We never forget how lucky we are that our farm is so abundant in native species. Camping draws a whole new experience to nature spotting as many of the wildlife who either live on the farm or use it as a habitat corridor are nocturnal. Sleeping under the stars gives you the best opportunity to spot these elusive species, particularly at dawn and dusk. Our low noise and light policy ensures we don’t disturb their natural patterns.

Vegetation, mammals, birds, reptiles and insects are all an important part of our ecosystem. So important in fact, we decided it was crucial we supported Buglife as our partner charity, as without pollinators, we wouldn’t be able to grow our crops.

Our low intensity, sustainable farming methods mean that we protect our native hedgerows, we don’t use pesticides or chemical fertilisers, we have a schedule of replanting trees, shrubs and wildflowers to maintain the habitats vital to sustaining healthy populations of flora and fauna. We use grazing methods to ensure areas of the farm are able to re-seed and replenish native species each year.

So how to make the most of your experience in the outdoors? Become a nature spotter! All ages can do this for fun, for education or a really important part is recording your findings to the local Ecological Record Office. These are easy to find online and usually have a facility to log your spots. The Online Recording for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (ORKS) provides an upload point here or you can download their App from the same page which even works without a mobile signal.

Some more Apps we recommend for potential nature spotters are Seek from iNaturalist, Birdtrack from the British Trust for Ornithology, Tree ID from the Woodland Trust, the Big Butterfly Count from Butterfly Conservation and the Nature Finder App from the Wildlife Trust. The Wildlife Trust have also developed the 30 Days Wild App, full of fun ideas of how to make the most of our natural environment.

Little Robin Education is a company we can’t get enough of since its’ inception, just perfect for both the journey and stay of your camping holiday. Their imaginative and high-quality resources are equally engrossing at home for young budding naturalists and are a favourite gift of ours for energetic and enquiring minds. Fantastic flashcards (we love the beach ones!) and mindful moment prompts to take on nature walks, seeds to plant, activity packs and a book club to boot, it really is a treasure trove of delights for parents, carers and little people alike.

Of course, we are more than happy to spend time with you on your visit to show you around our farm and help identify new sights, smells and sounds, in addition to giving top tips for wildlife spotting on site.

We hope to see you soon!