Coed Dyrysiog Nature Reserve

Bluebell woodland

WildNet - Amy Lewis

A beautiful area of ancient woodland and unusually a registered common that slopes down to the banks of the Nant Bran. This is a lovely place to come for a peaceful woodland walk with just the sound of the Nant Bran below you and the woodland birds above you.

Location

Near Soar, Aberbran, Brecon. Nearest postcode LD3 9LS.

OS Map Reference

SN 980 310
A static map of Coed Dyrysiog Nature Reserve

Know before you go

Size
7 hectares
z

Entry fee

Free
P

Parking information

There are no formal parking facilities apart from 2 small pull-ins along the roadside.

Grazing animals

None.

Access

The reserve adjoins the minor road which runs north-west towards Soar from Aberyscir. If travelling from Aberyscir, the reserve is on the left opposite Llyn-Llwyd Farm.

No wheelchair access.

Dogs

On a lead

When to visit

Opening times

Open access reserve.

Best time to visit

All year

About the reserve

Coed Dyrysiog is home to a range of wildflowers. In the early spring the woodland floor is speckled white with the flowers of wood sorrel and wood anemone and the occasional spike of early purple orchids. In the late spring, bluebells give the woodland a blue and purple hue.

The cavities in trees provide roosts for species such as Daubentons and noctule bats. The natural roosts have been supplemented with bat boxes within the woodland, and in the summer, they are used as maternity roosts for whiskered bats. The woodland glades provide ideal insect hunting areas for bats.

Both the great spotted and the rarer lesser spotted woodpecker have been recorded at the reserve. In the damper parts of the wood, woodcock can be seen, although their brown colouring gives them ideal camouflage. They have a long slender beak and, when flushed, a clattering of wings is heard. Summer migrants such as pied flycatchers nest here.

Species and habitats:

Habitats

Lowland Mixed Deciduous Woodland, Rivers and Steams

Species

Alder, Ash, Bank Vole, Beech, Bird Cherry, Bird's-nest Orchid, Blackbird, Blackthorn, Blue Tit, Bluebell, Broad-leaved Helleborine, Bugle, Bush Vetch, Caddis Fly, Chanterelle, Cleavers, Cock's foot, Comma, Common Cow-wheat, Cow Parsley, Creeping Buttercup, Cuckooflower, Dipper, Dog violet, Dog's Mercury, Downy Birch, Early-purple Orchid, Elder, Enchanter's nightshade, Field Maple, Germander Speedwell, Goat Willow, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greater Stitchwort, Grey Squirrel, Ground-ivy, Guelder-rose, Hart's-Tongue, Hawthorn, Hazel, Hedge Woundwort, Herb Robert, Holly, Honeysuckle, Ivy, Jay, Lady-fern, Large White, Lesser Celandine, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Lords-and-Ladies, Magpie, Male-fern, Marsh-marigold, Meadowsweet, Mole, Nuthatch, Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage, Orange-tip, Pheasant, Pied Flycatcher, Pignut, Polypody, Red Campion, Rowan, Sessile Oak, Small White, Stinging Nettle, Sweet Vernal-grass, Sycamore, Treecreeper, Water Avens, Water Shrew, Wild Angelica, Wild Strawberry, Wood Anemone, Wood Avens, Wood Melick, Wood Mouse, Wood Pigeon, Wood Sage, Wood-sorrel, Woodcock, Wren, Wych Elm, Yellow Archangel, Yorkshire-fog.