Some of our lovely guests have put together a wildlife record of what birds, mammals and moths you can see at Middle Coombe Farm during July. It's not an exhaustive list as taken from a survey undertaken 7-11 July 2022.
There are plenty of common species are missing, but our guests just didn’t consciously see or hear them when out surveying.
Birds
Buzzard - Wood Pigeon - Swift - Great Spotted Woodpecker - Swallow - House Martin - Robin - Song Thrush - Blackbird - Blackcap - Chiffchaff - Wren - Coal Tit - Nuthatch - Carrion Crow - Raven - Goldfinch - Greenfinch - Siskin.
Our Swallows and House Martins are both breeding, but the most important are our beautiful Swift colony. Across the UK we have lost well over half of all our Swifts in just the last 25 years – mainly due to a catastrophic loss of nest sites as older buildings are repaired or demolished. They are now on the ‘Red List’ and officially an Endangered Species. We are delighted to have at least one Swift nest under the eaves on the left side of the Gatehouse entrance and we think there are more around the farm's taller buildings. It is always magical to see and hear ‘screaming parties’ of at least six to eight Swifts each evening and on the evening. At times we have counted up to 14 birds in the air at once.
Bats
We have numerous bats emerging at dusk from the gatehouse roof. Although we are waiting for confirmation it is believed these are Common Pipistrelle or Soprano Pipistrelles. These are company to Horseshoe bats located on the farm. All are welcome on Middle Coombe Farm. We've made a note to self to find someone with a bat detector to find more.
Although far from an exhaustive list of what is on the farm, woodland and wider estateland - we will try to keep adding to the list as we see things.