St Luke’s Church Great Crosby
Grounds Project

“to create a place of beauty and a haven for people and wildlife”

6 A haven for wildlife?

Part of our aim is to make St Luke’s church grounds a haven for wildlife.

We are doing this in different ways. We have erected around 25 bird and bat boxes in different parts of the grounds. We have been able to insert a camera into one of the bird boxes and watch blue tits nesting and breeding.

above: making bird boxes and feeders at wildlife activity morning
below: erecting bird boxes, including an ‘owl chimney box’.

We use simple ways to create new wildlife habitat, such as this wildlife tower. We inserted bamboo canes inserted into a gap to provide a nesting place for bees.

We have held annual wildlife activity mornings since 2007, and have organised other opportunities to learn about wildlife. These are wonderful opportunities for creating new habitat and making the grounds attractive to a variety of wildlife.

Making a log pile and a bug ‘hotel’ at our activity mornings

We have planted different gardens which appeal to a variety of wildlife. In autumn 2007, St Luke’s school sowed an annual wildflower meadow on part of our graveyard where refuse had been tipped, at The Northern Road end of our grounds.

St Luke's pupils plant wildflower meadow, and bee covered in pollen on corn marigold

Click here to see other gardens we have created.

Snowdrops and crocuses are excellent early flowers to provide pollen and nectar for insects. We have planted about 15,000 bulbs over the past 4 years. 

We aim to make the grounds a haven for wildlife – is it working?

Neil lives directly next to our grounds, in York Road. He takes a keen interest in wildlife and often visits the grounds to take photos of bees and butterflies. This is what Neil says.

‘There has been a huge increase in the number of insects around the churchyard and this can only be down to the amount of planting of both wild and garden flowers and the way in which the grounds are now managed.

The numbers of common species have also increased but a few new species that were once rare visitors are now year long residents’.

Click here to see some of Neil’s photos of birds and butterflies within the grounds.

Introduction
1 In the beginning
2 Transforming the Grounds
3 Developing Partnerships
4 Publicity and awards
5 Groundforce
6 A haven for wildlife?
7 Outdoor events and services

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This page was last modified on 25 November 2011.