Hurlethill

Hurlethill

 

Hurlethill is located in Crookston in the south-west of the city. It lies between the A726 Hurlet Road, the A736 Barrhead Road, and Crookston Road.

Status - City Wide SINC
Grid Reference NS 515614                          

Description

This 12 hectare site is a complex area with woodlands, grassland slopes, a small marshy valley bottom and areas of scrub and developing heath. This mosaic of habitats provides for a wealth of wildlife. High numbers of different plant species have been recorded in the woodland areas and the dry grassland, including the common spotted orchid. The whole area is favoured by butterflies such as the meadow brown, common blue and orange-tip.

Habitat Types

  • Scrub
    Areas consisting of varying mixes of hawthorn, gorse, rowan, dog-rose and birch have developed. In places this scrub is dense and offers good habitat for wildlife.

  • Woodland
    A mature deciduous woodland of beech with sycamore and oak occupies the western part of the site. The steep slope and heavy shade contribute to the impoverished ground flora here, although there are more open areas within the woodland where wood-sorrel and buckler fern can be found. Bluebells are also locally frequent. To the south is a conifer plantation of mainly larch but with some pine and spruce present. This area has a lot of dead wood lying which makes a good habitat for invertebrates.

  • Grassland
    There is a mixture of neutral, acidic and marshy grassland on this site. The neutral grassland of the slopes is quite diverse containing among other species, yarrow,  creeping and meadow buttercup, white, red and zig-zag clover, and common bird’s-foot-trefoil. On the valley floor there are damper patches of marshy grassland where marsh woundwort, yellow flag iris and cuckooflower can be found. There is also a small area of acid grassland containing a good variety of grasses and herbs, such as sweet vernal grass and devil’s-bit scabious. Common spotted-orchids are also present.

  • Heath
    In the south east corner of the site is an area of neutral and acidic grassland with developing heath. Typical heathland species found here include heather, wavy hair-grass and tormentil.



Animal Life

Roe Deer Willow Warbler Common Blue
Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) are the smallest deer species native to Europe. They are common in woodlands through out the City. Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) is our commonest summer visitor, their sweet song being one of the first signs of spring. They are found in a variety of woodland habitats, but most commonly in birch scrub. Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) males are brightly coloured while the females are much darker and more secretive. The caterpillar foodplants include common bird’s-foot-trefoil and white clover.


Plant Life

Common Spotted Orchid Devil's Bit Crop Cuckoo Flower
Common Spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) has pale pink flowers with purple streaks. The leaves have dark spots on them giving the species its name. Devil’s-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) has mauve flowers which add colour to grasslands in summer and attract bees and other insects including the six-spot burnet moth. Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis) has very pale pink flowers. It is mainly found in damp grasslands.