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This website is no longer being updated - please now visit our new website at: https://giffordcommunitywoodland.com/

Gifford Community Woodland comprises Speedy and Fawn Woods at the end of Station Road in Gifford, East Lothian. They were purchased in 2017 on behalf of the whole community, and we welcome feedback or input - you can contact us at any time on gifford.woodseh41@gmail.com


PARKING - Please note there is NO PARKING AT THE WOODS or nearby. We ask all of our visitors to park in Gifford village centre, which is just a short walk away.
Please do not park anywhere on the track, or nearby roads. These are busy with residents' parking/access and must be kept clear.

BECOME A FRIEND OF GIFFORD WOODS - click here to download a form.

Saturday 7 November 2020

Our most secretive residents

We were very lucky to have local mammal recorder Graham Checkley back in Our Gifford Woods recently to again monitor some of the activity.  This time Graham brought his trail camera along to study our most secretive residents, and he managed to capture quite a few additional users of Gifford Woods as can be seen in the video below (also available on our YouTube channel by clicking here)!

Here's an update from Graham to describe what he did and what he found:

"If you walk through a woodland at dusk or dawn you may be lucky enough to encounter a Fox going about their business.  But most of the mammal activity takes place at dead of night, and that's why a trail camera is so useful; it operates in infrared and is motion triggered, so it doesn't bother the animals at all.

My first camera deployment was in the Speedy Wood, where I recorded Fox and Roe Deer, but Nev suggested that I checked out the Fawn Wood too and I was very glad I did.

I recorded Badger, Brown Hare, Fox, and what looked like Wood Mice at both of the Fawn Wood locations I checked, while Roe Deer were an additional species that only frequented the quieter trails.

It's intriguing to see the number of species that can coexist on a small section of a woodland trail.  You can see Pheasants at dawn, mice at night, and Foxes at the odd hours in between; survival is so often a matter of timing.

But there's also the question of daytime survival.  Badgers have sets, Foxes have lairs and Mice have nests, but Brown Hare and Roe Deer simply hunker down and try to be invisible.  That's what makes visitor behaviour so important.

So if you do take a walk in the woods, especially at dawn or dusk, please try not to disturb our secret residents.".

A big thank you again to Graham for all his work and sharing this with us.

AGM Update, in case you missed it!

As previously publicised we held our 2020 AGM digitally this year.  On Monday 2nd December various Trustees, members of the management group and attendees from the wider community met to hear an update on progress over the last 12 months, and give their thoughts on some activites and plans for the next year.  Thank you to everyone who took the time to be there.

To see a copy of the presentation which the Trustees shared, which includes a financial update, please click here or on the image below.


As was mentioned at the AGM, whilst new Directors are appointed as a part of the formal AGM, our regular Management meetings are open to any members of the community who wish to attend.  The next of these will be held (via Zoom) on Monday 7th December at 7:30pm.  If you wish to join, please email gifford.woodseh41@gmail.com and we shall send you an invitation.

In the meantime, to echo the words of our new Chair, a big thank you to our out-going Directors for all their hard work.