Category: Our Devon Wildlife

Back in July 2018 we dug some new mini ponds at Wheatland Farm – one to take the waste Hot Tub water from Beech Lodge, some just to provide some new habitat. This time last year for #30DaysWild we were looking at their progress, and we thought we’d do the same again in 2020.

For #30DaysWild today we’re housekeeping in both senses, catching up on Wheatland Farm’s biological recording but also getting the eco lodges ready for the July reopening.

We only see one or two hummingbird hawkmoths a year at Wheatland Farm’s eco lodges, so it was nice to spot one close enough to photograph. Having said that, to understand why they’re so striking you really need to see them flying – they are easily mistaken for a tiny humming bird.

Today saw the first Emerald damselfly of 2020 gracing the eco lodge wildlife pond here at Wheatland Farm.

We were delighted to find a Silver Washed Fritillary Butterfly on the brambles at Wheatland Farm today – it was our wild moment for #30DaysWild No. 22.

For today’s #30DaysWild we welcomed the cows back to Wheatland Farm for their summer grazing on our Devon culm grassland and Popehouse Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest.

It has been English Flower week apparently, so here’s a few of our Devon wild ones….

On a wet day, our wild action is just to look up some moths we’ve recently spotted around the eco lodges, like this ‘speckled yellow’, above. These are moths we happened upon, but we’d also like to do some moth trapping over the summer with guests.

Today’s #30DaysWild Random Act of Wildness was just to enjoy the buzz at the wildlife pond below Balebarn Eco Lodge, and admire the butterflies.

We’re claiming a small success for #30DaysWild today: this orchid has appeared by the wildlife pond, at the edge of the mown path. It’s the first one we’ve found at Wheatland Farm that’s not growing on Popehouse Moor SSSI.

Kingfishers are occasional and much loved visitors to Wheatland Farm’s Devon Eco Lodges. But we’ve never seen a young bird, until….

Today’s Random Act of Wildness is to top up the mealworms we put out for the birds. It’s an important food source at the moment because parents are struggling to feed their broods – like this one. But just look where these blue tits chose to nest!

It’s that time again – June is when the Wildlife Trusts run their 30 Days Wild campaign, challenging us all to do something for nature every day of the month. So today at Wheatland Farm we’ve been checking up on special flowers.