Cherryfield Ecology

Cherryfield Ecology Cherryfield Ecology aims to provide you with comprehensive ecology surveys for your planning application. Offering bat surveys, reptile, NEPS Licences.

Our Story
CHERRYFIELD ECOLOGY·
We specialize in ecology surveys, for private and commercial planning applications. Established in 2015, following the opportunity to go it alone coming up, Cherryfield Ecology has gone from strength to strength. We have done work for private individuals, larger companies and major infrastructure clients. In 2018 Cherryfield Ecology took on it’s first employee and ha

s expended since. If you are looking for a cost effective bat surveys, newt surveys or barn owl surveys, get in touch today. Services include bat surveys, newt surveys, barn owl surveys, badger surveys and dormouse. We specialize in ecology surveys, for private and commercial planning applications,.

🌿🦇 Ecology & Planning in Mid to late Summer: What Can (and Can’t) Be Surveyed Right Now?Mid to late ‑summer is one of th...
21/08/2026

🌿🦇 Ecology & Planning in Mid to late Summer: What Can (and Can’t) Be Surveyed Right Now?

Mid to late ‑summer is one of the busiest times in the ecology calendar — warm nights, long days and peak wildlife activity. But it’s also a period where survey windows tighten, and planning decisions need to be grounded in what’s actually possible.
Here’s where we stand in the UK:

🦎 Reptiles — Peak Activity, but Weather‑Dependent
Common lizards, slow worms, grass snakes and adders are all active now, but mid‑summer heat can reduce detectability.
Survey implications:
Early morning and late afternoon remain the best windows.
Prolonged hot spells can make surveys unreliable — reptiles retreat into cover.
Translocations and habitat manipulation can proceed, but only with robust survey evidence.
Takeaway: Surveys are possible, but quality hinges on microclimate. Poor timing = poor data.
🦡 Badgers — Cubs Are Mobile, Setts Are Busy
By mid‑summer, cubs are above ground and setts are at maximum use.
Planning constraints:
Sett closures are not permitted without a licence, and licences are rarely granted at this time.
Disturbance buffers around active setts must be respected.
Vegetation clearance near setts must be risk‑assessed to avoid indirect impacts.
Takeaway: Expect restrictions. Most intrusive works must wait until the licensed season (July–November), and even then only under strict conditions.

📝 Why This Matters for Planning
Mid‑summer is a reminder that ecology isn’t just a box‑ticking exercise — it’s seasonal, legal, and deeply tied to animal behaviour. Good planning means:
Anticipating survey windows months in advance
Building flexibility into project timelines
Using ecologists early, not at the point of crisis
Respecting the species that share our landscapes

🌿 Biodiversity Net Gain: What’s Changing in August?From early August, new BNG exemptions come into force — but they’re n...
12/08/2026

🌿 Biodiversity Net Gain: What’s Changing in August?
From early August, new BNG exemptions come into force — but they’re not a free pass for development. The headline: more small sites may be exempt, but priority habitats keep BNG firmly on the table.

🟢 What will be exempt?
Certain small‑scale developments will fall outside mandatory BNG, including:

Minor residential extensions

Some small non-residential works

Specific low-impact operational developments

Select temporary permissions

These exemptions aim to streamline planning for genuinely low‑risk projects.

🔴 But here’s the critical bit:
If a site contains any priority habitat — even a tiny fragment — BNG is still required.
This applies regardless of site size, including plots under 0.2 ha.

Priority habitats include:

Species‑rich grassland

Hedgerows

Ponds

Traditional orchards

Deciduous woodland

Wetland pockets

Heathland
…and many more.

If it’s on the Priority Habitat Inventory, the exemption does not apply.

📏 Why this matters for small sites
Developers often assume sub‑0.2 ha sites are “too small for BNG”.
From August, that assumption becomes even riskier.
A single hedgerow, pond corner, or meadow strip can trigger full BNG requirements.

