Furzebrook Estate

20/05/2024

A perfect evening for a Nightjar recce on the heath here on the estate. One male has already started churring, accompanied by a cuckoo calling somewhere in the distance. Guided Nightjar walk dates coming soon.

30/11/2023

Winter has come to The Blue Pool

Check out Furzebrook Estate's video.

12/10/2023

28/09/2023

We have an exciting opportunity for a new member to join our Estates Team!
Checkout our profile to get a taste of what we do, if you feel you or somebody you know would like to get involved then we’d like to hear from you…drop us an email.
[email protected]

27/08/2023

A massive find on the heath here on the Furzebrook Estate… the Marsh Gentian! 21 flowering plants have been counted in one small area. These blue late blooming flowers are nationally rare and only found growing in areas of wet heathland. Unfortunately their numbers are declining due to loss of habitat due to improved drainage and habitat loss from lack of management leading to succession of the habitat by grass species, however the flowers found on the Heath are just one recent example of the rewards from 3 years of grazing by our wild Dartmoor ponies. The seeds of these flowers can lay dormant for many years so with continued grazing and management the numbers should continue to grow!

21/08/2023

Making the most of some scraps of our milled timber, the team made a few homes for the wildlife around the Nature Observation Platform. Hopefully over time the bats will start to use the bat boxes which visitors staying over night will be able to watch them hunting months and bugs from the comfort of the decking on a clear evening or whilst sat around the fire pit, whilst various important bees, beetles and bugs make themselves at home amongst pine cones and bamboo stalks cut from around the estate.

21/08/2023

A rare sighting of a Cormorant No doubt a fleeting visit once it realises there’s no fish to be poached from the pool…..

21/08/2023

The sunshine today has brought with it this Common Lizard on the heath. Let’s hope we see more of them as the weather warms up. 🤞🏻

21/08/2023

Dartmoor Ponies are the perfect choice for our conservation grazing work. Because ponies are grazers (with a small amount of browsing every now and then!) they hold forage in their rumens for longer allowing them to breakdown more fibrous plant material and gain nutrients from what is otherwise some pretty nasty dinner!

One of our ponies here is showing just how tough they are by nibbling and feeding on gorse. Something a browser ,such as deer, wouldn’t due to the low nutrient content.

21/08/2023

Gorse. Just a prickly bush that smells of coconut. True. But did you know they are an important part of the lowland Heath ecosystem and that there are three species to be found on the estate?

Traditionally known as ‘Furze’ (there has to be a connection with the estate name!) it was said that kissing was out of season when the furze was out of flower…. Which means you can kiss already around as the two larger species flower through 12 months of the year.

Common Gorse (Ulex europaeus) can grow to 3m tall and it the type you are mostly likely to find on the heath. The spikes are spread apart enough that you can see the stem of the branches and is in flower from January to June.

Western Gorse (Ulex gallii) looks very much like Common Gorse but flowers from June through to December. The spines grow closer together making it difficult to see the stem on the branches. It’s also a little smaller and lighter in colour.

Dwarf Gorse (Ulex minor) grows amongst the heather, almost like a small creeping shrub. The prickles on it are a lot less rigid that the other two species.

Gorse does require managing on heathland sites but a few patches of varied age is essential for wildlife, particularly the Dartford Warbler, which rely on the Lowland heaths of Southern England and the numerous insects and spiders which also call ‘furze’ home. Once on the verge of extinction the Dartford Warbler ( also known as the Furze Wren) has made a come back and can be seen and heard on the heathlands on the estate.