Amazing Wildlife here at Flear, from the big to the small

Young Doe on woodland path

Spring is in full swing here on the estate and we're all feeling covered in wildlife, in a good way. We've swallows nesting in the play barn tunnel, brown trout in our stream, Owls in the trees all around the cottages, foxes, deer and badgers in the valley and we have even found space for a large swarm of honey bees that turned up last week, now happy in their own hive under an oak tree in the Orchard, making honey from our wild flowers.Here are two photos of animals here on the estate taken this last week, one big and one small, both amazing in their own respect: This Young Doe is only little but still very inquisitive! One of our guests hid behind a tree when he saw her trotting up the woodland path and was able to get this extraordinary photograph as she approached.The second picture is of one of two species of Oil Beetle strolling around here in our woodland. Oil Beetles are endangered and vanishing from our countryside. This image was also sent to the National Trust to help with an national appeal on sightings of the species.