🛠️ What planners, ecologists, and developers should do now
Check the Priority Habitat Inventory early

Survey small sites thoroughly — don’t rely on desk-based screening

Flag potential constraints at pre-app

Plan for BNG even if you think you’re exempt

📣 Takeaway for your audience
New exemptions simplify BNG — but only where nature isn’t present.
If priority habitat is on site, BNG still applies.
Size doesn’t remove responsibility.

🍄 As Summer Slips Away… the UK Fungi Season BeginsWith cooler nights, heavier dews and that first hint of autumn in the ...
12/08/2026

🍄 As Summer Slips Away… the UK Fungi Season Begins

With cooler nights, heavier dews and that first hint of autumn in the air, the UK countryside is quietly shifting into fungi season. This is the moment when woodlands, meadows and even garden lawns start to wake up with colour again — not from flowers, but from fruiting bodies pushing up through soil and leaf litter.

Early‑season fungi are some of the most exciting to spot:

Amethyst Deceivers glowing purple under beech.

Shaggy Inkcaps emerging along paths and verges.

Birch Polypores toughening up on fallen trunks.

Fly Agarics beginning their slow, iconic rise beneath birch and pine.

After a warm, often dry summer, the first proper rainfall acts like a starter pistol. Mycelial networks that have been quietly working all year suddenly switch into fruiting mode, creating the mushrooms we love to photograph and identify.

It’s a brilliant time to get outside: the air smells different, the ground feels alive, and every walk holds the promise of a new species.

Here’s to the start of fungi season — a slow, magical transition from summer’s greens to autumn’s reds, golds… and mushrooms.

🦡 Badger Mitigation Under Licence: What Actually Happens 🏗️🌿When development risks disturbing a badger sett, works can o...
07/08/2026

🦡 Badger Mitigation Under Licence: What Actually Happens 🏗️🌿
When development risks disturbing a badger sett, works can only proceed under a Natural England licence. But what does a licensed mitigation scheme actually involve? Here’s the process, step by step.
1️⃣ Detailed Surveys & Sett Classification Before anything else, ecologists carry out daytime sett inspections, camera trapping, and activity checks to confirm:
• Whether the sett is active
• Its type (main, annex, subsidiary, outlier)
• How it fits into the territory network This evidence underpins the licence application.
2️⃣ Designing a Mitigation Strategy A licence requires a clear, justified plan showing how impacts will be avoided or reduced. This may include:
• Exclusion from a sett (only allowed at certain times of year)
• Artificial sett construction
• Retaining key foraging routes and corridors
• Timing restrictions to avoid peak activity The aim is always to maintain the social group’s long term stability.
3️⃣ Licensed Exclusion (When Permitted) If a sett must be closed, exclusion is carried out using one way gates for a minimum of 21 consecutive days of confirmed inactivity.
• Gates are checked regularly
• Cameras verify no re entry
• Works cannot begin until the sett is legally closed This is one of the most tightly controlled wildlife procedures in UK planning.
4️⃣ Creating or Enhancing Replacement Habitat Where needed, ecologists build artificial setts, enhance hedgerows, or secure safe commuting routes. These features must be in place before exclusion begins so the clan has somewhere suitable to move.
5️⃣ Post Exclusion Monitoring & Compliance After closure, ecologists continue monitoring to ensure:
• No badgers attempt to re enter
• The artificial sett is being used (if provided)
• Construction stays within licence conditions Breaching licence terms is a criminal offence.
👉 Badger mitigation isn’t a box ticking exercise — it’s a carefully controlled legal process designed to protect a long lived, socially complex species. With good planning and ecological expertise, development and badgers can coexist.
need help - www.cherryfieldecology.co.uk

The bat survey season is beginning to draw to a close. The hedgerows hum, the light fades, and the first pipistrelle fli...
29/07/2026

The bat survey season is beginning to draw to a close.

The hedgerows hum, the light fades, and the first pipistrelle flickers into the dusk. But for surveyors, mid August marks a turning point.

🦇 By 10 August, the window for completing three full bat activity surveys is closing. Juveniles are now flying, colonies begin to loosen or have broken up, and patterns shift as bats prepare for late summer dispersal. That’s why early August is the last reliable moment to capture behaviour that truly reflects maternity roost status (depending on year, weather and food availability) .

