Celebrating World Wildlife Day at Elmore
Today, 3rd March is World Wildlife Day, where countries come together to celebrate life on our planet. From coral reefs teeming with tropical fish to vast National Parks populated by bears, mountain goats and elk, there is no doubt to the myriad of wildlife the world has to offer. However, we’d like to give a little spotlight to the – often overlooked globally – wildlife of Great Britain.
Otters were near extinction in Britain in the 1970’s – yet they are now bouncing back in full force, presently to be found in every county. Avocets are a wading bird that was extinct in Britain 160 years ago but is now a more regular sight throughout British waterways, with 1500 breeding pairs. Their long, upturned beak is unique amongst British birds, and we were lucky enough to spot our first on the rewilding lands at Elmore Court in January 2025. Another wetland bird making a comeback in the UK is the spoonbill, driven to extinction hundreds of years ago by the draining of wetlands. Wetland restoration has led to these birds breeding in Britain again for the first time since the 17th Century. One to hopefully look out for at Elmore in future.
Another bird that thrives in wetlands is the marsh harrier. As recently as 50 years ago there was only one breeding pair in the UK due to habitat decline, yet thanks to conservation efforts, numbers are the highest they have been in a century. Similarly, there are 80% more reed warblers than there were 50 years ago. The increase in reed warbler nests is allowing for an increase in cuckoos – a threatened species – who use the nests of reed warblers to lay their own eggs! We have an abundance of reed warblers at Elmore, which may be the reason we hear cuckoos calling in the summer months down by the lake.
Britain is home to 85% of the chalk rivers in the world, which are a diverse habitat on account of the mineral-rich, relatively temperature stable water allowing for flora such as water crow-foot and water star-wort to flourish. This plant diversity creates a broad and diverse ecosystem of invertebrates and fish. Atlantic salmon use chalk streams in which to breed, and some also provide refuge for white-clawed crayfish, a seriously threatened species of crayfish. Mayflies proliferate chalk streams in late spring. Britain is also home to a pretty magical arachnid rarely found outside these Isles: The water spider lives almost entirely underwater, collecting air on the hair in her legs and tummy which to breathe. She cleverly weaves a sub-aquatic oxygen chamber, allowing her to stay underwater.
Another tremendous British wildlife win in 2024 was the birth of beavers in Britain for the first time in around 400 years. Kits were born in Hampshire, the Cairngorms, Northumberland, Cumbria and even London. In August, the Wildlife Trusts published their ‘Vision for the Return of Beavers to England and Wales’, calling upon the UK Government to support wild beaver reintroductions, which has just this week been accepted by the UK government: a massive win for British biodiversity. Beavers are incomparable landscape architects, with the dams they build and subsequent pools they create helping to alleviate flood risk, capturing carbon and filtering water. Such pools create an entire other ecosystem, allowing species such as otter, water vole, fish, amphibians and birds to thrive.
On World Wildlife Day we’d also like to celebrate our own wildlife wins here at Elmore. Already in 2025, we have seen yellowhammers and Bewick swans. We’ve also seen the return of woodcocks to Elmore, not present for around 40 years. Our winter bird survey showed that the creation of the wetland scrapes as well as the rewilding of the hedgerows has created habitat for a greater diversity of birds, many of whom are threatened in the UK. Similarly, our moth and butterfly survey showed we had 22 rare moths and butterflies making the rewilding land home. Five out of nine threatened bats make Elmore their home, and six threatened mammals thrive here, alongside many not-threatened but equally majestic species.
There is no doubt there is still a lot of work to be done on the state of global nature and wildlife, but with increasing awareness there is hope for a bright future.
