Wildlife on Worcestershire Holidays

The famous painter Vincent van Gogh once said, “If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” This sentiment is certainly true of our regular guests who choose to return to our Worcestershire holiday homes year after year. A major part of the attraction is the vast array of wildlife that populates this stunning corner of England and the joy it brings on a daily basis.

According to the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, the county’s orchards, ponds and towns provide natural homes for a number of obscure and interesting species, including the noble chafer beetle, the great crested newt, the slow worm, breeding populations of Bechstein’s bats, avocets and brown hairstreak butterflies.

Wildlife and conservation issues are a high priority for many who come to the country for their holidays. The beauty of the landscape needs to be nurtured and maintained for generations to come, and there are a wide range of programmes and initiatives that are run by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust and need the support of visitors.

Birdlife

The landscape around the Bredon View, The Springs and Abbot’s Salford is a twitcher’s paradise. The Worcestershire Wildlife Trust manages a number of small woods and protects a wide variety of birdlife. Pipers Hill Common, Monkwood and Chaddesley Wood all contain populations of the most common woodland birds and summer warblers.

Recently there was a sighting of an extremely rare Golden Oriole, an endangered species that, according to the RSPB, only has a population of 85 that migrates through the UK each year.

Over recent years Worcestershire has lost large swathes of its original natural wetlands, which has contributed to a dramatic reduction in the wildlife – this includes populations of birds like snipe, curlew and lapwing, which have declined by up to 63 per cent.

Local schemes are in place to try and redress this loss of balance and reintroduce larger populations of essential birdlife.

Slow Worms in the City of Worcester

Worcester has become synonymous with the slow worm, and is known as the ‘Slow Worm City’. They are regularly found in gardens and allotments across the city and county. They’ll seek out compost heaps, flat rocks and wood piles. Despite its name and appearance, the slow worm is neither worm nor snake, but a legless lizard and one of three native lizard species that is found in the UK.

The Brown Hairstreak Butterfly

Worcestershire is one of the main habitats for the elusive Brown Hairstreak Butterfly. It can be found at woodland edges and along hedgerows from late July until November. If you want to go on a butterfly sighting hunt with your family during your Worcestershire holiday, you can identify it by its brown upper wings and small ‘tails’ protruding from the hindwings. Females have a brilliant orange patch at the top corner of each forewing. The underwings are a distinctive bright orange, with two lines streaked across them.

The Noble Chafer beetle

The Noble Chafer is a rare metallic green beetle that is native to Worcestershire, and can be found in traditional orchards. Their larvae are found in old, decaying fruit trees where they can take up to three years to develop into adult beetles.

While enjoying your holiday home in Worcestershire you can plan a trip to the old orchards of the county to see if you can seek out a sighting of this rare but beautiful beetle.

Bechstein Bats

Bechstein bats are an extremely rare and protected species, and populations of them have been found in woodlands in and around Worcestershire. They tend to roost in old woodpecker holes and tree crevices, and during the breeding season the females tend to gather and form ‘maternity colonies’ to have their pups.

If you would like to combine seeking out a sighting of these colonies with booking your Worcestershire caravan holiday then you would do best to look at April and July, the main months when the colonies form. Anything between 10 and 100 bats can gather in these colonies, waiting out the weeks til June and July when the pups are born.

The bats are nocturnal, feeding on midges, moths and other flying insects.

Fishing

Worcestershire is a popular destination for fishing holidays. Our Springs holiday homes overlooks a private eight acre well stocked lakes where the fishing fanatic can enjoy peaceful solitude, while other members of the family can avail themselves of the luxury state of the art heated swimming pool located in beautiful surroundings