Looking after nature

We have been planting wildflowers like red clover, yellow rattle and ox-eye daisies in the paddock. These are all wildflowers which are popular with pollinators, and should encourage plenty of insect life.  By encouraging diverse wildflowers and supporting insect life, we hope to support a whole range of local wildlife which relies of these things.

We've also been adding new nesting boxes, bird feeders and improving our other nature habitats across the site to provide plenty of safe spaces where our wildlife can take shelter.

This continues all year round. The wildflowers and grasses are managed to make the most of the natural wildflower seeding in the summer, whilst in the winter fruit is left in or under the trees to provide food for birds and other creatures in the coldest months.

In 2020 we have been thrilled to discover Great Crested Newts hiding under the seed trays and plant pots in the gardeners' behind the scenes growing areas. There's a small pond nearby and plenty of damp hidden spaces to hide. Hopefully they'll stay for many years to come. We've also discovered hedgehog poo: fingers crossed for a hedgehog sighting soon.

Around 80 different types of birds have been spotted at Canons Ashby: a pair of reed buntings was recently seen by the restored Medieval Stew Ponds, which are proving a popular wildlife refuge full of birds, amphibians and insects.

The barn owl chicks above were photographed back in 2018 whilst they were being ringed, weighed and recorded by the Northamptonshire Barn Owl Project, as the family of owls nested in a neighbouring field. We also have regular nesting swallows and kestral chicks.

Canons Ashby is the home to plenty of species of bats and run annual bat walks so you can get to see them at dusk.

Moth surveying in the gardens and paddock has recorded a healthy and diverse range of moths, even including some moths which live in marshland, perhaps making their home in the Stew Ponds area behind the church.