Wildlife at Tring Park

The chalk grassland in particular is home to rarer butterflies such as dingy and grizzled skipper, which are UK BAP* priority species, while the rare purple emperor can be seen in areas of scrub that buffer the grassland.

Regular visitors

Due to a time of very little grazing on the site prior to Woodland Trust management , the lower slopes and valley bottoms have become very attractive to mice and voles, prompting the return of the barn owl. Kestrels have always found a ready food supply in the park, as does the red kite – a spectacular sight with its 2m wingspan; and in some winters they are joined in the hunt by long-eared owls.

Another regular winter visitor is the meadow pipit, some staying on into the spring to breed. In the woods, many different woodland species can be seen and heard, including all three British woodpeckers, nuthatch, chiffchaff, willow warbler and blackcap.

Edible dormice

Walter Rothschild brought the first six Glis glis (edible dormice) to England in 1902. No-one knows exactly why, but he turned them loose in Tring Park where they spread and bred. Now they are often considered a pest because of the damage they can do to homes, trees and foliage.