Cherry Cottage Garden - Environmentally considerate gardening

Cherry Cottage Garden


Wildlife sighted at The Cottage




From about 1996, handwritten lists of the wildlife sightings in the garden and meadow were kept, mainly of the trees, shrubs and butterflies. As wildlife record-keeping continued over the years, so handwritten lists were converted into spreadsheets in the early 'noughties' and they in turn were converted into a database in 2007.

By 2011 the list of species of both plants and creatures that have been present has reached 442 and there are still many more yet to be found and identified. The full list is linked below, but in summary the main groups identified between 1996 - 2011 are:
Bumblebee on Chives
8 species of Mammal
3 species of Mollusc
2 species of Snake
139 species of Moth
2 species of Lizard
1 species of Frog
6 species of Fly
21 species of Butterfly
21 species of Bug and Beetle
48 species of Bird
1 species of Aphid
7 species of Bee and Wasp
3 species of Spider
15 species of Grass
25 species of Trees and Shrubs
130 species of Wildflower
Male Stag Beetle





A benefit of the database was that it could be used to record further sightings in other areas of the village and now some 10 areas of wildlife have been surveyed and recorded and shared on the village website. In total, we have so far identified about 530 wildlife species in the village (including our own 440 at the Cottage).

Grass Snake - 2010 Blue Butterfly - 2010 White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda
Brown Argus - May 2011 Goldenrod Crab Spider on Meadowsweet Long tailed tit
Poplar Hawk Moth Young male sparrow Young hedgehog Aug 2011 in late evening light