If you’re still surveying, savour these warm nights — they’re the final chapter of the core summer season.

🌿 BNG Exemptions Are Changing — But Priority Habitats Still MatterThere’s talk of new BNG exemptions for very small deve...
24/07/2026

🌿 BNG Exemptions Are Changing — But Priority Habitats Still Matter
There’s talk of new BNG exemptions for very small development sites (under 0.2 ha). On the surface, that sounds like a big shift… but here’s the crucial bit that often gets missed:
👉 If a site contains priority habitat, BNG will still be required — no matter how small the site is.
🟢 Why this matters
Priority habitats include some of our most threatened and irreplaceable ecosystems
• Lowland meadows
• Traditional orchards
• Deciduous woodland
• Hedgerows (this is key as lots of sites will have these)
• Ponds
• Heathland
• Coastal and floodplain grazing marsh
• …and many more.
These habitats can occur in tiny fragments, especially in urban and peri‑urban areas. Losing even a sliver can have outsized ecological impacts.
🟡 What the proposed exemptions don’t change
• Even if the

Meadows Neutral Grassland The first meadow buttercups open. The hum of insects rises. And the grassland begins its slow ...
15/07/2026

Meadows Neutral Grassland
The first meadow buttercups open. The hum of insects rises. And the grassland begins its slow summer crescendo.
🌿 Neutral grassland management isn’t about doing more — it’s about doing just enough. A well timed cut, a light grazing regime, and a nutrient poor soil are what allow the real stars to shine: orchids, scabious, meadow browns, skylarks, and the quiet rustle of voles beneath the sward.
When we manage gently, the meadow tells its own story.
Chalk grassland
🪨 Managing Calcareous Grasslands: Protecting One of the UK’s Rarest Habitats
Calcareous grasslands are biodiversity powerhouses — home to orchids, horseshoe vetch, chalkhill blues, glow worms, and a whole world of specialist invertebrates. But they only stay species rich when management is precise and consistent.
✂️ Cutting (Hay or Conservation Mowing) • Cut once a year, usually late July–August, after most wildflowers have set seed. • Keep cuts high to protect low growing rosettes and mosses. • Remove all arisings to prevent nutrient build up — fertility is the enemy of chalk grassland diversity. • Avoid early cuts which favour coarse grasses over specialist herbs.
🐑 Grazing (The Engine of Chalk Grassland Health) • Sheep and rabbits are ideal: they nibble selectively and maintain a short, varied sward. • Cattle can be used to break up coarse tussocks and open up structure. • Aim for a mosaic: short turf, ant hills, patches of longer grass, and bare ground. • Avoid overgrazing in spring when orchids and early herbs are emerging.
🌱 Scrub Control (Keeping the Grassland Open) • Scrub is natural — but without control, it will take over. • Target hawthorn, blackthorn, dogwood, and wayfaring tree before they dominate. • Cut or stump treat in autumn/winter to avoid disturbing wildlife. • Retain small patches for shelter, invertebrates, and birds — it’s about balance, not total removal.
Healthy chalk grassland doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of thoughtful, long term management that keeps nutrients low, structure varied, and scrub in check. Need help with monitoring or grassland surveys get in touch here – www.cherryfieldecology.co.uk

🦊🌿 UK Wildlife & the Planning System: Coexisting, Not Competing 🏗️🦇The UK planning system often gets framed as a barrier...
10/07/2026

