RSPB Church Wood

At just 14 hectares, Church Wood is a beautiful place for a quiet woodland walk. It is managed by the RSPB with minimal intervention that allows the dead wood to provide natural habitats for wildlife. As well as native trees including beech, ash, and oak, there is a flourishing wildflower meadow which is mown just once a year, and the grass clippings are left in piles to attract insects and reptiles.

Spring is the ideal time to visit to see woodland birds including great, blue, and coal tits, greenfinches, chaffinches, and song thrushes. Look out too for green and great spotted woodpeckers as they establish territories. Summer is a quieter time for birds as they hide away feeding their young, but butterflies, including red admiral, marbled white, and peacock are in abundance.

In autumn, the woodland birds are visible again and are often joined by flocks of visiting redwings and fieldfares. On a bright day in winter, listen out for mistle thrushes singing, as well as goldcrests, lesser redpolls, and treecreepers foraging in the trees.

Buzzards and red kites can often be seen circling overhead at any time of year, and be careful not to startle a roe or muntjac deer.

There is no car park at Church Wood, but limited parking is available in Hedgerley village nearby. For more facilities, including toilets and shops, Gerrards Cross is just 3 miles away.

Please note, although dogs are welcome at the reserve, they must be on a lead between April and June so as not to disturb breeding birds.