Welcome to The Thornbridge Estate Nature trail

The gardens here at Thornbridge have not developed naturally, but are the result of careful landscaping and planting to produce the beautiful, highly interesting scenery we see today.  Formal gardens give way to a more natural-feeling landscape of woodland, water and rock.  The combination of native and more exotic plants, cool woods and sunny open spaces, running water and still pools, make these gardens a haven for the wildlife of the area.
This trail is intended to introduce you to some of the wildlife you may encounter on your visit.  You may not see everything mentioned here, but as always with wildlife, the more you look, the more you will see!

As summer comes to an end and the days become shorter, colder and wetter, much of our wildlife becomes less active, or vanishes from view altogether. Most of the flying insects disappear, many birds will leave for warmer countries, and for the creatures that remain, finding sufficient food to survive the winter becomes much harder but keep your eyes peeled and see what you can see!

Thank you to Simon and Angela Unwin for creating this wonderful trail for us to enjoy!

Butterfly

In past times colourful meadows like the one before you were a common sight in our countryside.  The bright summer flowers including Ox-eye Daisies (Moon Pennies), Ragged Robin, Cornflowers, Field Scabious, Yellow Rattle, Yarrow and Pignut provided an important home and larder for many insects.  Grasshoppers, beetles, butterflies and moths, bees, hoverflies and other flying insects find meadows an ideal home.  They in turn attract the birds and bats which feed on them.
Sadly, most of our wildflower meadows have disappeared from the British countryside due to changing farm practices and the building of new houses.  We can help our wildlife to survive by planting new meadows, like this one here at Thornbridge. 

Butterflies need warm temperatures to be active so most will disappear at the onset of winter.  If the weather remains quite dry and mild, we may still see some butterflies flying well into the autumn.  Look out for Small Tortoiseshells, Red Admirals and Painted Ladies.

 Honey Bees

The wooden boxes in front of you are called ‘hives’ and they are the homes of Honey Bees.  Each hive is ruled by a single Queen, whose job it is to lay the eggs which produce new young bees.  Those you can see flying from the hive are worker bees, whose job is to collect nectar from the surrounding meadow flowers, which is used to make honey.  While doing this the worker bees pollinate the flowers, helping the plants to reproduce.
The beekeeper takes a certain proportion of the bee’s honey for our own use.  You can buy some of our bee’s honey from the Quackers Café Shop.

As the temperatures fall honey bees gradually become less active and eventually they retreat to their hive, where they cluster together to benefit from their combined body heat.  Their stores of honey will feed them through the winter.

 Squirrels

As we go through summer the flowers on the woodland trees develop into fruit, nuts and berries. The Beech trees here produce a nut, protected by a spiky case, known as ‘Beech Mast’. Many fruits are good to eat, but not all are edible and some may be poisonous, so never eat any wild fruit unless you know it is safe to do so.
All these fruits are an important food source for our woodland creatures such as Squirrels, Wood Mice, Finches and Jays.

Squirrels remain active all through the winter and may be seen at any time in the treetops, or foraging for food on the ground.  In autumn they are particularly busy, gathering up nuts to store in secret larders for when food becomes scarce.  Hazel nuts are their favourite, but also acorns, beech mast and pine cones are important to their diet.

Badger

Look out here for some of the creatures that find a home in the Thornbridge woodlands. Grey Squirrels are a familiar sight, leaping in the branches overhead, or collecting fallen pine cones, and nuts on the ground.  Badgers Live here too, but will be fast asleep in their underground tunnels, or ‘setts’ in the daytime, while visitors are around.
Watch for birds in the trees and shrubs. Garden birds like Robins and Chaffinches are a common sight, but look too for Treecreepers, scuttling up and down tree trunks, probing in the bark for insects with their thin, curved beak, and the tiny Goldcrest, sporting a bright yellow stripe along the top of his head.
The woodland floor is home to many insects, snails and other creepy-crawlies. Carefully lift some stones and see what you can find living underneath. Tiny Snake Millipedes and Pill Millipedes (who roll up into a little ball for protection) are common.

 Heron

This seat is a great place to sit quietly and listen to the birdsong in the surrounding trees. The view before you is over some of the parklands within which Thornbridge House and Gardens are set. These are areas of grazing meadows planted with scattered trees, especially Horse Chestnut, Norway Maple, Sycamore, Lime and Oak. You may see grazing sheep and cattle here and the grass is mown to make hay which feeds them in the winter months.
Buzzards, Crows and Woodpigeons, which nest in the surrounding woodlands and the ducks, geese and swans that live on the lakes may be seen flying overhead, as may Herons with their great, flapping wings and dangling legs.

As Autumn & Winter set in the Swallows and Martins that could be seen feeding on flying insects during the summer months have left on their long journey back to Africa where they will spend the winter.  Other birds, such as Herons and Buzzards will remain here, and will be joined by winter visitors from the north and east.  Fieldfares and Redwings, relatives of the Thrush, can often be seen in flocks, and on the lakes, wildfowl such as Teal and Pintail are regular visitors.

 Water lily

Be careful not to slip as you cross the stone bridge. On your right you can see the garden lake, running into a small pond to your left.  Here you will see many plants that live in or beside the water.  Bright yellow Greater Spearwort, a type of water buttercup and Yellow Iris are easy to spot. Look too for the smaller, three-petalled Water Plantain. On the bigger lake see the beautiful flowers of White and Yellow Water Lilies, with their large, plate-like floating leaves.

