Besides our location, I think we have so much here because of the way we work the land. We are lucky enough to have a fair bit, and we don't grow crops so the fields are ideal for wildlife. When we make hay we don't go right to the edge of the field, and we are very careful about spraying. The hay meadows are hedged, not fenced, so the deer come and go as they please. And we don't have our animals grazing the fields between cuts so there are plenty of wildflowers in the grass and in the hedgerows (and in due course, seedheads). There are also no rights of way so the fields are largely undisturbed. We also have a very large freshwater pond for wildlife to drink from, and a good sized mature orchard. Plenty of forage here, and all it attracts.
The Bats live in the roof space of one of our outbuildings, the Barn Owls have their young in our barn, and I'll often see her sleeping up on a high beam during the day. It's not unusual to wake up and see Tawny Owl sitting outside my windowsill of a night looking in (or most likely checking out it's own reflection). And last night Barn Owl flew past my bedroom window screeching, and later, past me when I was outside doing the 4am lamb feed (I also saw the darned fox in our adjacent field.... )
A couple of Doves have just hatched their young in our horse barn too.
When it has snowed I often take the youngsters out looking at prints, and right now it's soft mud so there are prints aplenty (stoat prints mostly).
And of course don't forget the 'Who did that poo?' game. Or the 'What did Barn Owl eat last night' investigation (from the previous nights batch of pellets which are regularly regurgitated onto the barn floor).
Fabulous for the kids to have such an opportunity to grow up with all this nature and knowledge.
Topic: what wildlife have you found (Read 9162 times)
