of the wood, as well as two areas of clear felling and replanting. Here, the glades created will have warm sheltered spots that will be attractive to many insects.
The Devenish Reserve
Impressive beech woodland at the bottom of a steep chalk downland slope. The ancient 200 year old beech trees are slowly dying, and the resulting deadwood is a valuable habitat for many different beetles, flies, bugs and pseudo scorpions. The most spectacular beetles include the aptly-named Rhinoceros Beetle and the very rare Longhorn Beetle, which lays its eggs in the deadwood so that its larvae can feast on it.
Stoke Common Meadows
A large expanse of grassland featuring meadows, ditches, impressive hedgerows, a small woodland copse and an ancient cattle-drovers route. It has been a SSSI since 1981 and has been used as a traditional hay growing field through most of its history.
Smallbrook Meadows
The Nature Reserve is divided into six small meadows, of which just over half is moderately species-rich grassland. This Reserve also contains several small areas of woodland, a series of ditches and a large pond. Smallbrook Meadows are at their best from late spring.
Rushy Platt
Rushy Platt is almost all that remains of the natural landscape on the banks of River Ray. A unique wetland site, it is one of the few strongholds for the water-vole.
Ravensroost Wood and Avis Meadows.
Ravensroost Wood is an ancient woodland habitat - a type of habitat where there is believed to have been continuous woodland cover since at least 1600AD (parts of the wood are even thought to have been wooded since the last Ice Age). The wood is noted for its range of ancient woodland indicator species, the fabulous display of colour and fungi in autumn, bird song in May and butterflies in July.
Peppercombe Wood
Peppercombe Wood is a thin strip of ancient woodland blanketed by snowdrops in February. Peppercombe was once full of elms but they died from dutch elm disease and were removed in 1979. Parts of the wood are occasionally coppiced where hazel is cut to ground level to allow sunlight to reach the woodland floor.
Oyster's Coppice
Oysters Coppice nestles on a gentle slope offering spectacular views over the vale of Wardour. Woodland wildflowers make the reserve particularly beautiful during spring, and rising springs create boggy areas, streams and a swampy pond in a southern corner of the reserve. The trees reflect the ground conditions. Oak grows on the drier soils, ash on damper ones, and alder in wet areas. Ferns flourish on the lower, wetter slopes of the wood.
