Since moving here in 2014, we have been gradually improving the grounds about the farmhouse, whether by planting more flowers, starting an orchard, managing the woodland, turning pasture into meadow, or putting up bird boxes and feeders. Over time, we have noticed all manner of new species arriving or re-emerging. To start 2019, we thought it would be interesting to try and catalogue all the wildlife that grows, lives, feeds or hunts here. So we’re beginning with birds …
Birds
So far, we’ve recorded 53 species of bird on the nursery and 14 of those have only arrived in the last few years due to the grounds becoming much more wildlife friendly. Our list is below. We hope more will come in the future.
Acanthis cabaret Lesser Redpoll
Accipiter nisus Sparrowhawk Aegithalos caudatus Long-tailed Tit Anthus pratensis Meadow Pipit Apus apus Swift Ardea cinerea Grey Heron Asio flammeus Short-eared Owl Buteo buteo Buzzard Carduelis carduelis Goldfinch Carduelis chloris Greenfinch Carduelis spinus Siskin Certhia familiaris Tree Creeper Chroicocephalus ridibundus Black-headed Gull Columba oenas Stock Dove Columba palumbus Woodpigeon Corvus corax Raven Corvus corone Carrion Crow |
Corvus frugilegus Rook
Corvus monedula Jackdaw Cuculus canorus Cuckoo Cyanistes caeruleus Blue Tit Delichon urbicum House Martin Dendrocopos major Great Spotted Woodpecker Emberiza schoeniclus Reed Bunting Erithacus rubecula Robin Falco peregrinus Peregrine Falco tinnunculus Kestrel Fringilla coelebs Chaffinch Hirundo rustica Swallow Larus canus Common Gull Motacilla alba Pied wagtail Motacilla cinerea Grey Wagtail Numenius arquata Curlew Parus major Great Tit Periparus ater Coal Tit |
Phasianus colchicus Pheasant
Phylloscopus sibilatrix Wood Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus Willow Warbler Pica pica Magpie Prunella modularis Dunnock Pyrrhula pyrrhula Bullfinch Regulus regulus Goldcrest Scolopax rusticola Woodcock Streptopelia decaocto Collared Dove Strix aluco Tawny Owl Sturnus vulgaris Starling Sylvia communis Whitethroat Troglodytes troglodytes Wren Turdus iliacus Redwing Turdus merula Blackbird Turdus philomelos Song Thrush Turdus pilaris Fieldfare Tyto alba Barn Owl |
We hope to have a list of all the plant species that are native to the nursery grounds by summer 2019.