It is amazing what can be found amongst Britain's orchards if you look close enough, from bats and butterflies to mistletoe and moths.
With more than 100 traditional orchards in its care, the National Trust is working to revive the fortunes of orchards, helping to provide good quality habitats for wildlife. We take a look at what can be found throughout the changing seasons...
David Bullock, Head of Nature Conservation at the National Trust, says,
'We need to celebrate the wonderful richness of nature that can be found in our traditional orchards. Throughout the year they are great places to see a wealth of wildlife'.
Spring
© NTPL / David Sellman
Birds - Woodpeckers and other birds like starlings and owls nest in tree holes; spring migrants such as spotted flycatchers snap up flying insects.
Insects - Noble chafer beetle larva feed on decaying wood and take two years to develop to adulthood.
Trees - Full of blossom in Spring.
Plants - Ivy berries provide early fruits for birds.
Summer
© National Trust
Mammals - Bats forage on moths and chafers.
Insects - Noble chafer beetle forage and lay eggs in old fruit trees; bees, butterflies, moths, and hoverflies feed on nectar sources; spiders hunt and build webs.
Plants - Wild flowers and grasses of orchard floor provide food and habitat for a variety of insects and small mammals.
Autumn
© NTPL / Pat Morris
Mammals - Bank & field voles and other animals feed up before hibernation; bats forage on moths.
Birds - Autumn/winter migrant field fares and redwings, as well as mistle and song thrushes feast on fallen fruit.
Insects - Bees, butterflies, moths, and hoverflies feed on fallen fruit; spiders hunt and build webs.
Fungi - Waxcaps, giant puffballs, field mushrooms and bracket fungus emerge on the orchard floor.
Plants - Ivy provides late nectar source for insects.
Winter
© NTPL / Joe Cornish
Insects - Ladybirds over winter under loose bark of old trees.
Plants - Mistletoe is our only native white berried plant. It is spread by the mistle thrush; it is semi-parasitic mostly on apple trees - its favourite host - and provides a winter food source. A variety of fungi can be found in the grassland.
Acorn Bank, Cumbria
The orchard sits within the walled garden. Mistletoe has successfully been introduced after several years of trying and the (naturalised) ground flora Narcissus pseudonarcissus Fritilaria meleagris; Tulipa sylvestris can also be seen. Birds such as bullfinches; spotted flycatchers and goldfinches are a plenty. Red squirrels can be spotted.
© NTPL / Clive Boursnell
Brockhampton, Herefordshire
In the heart of orchard country old apple and damson trees are host to associated wood decay insects such as the noble chafer beetle Gnorimus nobilis and the mistletoe weevil Ixapion varigatum.
Species rich grasslands peppered with anthills, cover the orchard floor. Birds such as the rare lesser spotted woodpeckers display in the old cider orchard and hedge plantings of damson trees extend the orchards into the wider landscape.
© NTPL / Paul Harris
Llanerchaeron, Wales
The walled gardens are home to dozens of veteran fruit trees some 200 years old. These veterans are important hosts for all kinds of insects, mosses and lichens and coupled with the traditional vegetable and herbaceous flower beds, they are a haven for a whole array of wildlife.
Bees, hoverflies butterflies, and moths, such as the humming bird hawkmoth feed on the nectar and pollen. Birds like the blue tit, bullfinch, robin are regularly seen and if you look skyward red kites can be spotted circling above.
© NTPL / Andrew Butler
Cotehele, Cornwall
Set in the banks of the River Tamar alongside many other traditional orchards that have long since disappeared, is a significant collection of apples, pears and cherries from the surrounding valley. In Spring old varieties of Daffodil burst into bloom in the orchard floor, that later give way to a wild flower meadow in the early summer.
© David Bouch
Lyveden New Bield, Northamptonshire
This is one of the largest Trust orchards and sits within an Elizabethan landscape. Having been recently restored, the orchard is dotted with cowslips in spring and a mix of grasses and flowers in the summer.
© Mark Bradshaw
Killerton, Devon
The underlying wild flower meadows of the Killerton cider orchards provide nectar for the resident bees and the surrounding hedges and grass margins are good habitat for birds such as finches, thrushes and woodpeckers and small mammals including bank and field voles. Long eared bats also forage on the moths amongst the fruit trees at night.
© NTPL / Stephen Robson
Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire
Secluded within the Walled Garden are apple, pear, plum, apricot, quince, cherry and fig trees. Here a beneficial wildlife companion planting scheme operates to provide a wide range of aspects for plants, insects and animals. In addition there is whole host of nesting facilities for birds, insects and small animals (hedgehogs, toads etc) which have been integrated into the area.
As a new feature for 2007 two bird boxes have been added to the area that can facilitate a digital camera to allow the relay of live pictures from inside the nest boxes back to the ticket office for visitors to gain additional wildlife knowledge.
© NTPL / Jonathon Plant
Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire
The orchards and wildflower meadow comprises yellow rattle, hawkweeds, ragged robin, ox-eye daisy, bugle, veronica, vetches as well as various grasses and cowslips.
The orchards at Lacock support many birds, including green woodpeckers, thrushes, finches, blue and great tits, and a kestrel, as well as mammal visitors such as, squirrels, foxes and badgers. The insect life includes butterflies.
© NTPL / Andrea Jones
Felbrigg Hall, Garden and Park, Norfolk
Here you will find information boards that focus upon the great natural beauty and richly diverse habitat that the orchards provide. This includes allowing plants such as creeping thistle to remain as a food source for many birds and insects and heath spotted orchid can also be located in the orchard floor.
© NTPL / Marianne Majerus
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