Summer is a great time to discover a world of hidden nature with the National Trust. The trees are full of leaves, birds are singing and gardens are in full bloom. But have you ever looked a little closer?
Under stones, in rock pools, and hiding beneath tree bark there are hundreds of little creatures going about their day to day business. And as night falls a whole new world comes to life. Moths, badgers and bats feast in the moonlight while we sleep soundly in our beds.
A massive 95 per cent of National Trust buildings (grand country houses, barns, cottages) have bats living in them.
To help you discover this land of hidden nature, the National Trust is holding special events at many of its properties. There are bat walks, bug safaris, badger watches and rock pool rambles. Visit our events page to find out more.
As well as joining one of our guided walks there are plenty of other places to see wildlife with the National Trust. Our traditional orchards, gardens, coastline and countryside are full of hidden nature – you just need to find it!
Downloads
You can also download our Hidden Nature Passport, which will help you make the most of nature on your doorstep. The Passport also contains a competition to win a guided tour for you and your family around one of our amazing pieces of countryside.
For those of you who are interested in creatures of the night, we now have a new bat leaflet, which will help you to find and identify the winged-creatures.
An oil beetle which was thought to be extinct in the UK since 1948 has been found on National Trust land in South Devon.
Hidden Nature Uncovered
Sometimes it’s not possible to see what is going on in the day to day lives of our wildlife. Birds spend most of their lives in the sky, bats roost in hard to reach places and badgers only ever come out at night. At lots of National Trust properties there are special cameras helping you catch a glimpse of our hidden nature.
Did you know?
The National Trust looks after 59 important fossil sites, spanning 600 million years of history.
Swallows come under the spotlight at Gibside near Gateshead and barn owls get the star treatment at Heigham Holmes on the Norfolk Broads. Other bird cameras can be found at Speke Hall in Liverpool, Fellfoot Park in Cumbria, Hughenden Manor in Buckinghamshire and Kingston Lacy in Dorset.
