Orchard Wildlife
This section of our website introduces some of the wildlife that we have found in our two community orchards in Old Church Road Colwall, or which you can expect to find in a well-managed, mature traditional orchard.
This is only a snapshot of the wide diversity of species associated with this important habitat.
THE WILDLIFE OF A TRADITIONAL ORCHARD
Kingfisher
Noble Chafer Beetle
Common Toad
The vivid blue of a Kingfisher was an exciting sight at our Lugg's Mill Orchard site a while ago. It was probably there due to the small stream which bisects the site. Kingfishers nest in soft earth banks over water so the streamside environment could be its home. Or, it may have been a visitor catching fish like sticklebacks and small aquatic invertebrates.
Common Toad
Noble Chafer Beetle
Common Toad
Often when we are clearing grass from around the base of trees or even planting new trees we encounter Common Toads. They are readily identifiable by their slow gait and dry, wart-covered skin. They spend most of their lives on land returning to ponds to breed. Common Toads hibernate in winter so we've built a hibernaculum to give them a snug place to overwinter.
Noble Chafer Beetle
Noble Chafer Beetle
Noble Chafer Beetle
This is one of the stand-out species of traditional orchards. The Noble Chafer Beetle lives for a few years in the heart of hollow, slowly decaying veteran orchard trees only to emerge briefly for a few weeks to breed then die. If you find evidence of their droppings (frass) inside a hole within an old apple or plum tree, or discover an e
This is one of the stand-out species of traditional orchards. The Noble Chafer Beetle lives for a few years in the heart of hollow, slowly decaying veteran orchard trees only to emerge briefly for a few weeks to breed then die. If you find evidence of their droppings (frass) inside a hole within an old apple or plum tree, or discover an emerging adult in the early summer then you have encountered a rarity.
Elephant Hawk Moth
Elephant Hawk Moth
What a stunning moth this is! Don't be fooled into thinking that all moths are grey and boring... This is a colourful and medium sized moth with a wingspan of around 45-60mm. It's nocturnal so you are unlikely to encounter one during daytime, and it's fairly common. We have made great efforts to develop hedgerows that are an ideal habitat for many species of moths such as this.
Muntjac Deer
Elephant Hawk Moth
This chunky visitor, the build of a tubby medium sized dog, can regularly be found in traditional orchards around our village. Originally native to SE China they were deliberately released from captivity into the wild in the UK in 1901. They prefer a habitat of deciduous woodland with a good understorey so some of the more overgrown tradi
This chunky visitor, the build of a tubby medium sized dog, can regularly be found in traditional orchards around our village. Originally native to SE China they were deliberately released from captivity into the wild in the UK in 1901. They prefer a habitat of deciduous woodland with a good understorey so some of the more overgrown traditional orchards, with their favourite food plant of bramble present, make an ideal home.
Green Woodpecker
Green Woodpecker
One of three main types of woodpecker associated with veteran traditional orchards. This widespread, pale green bird spends much time on the ground eating ants, and ant eggs and larvae. It has a distinctive laugh-like call and characteristic undulating flight before taking an upwards swoop to a perch.
Blue Tit
Vapourer Moth caterpillar
Blue Tit
Blue Tits are definitely a bird species to welcome into traditional orchards. This colourful, common and tame species is enormously helpful since their young require prodigious numbers of caterpillars to survive. They are therefore excellent at keeping populations of pest species of insects down. When feeding their young adults can catch around 1000 caterpillars per day.
Mole
Vapourer Moth caterpillar
Blue Tit
We have good populations of moles at our Colwall Village Garden site with evidence of their tunnels and molehills both in the orchard and communal grassed areas. Moles tunnel to find food - earthworms, insect larvae and slugs - and occasionally store dead earthworms. Moles are solitary creatures only making contact with its own kind during the Spring mating season.
Vapourer Moth caterpillar
Vapourer Moth caterpillar
Vapourer Moth caterpillar
This exceptionally distinctive caterpillar is that of the Vapourer Moth. This species can be a pest of fruit trees - devouring foliage. The caterpillars can usually be seen between late April and August but they are rarely present in large numbers so we allow birds to undertake any necessary pest control. The male Vapourer moth is chestnu
This exceptionally distinctive caterpillar is that of the Vapourer Moth. This species can be a pest of fruit trees - devouring foliage. The caterpillars can usually be seen between late April and August but they are rarely present in large numbers so we allow birds to undertake any necessary pest control. The male Vapourer moth is chestnut brown with a white spot on each wing whilst females are virtually wingless.