🦊🌿 UK Wildlife & the Planning System: Coexisting, Not Competing 🏗️🦇
The UK planning system often gets framed as a barrier to wildlife — but in reality, it’s one of the strongest tools we have to protect, enhance, and reconnect habitats while still delivering the homes, infrastructure, and spaces people need. When done well, planning and wildlife conservation don’t just coexist… they strengthen each other.
🌱 How Wildlife Fits Into the Planning System
Under UK law and policy, developers must consider wildlife from the very start of a project. That means:
• Ecological surveys to understand what species and habitats are present
• Avoidance and mitigation to reduce harm
• Enhancement measures to leave nature better than before
• Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) to deliver measurable improvements
This isn’t a tick-box exercise — it’s a chance to design places that are richer, greener, and more resilient.
🐾 Ways Development Can Support Wildlife
• Hedgerows as green corridors linking fragmented habitats
• Sustainable drainage ponds that double as amphibian and invertebrate havens
• Bat and bird boxes integrated into new buildings
• Wildflower meadows and native planting in public spaces
• Retained scrub, woodland edges, and rough grassland for shelter and foraging
• Dark corridors to protect nocturnal species like bats
These features don’t just help wildlife — they improve wellbeing, reduce flood risk, and create more attractive places to live.
🏡 Why Coexistence Matters
Healthy ecosystems support:
• Pollination for crops and gardens
• Cleaner air and water
• Climate resilience
• Mental health and community pride
A planning system that works with wildlife, not against it, creates landscapes where people and nature thrive side by side.
💬 Your Turn
What wildlife-friendly features would you love to see in new developments across the UK?
Need help with your planning permissio nand ecology, get in touch www.cherryfieldecology.co.uk

🦇 Bats: Your Frequently Asked Questions, Answered❓ What is a bat roost? A roost is simply any place a bat uses for shelt...
01/07/2026

🦇 Bats: Your Frequently Asked Questions, Answered

❓ What is a bat roost? A roost is simply any place a bat uses for shelter — this includes maternity roosts, day roosts, night feeding perches, hibernation sites, and even temporary resting spots. If a bat uses it, even for a short time, it becomes a legally protected roost.

❓ Can a bat roost be moved or removed? Not without a licence. All bat roosts in the UK are protected by law, whether bats are present at the time or not. Any work that risks disturbing bats or damaging their roost requires a licensed ecologist and approval from the relevant Statutory Nature Conservation Body.

❓ Do bats stop development? No — but they can shape it. Development can still go ahead, but only with the right surveys, mitigation, and timing. This might include bat boxes, alternative roost structures, sensitive lighting design, or habitat enhancements. Good planning protects wildlife and allows progress.

❓ Why does it matter? Bats are vital for insect control, pollination, and healthy ecosystems. Protecting their roosts protects the wider landscape too.
If you ever find bats during works, stop immediately and seek advice from a licensed bat ecologist.

Need help with bats and your development? Contact us for a free quote – www.cherryfieldecology.co.uk

Traditional hay meadow management is one of the UK’s most wildlife-friendly farming practices, balancing productivity wi...
26/06/2026

Traditional hay meadow management is one of the UK’s most wildlife-friendly farming practices, balancing productivity with biodiversity. Cutting hay and aftermath grazing create the conditions for wildflowers, insects, and birds to thrive.

🌾 Hay meadows are more than fields—they’re living archives of tradition and biodiversity. Managed the old way, they burst with wildflowers, buzz with pollinators, and provide food and shelter for countless species.

✂️ Summer Hay Cut
• Traditionally cut in July or August, after wildflowers have set seed.
• Cutting later allows orchids, knapweed, and other meadow plants to reproduce naturally.
• Removing hay reduces soil fertility, preventing aggressive grasses from dominating and keeping plant diversity high.
🐑 Aftermath Grazing
• Livestock (often cattle or sheep) graze the regrowth in late summer and autumn.
• Grazing keeps swards open, creates microhabitats, and helps wildflower seedlings establish.
• Hooves lightly disturb the soil, aiding seed germination and maintaining structural variety.
🐝 Wildlife Benefits
• Meadows managed this way support butterflies, bees, and hoverflies with nectar-rich flowers.
• Birds like skylarks, yellowhammers, and barn owls benefit from abundant insects and small mammals.
• Amphibians and invertebrates thrive in the damp margins, while bats forage overhead.
Traditional hay meadow management is a timeless partnership between people, land, and wildlife. By cutting hay and grazing aftermath, we keep these rare habitats alive for future generations.

Need help with managing your land for wildlife, need a habitat management plan? Contact us here - cherryfieldecology.co.uk

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