Wildlife & Conservation
Wildlife & Conservation
Do you have the makings of a wildlife warden? Visit our Wildlife Corner to discover how you can help look after the environment and the many animals, birds and insects that live all around us. You can also keep up to date with what’s happening at Finkley by following our conservation diary.
Wildlife Pond – Come along to the wildlife pond and see if you have what it takes to be an amphibian detective. Learn top tips on pond dipping and how to make a pond dipping net.
Bat Boxes – Discover where the bats live high up in their Bat Boxes and find out how you could make a home for bats where you live too.
Bird Hide – Head to the Bird Hide where you can grab a pair of binoculars and see what birds you can spot. Find helpful hints on how to build a nest box for your garden.
Bug World – Try and find all the different places that bugs like to hang out. Take a closer look as there’s three to find – Bug Garden, Bug Hotel and Bug Pile.
Finkley Conservation Diary
May 2021
Scabious, also known as Pincushion flowers, are flowering in the Bee & Butterfly Garden. These flowers are just perfect for insects, they are native too!
April 2021
Red Kites are becoming a common sight flying over the farm! The distinctive fork shape of the tail makes them easy to identify.
March 2021
Daffodils are flowering all over the farm and the bumblebees love them!
February 2021
One of the very first signs of spring is catkins on some of the trees such as hazel, birch and willow.
January 2021
The Llamas and Alpacas graze Wildlife Walk during lockdown 3 overlooked by a Robin perched on Farmer Steph’s wheelbarrow.
December 2020
Check out these frosty cobwebs on the donkey gate.
November 2020
The triangle clusters on this paper are distinctive dormouse footprints! This dormouse has been very active here in our hedgerow in the days up to hibernation. What a great find!
October 2020
Have you ever seen anything like this?! A turquoise toadstool! Spotted on the edge of the Bog Garden in Wildlife Corner, the conditions are perfect for this Verdigris agaric toadstool. As these toadstools grow, the blue colour fades.
September 2020
We have started a dormouse survey around our hedgerows. The survey consists of 25 footprint traps sited at 20-metre intervals, with paper and safe biodegradable ink made from charcoal powder. This footprint trap was placed in the Bug Hotel and already has Wood-Mouse prints all over it.
September 2019
This slimy toad was found tucked away under the giant paddling pool. He has been safely relocated to a more suitable pond.
August 2019
The hedge bramble is beginning to fruit. These blackberries will provide much-needed food to the birds and rodents in the hedgerows as Autumn approaches.
July 2018
Common Blue Butterflies have been spotted in Wildlife Corner.