 Pond Skater

As you walk down to the small pond, look for Horsetails growing beside the path. These are green, flowerless plants, with many fronds. They are a very ancient type of plant.  When dinosaurs roamed the Earth, much of the plantlife would have been similar to these, often growing to tree-size.
While here, have a look in the small pond beside the waterfall. Can you see any Pondskaters zooming around on the water surface? Or Water Boatmen, sculling around under the water with their long, oar-like middle legs?

 Frogs

The ponds and lakes on the estate are important home for amphibians, the newts, frogs and toads. Spring and early summer is the best time to see them, as they leave the water after the breeding season is over, but keep an eye out for tiny developing froglets among the grass near the water.  Also you may encounter the odd adult frog or toad hiding under shady leaves.  Two different newts occur here, the common Smooth Newt and the larger, much scarcer Great-crested Newt.

Unlike humans, frogs, toads and newts are unable to heat their own bodies and would freeze to death in the winter.  They avoid this by hibernating either at the bottom of the lake, or by burrowing into the soil, or under stones. 

 Koi Carp

This is a great spot to stop and watch the fish slowly swimming and feeding in the lake. These are Koi Carp, which are not native to Britain, but originated in the Far East where they were bred for eating. The practice of breeding Koi for ornamental purposes began in Japan in the 19th century, and spread to Europe.

 Dragonfly

Summer is the time to spot dragonflies, flying above the water and surrounding vegetation. Bright, colourful insects they are mostly seen when the sun is shining. They spend most of their time away from the water, feeding in the surrounding treetops, coming to the water to breed and lay their eggs. The eggs hatch in the water and the larvae, or nymphs, develop over one to three years gradually growing larger, before emerging in summer to take to spectacular flight for a few short weeks.
The largest dragonflies are the ‘hawkers’ which may be seen patrolling over the water.  Brown Hawkers, Emperors, Southern and Migrant Hawkers may all be present.
If you look among the reeds and plants at the water’s edge you will see the smallest dragonflies, known as Damselflies.  They are mostly bright blue or green in colour.

More than any other creature, dragonflies are a summer sighting, needing warm, sunny weather.  A few late species may be seen in flight well into October, but by the end of the month they will all be gone.  Only their larvae, or nymphs, will survive the winter in the ponds and lakes, moving into deeper water if their home is in danger of freezing.  In late spring and summer they will emerge as adult dragonflies

Toadstool

Not all plants produce colourful flowers. The damp, shady woods here are an ideal place to see many green, flowerless plants, especially ferns, such as Lady Fern, Bracken and Male Fern.  These are hard to identify, but look for the common Hart’s Tongue Fern, which is the only fern in Britain to have simple, strap-like leaves. Mosses and fungi also like the cool shade under the trees.

While many species of fungi form fruits during the spring and summer, others are more in evidence in autumn and winter.  The well-known Fly Agaric with its bright red, white flecked cap, and Parasol Mushrooms can be found on the woodland floor in early autumn, while woody bracket fungi and the jelly-like Ear Fungus grows on trees all the through the winter.

 Blue tits

As you walk along the path, look out for some of the common garden birds that make their home here.  Robins are the boldest and you may see them quite close to you with their bright red breast.  Blackbirds and Song Thrush, Blue Tits, Great Tits and Coal Tits may also be seen, as may the less colourful House Sparrow and Dunnock.

When the autumn leaves fall from the trees, the small birds that live in the canopy become much easier to spot.  Surviving the cold winter months is not easy for these small birds, having to find enough food to keep warm.  The Long-tailed Tit survives by forming small flocks that huddle together at night for warmth

The Robin is a bird we particularly associate with winter.  It is one of the few birds that continues to sing during the winter months, when most others have fallen silent.

 Bats

Thornbridge is a great home for bats. Noctule and Brown-eared Bats roost among the trees and the more common Pipistrelle Bat often roosts around the buildings.  Daubenton’s Bat (sometimes called the Water Bat) may be seen swooping low over the surface of the lakes catching May Flies and other insects.
Bats are normally active at night and late evening, so you will be unlikely to see any on your visit, but if you look into the grotto here you will see one of the places where they roost.  If you were here in the late evening you would certainly see bats flying in and out of this long tunnel.

Bats spend the winter in hibernation, fast asleep in a tree hole, building or a specially made bat box.  They can still be seen during the autumn, but will gradually disappear as the flying insects they depend on die off.

Moths

As you return to your starting point go through the terraced gardens. The colourful, highly scented plants here attract many insects who, like the Honey Bees, feed on the nectar produced by the flowers. Hoverflies, Butterflies, Moths and Bumblebees are very important creatures as they spread the pollen from flower to flower, which allows the plants to reproduce. 
Our largest bees, Bumblebees live in smaller colonies than Honey Bees, usually in a hole in the ground.  They are not aggressive and will only sting if they are threatened.

Most moths are inactive during the winter, or die off as the weather gets colder, but a few are hardy enough to remain active through all but the coldest periods.  The aptly named Winter Moth in particular may be seen throughout the season.  Other species may be seen flying on milder winter days.