wildlife at old lands

The present custodian of the estate, Sam Bosanquet, is a working ecologist who manages the land here so that it is farmed to support and restore biodiversity. Over the past 30 years, he has steadily recorded the flora and fauna here and has now noted over 3,500 species. Many of these are the quiet, often overlooked species, the invertebrates, lichens, bryophytes, fungi which form the unseen scaffolding of our countryside. It is these that guide our work. By placing them at the centre of our management, the more high profile species will ,we hope , follow , but only when the land is ready to support them.

Sitting at its core, the big house is flanked on all sides by a Registered Historic Parkland, which was planted in the late 18th century with Oak, Turkey Oak, and Beech trees. Many of them, now well into their second century, hold great dead limbs , stag’s horns , that provide valuable habitat for a specialised parkland fauna. Among them is the striking red longhorn beetle Pyrrhidium sanguineum, whose larvae feed on decaying wood. But while dead wood is plentiful, these insects often struggle to find nectar as adults. To provide the necessary nectar sources for them, we are in the process of reverting the grassland between the trees to a species-rich mix of grasses and flowers, interspersed with clumps of hawthorns and blackthorn.

Key to this reversion’s success is reducing the grassland’s fertility, most wildflowers are outcompeted by grasses when nutrient levels are high. Once the significant seeds have dropped, a late hay cut removes nutrients, leaving the conditions more favourable. Paired with low intensity cattle grazing, we use seed harvested from the ancient grasslands that make up the lawns of the big house to spread the seed across the fields. Species such as Knapweed and Devil’s bit Scabious have already spread out from their relict sites to recolonise fields beyond. In 2022, a single Green Winged orchid appeared, carried on the wind, its arrival a good indicator that the fertility levels have fallen to a level where other blow-ins might thrive. Parkland beetles are thriving, along with Essex Skipper and Marbled White butterflies, burnet companion moths, Six-Spot and Narrow Bordered Five-spot Burnets, and, in 2022, the arrival of the Long Horned bee , new to the area. Grasshoppers are on the rise too, including the Long Winged Conehead.

In time, small mammals will increase, along with their predators.Kestrels returned to nest here in the summer of 2022, the first time in nearly twenty years, drawn by the increased extent of rough grassland.

As is the way at Old-Lands, none of this happens quickly. The work is done with an eye to the long term and a trust in the land’s quiet ability to recover when given time and care.

Old Lands species total: 3523

Fungi: 386 / Lichens: 162 / Bryophytes: 244 / Flowering plants: 506

Spiders & Harvestmen: 62 /. Woodlice: 11 / Mayflies: 16 / Dragonflies & Damselflies: 14

Caddisflies: 32 / Grasshoppers & Crickets: 10 / Bugs: 85 / Lacewings: 22 / Butterflies: 26

Moths: 1035 / Flies: 295 / Wasps & Ants: 77 / Bees: 55 / Beetles: 205 / Snails & Slugs: 62

Fish: 6 / Amphibians & Reptiles: 7 Birds: 136 / Mammals: 32

Experts in other species groups have recorded an additional 414 species, mostly fungi and invertebrates, taking the overall total to 3942 species.