Dormouse
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Vying for the award of cutest inhabitant of traditional orchards is the dormouse. This creature has become quite rare. It can be recognised by its plump 75mm long chestnut brown body, blunt nose, small ears, large eyes and 55mm long tail. Our tall and deep hedgerows, with nut plants present, make a good habitat. Dormice have both summer and winter nests and hibernate for about half of the year.
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
The most common woodpecker in many areas - this is the one that you are likely to hear drumming against a tree trunk in Spring. It is considerably larger than the rarer Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
It nests inside tree trunks or branches having dug a hole some 5cm in diameter. It feeds on insects and their larvae as well as seeds and berries
The most common woodpecker in many areas - this is the one that you are likely to hear drumming against a tree trunk in Spring. It is considerably larger than the rarer Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
It nests inside tree trunks or branches having dug a hole some 5cm in diameter. It feeds on insects and their larvae as well as seeds and berries. It's also a predator of other bird species and may raid nests for chicks.
Woolly Aphid
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Woolly Aphid
At a casual glance this fluffy, cotton wool-like material doesn't look much like a creature. This is woolly aphid, a minor pest of apple trees. The aphids themselves are a brown to greyish purple colour and they secrete the white woolly material as a form of defence from predators. Following our organic principles we let the woolly aphid'
At a casual glance this fluffy, cotton wool-like material doesn't look much like a creature. This is woolly aphid, a minor pest of apple trees. The aphids themselves are a brown to greyish purple colour and they secrete the white woolly material as a form of defence from predators. Following our organic principles we let the woolly aphid's natural predators - earwigs, ladybirds and a species of parasitic wasp - control populations.
Tawny Owl
White-Tailed Bumblebee
Common Earthworm
This is the owl that hoots at night. We have good populations of this bird locally and it takes advantage of holes in veteran orchard trees as nesting sites. Tawny Owls have diverse feeding habits and will hunt for voles, mice, rats, frogs, beetles, earthworms and small birds. They are impressive and extremely beautiful birds that are very much associated with traditional orchard habitats.
Common Earthworm
White-Tailed Bumblebee
Common Earthworm
An acre of grassland may contain as many as 3 million earthworms. The common earthworm is the best known species but there are 24 others. Earthworms are incredibly valuable to soil health. They act as ploughs constantly churning the soil over, mixing, sifting and aerating it. They are a food source for many creatures including moles, birds, badgers, hedgehogs, beetles and slugs.
White-Tailed Bumblebee
White-Tailed Bumblebee
White-Tailed Bumblebee
Easily identified by its white rear end this is one of several types of bumbleebees that frequent our trees, meadows and hedgerows. At around 20mm the Queens are larger than drones or males. It will be the Queens that are evident in Spring whilst the males are not usually seen until August. We quite often discover bumblebee nests in compo
Easily identified by its white rear end this is one of several types of bumbleebees that frequent our trees, meadows and hedgerows. At around 20mm the Queens are larger than drones or males. It will be the Queens that are evident in Spring whilst the males are not usually seen until August. We quite often discover bumblebee nests in compost heaps on our allotment plots otherwise colonies are frequently found underground, often in an old mouse or vole nest.
Lesser Horseshoe Bat
Colwall is blessed with a few different sites locally where there are extensive bat colonies. The Lesser Horseshoe Bat is one of the UK's smaller bat species. This bat typically roosts in buildings but emerges at dusk to feed on moths, spiders, midges and flies which they find in hedgerows, orchards, woodland and pasture. They breed in autumn and then hibernate during the winter.
Mistletoe Marble Moth
To the casual eye looking like an area of bird droppings this is a rare moth species with a Herefordshire provenance, having been first discovered here in 1878. It is a UK Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. As the name suggests this species is dependent upon mistletoe and its larvae feed in a characteristic mine within
To the casual eye looking like an area of bird droppings this is a rare moth species with a Herefordshire provenance, having been first discovered here in 1878. It is a UK Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. As the name suggests this species is dependent upon mistletoe and its larvae feed in a characteristic mine within the leaves of mistletoe plants. Best located by finding their larval mines, the adult moths may also be found in the summer.
