July 2025 Wildlife Update
It’s been a fairly quiet month for our wildlife, the meadow butterflies seem to be struggling a bit this year even if numbers of other species are doing much better. Our share farmers are starting the annual hay cut, which is also a vital part of managing our wild flower meadows, so watch out for them working around the estate.
Bird sightings:
- Little Egret
- Common Sandpiper
- Grey Wagtail
- Pied Wagtail
- Mute Swan, and 4 cygnets – great to watch, from a distance, and listen closely to the cheeping noises the cygnets make
- Shelduck
- Oystercatcher
- Egyptian Goose
- Great Crested Grebe with young – look for the little black and white spotted babies on the adults backs
- Great White Egret
Other sightings:
- Brown Argus butterfly
- Small Copper butterfly (another of my favourites)
- Marbled White butterfly – in really good numbers on the Rural Estate, but occasional visitors to Ferry Meadows too
- Water Vole – very exciting!
- Purple Hairstreak butterfly – record count of 40 butterflies at the beginning of the month, things have been a bit quiet since though
- Bats – 9 species now recorded across the site, thanks to the staff and volunteers who have helped with the surveys especially in the last couple of months with some very late nights!
Do let us know of any wildlife sightings that you see in the Park, happy spotting!