Treecreeper
Treecreeper
An attractive small bird that 'does what it says on the tin'. Treecreepers thrive on the loose, rough bark of veteran orchard trees where they nest behind loose bark or ivy and use their fine curved bill to feed upon the plethora of insects hiding in the bark. They work their way upwards on tree trunks, often spiralling around, before fly
An attractive small bird that 'does what it says on the tin'. Treecreepers thrive on the loose, rough bark of veteran orchard trees where they nest behind loose bark or ivy and use their fine curved bill to feed upon the plethora of insects hiding in the bark. They work their way upwards on tree trunks, often spiralling around, before flying down to another tree to repeat the process. A lovely small bird to find and watch.
Field Vole
Orange Tip Butterfly
Common Wasp
A close relative of the rat and mouse the vole is different from them as it has a blunt snout, tiny ears and short tail. This creature is about 100mm long. It typically lives in hedgerows and long grass but in our orchards we often find it at the base of fruit trees hiding under our mulching material. It can be a pest of young fruit trees
A close relative of the rat and mouse the vole is different from them as it has a blunt snout, tiny ears and short tail. This creature is about 100mm long. It typically lives in hedgerows and long grass but in our orchards we often find it at the base of fruit trees hiding under our mulching material. It can be a pest of young fruit trees as it has a tendency to gnaw at roots or stems of trees when supplies of other foodstuffs are scarce.
Common Wasp
Orange Tip Butterfly
Common Wasp
The common wasp is one of the few British social species of wasp. Like bees it builds nests and produces queens, workers (females) and drones (males). Nests are made of out of dry wood and at Colwall Village Garden the common wasps seem to have an appetite for chewing away at our timber Apple Packing Shed! Whilst wasps can be a nuisance w
The common wasp is one of the few British social species of wasp. Like bees it builds nests and produces queens, workers (females) and drones (males). Nests are made of out of dry wood and at Colwall Village Garden the common wasps seem to have an appetite for chewing away at our timber Apple Packing Shed! Whilst wasps can be a nuisance when we are harvesting fruit - especially plums - they are enormously valuable as predators of other insect species found in orchards.
Orange Tip Butterfly
Orange Tip Butterfly
Orange Tip Butterfly
It's the male of this species which we have pictured as the female is white with black wingtips. This common, medium sized butterfly likes the dappled shade of traditional orchards. Amongst its favourite food plants are the damp meadow Cuckooflower and the ditch/hedgerow Garlick Mustard. This species heralds the presence of Spring and yo
It's the male of this species which we have pictured as the female is white with black wingtips. This common, medium sized butterfly likes the dappled shade of traditional orchards. Amongst its favourite food plants are the damp meadow Cuckooflower and the ditch/hedgerow Garlick Mustard. This species heralds the presence of Spring and you'll probably see the males between March and June with main sightings in April or May.
Fieldfare
Violet Ground Beetle
Violet Ground Beetle
A large, striking and handsome thrush. Fieldfares flock in winter, moving about and feeding together. They frequently mix with Redwings. Fieldfares are winter migrants to the UK where they can be found in traditional orchards eating apples and other fruit from trees, hedges and bushes. They return to Scandinavia during the rest of the year.
Violet Ground Beetle
Violet Ground Beetle
Violet Ground Beetle
There are two very similar species of Violet Ground Beetle. They are active, nocturnal predators chasing and catching smaller invertebrates. During the day they can often be found hiding under logs and stones and in leaf litter. This demonstrates the importance of a little neglect and untidiness within traditional orchards as this provides a useful habitat helping to increase biodiversity.
Slow-worm
Violet Ground Beetle
Slow-worm
A regular find in the allotment gardens at Colwall Village Garden the slow-worm is a type of legless lizard. It can also live in traditional orchards where they find invertebrates to eat and a sunny patch to sunbathe. Slow-worms mate in May and have an aggressive courtship, lasting many hours, during which time the male locks onto the female by biting the head or neck.