Witherley

Selected parish / Wild Places / Public footpaths / Parish boundaries

To find out more about featured Wild Places in and around the parish (red boundaries on the map), visit the Wild Places page. Contact NatureSpot if you have an idea for any additional Wild Places.

Witherley Parish is a predominantly rural area of west Leicestershire with just four relatively small settlements: Witherley, Ratcliffe Culey, Fenny Drayton and Atterton. The land is flat and traversed by the River Sence, River Tweed and the River Anker. Historically the topography would have meant much of the area was wet and marshy but today most areas are well drained by a network of ditches criss-crossing much of the land. Agricultural activity is divided between arable and livestock pasture.

The Parish has a low coverage by woodland, only 0.54%. A further 0.07 % is mesotrophic grassland and 58% of the Parish is bordered by a water course. However the parish does contain an excellent network of high quality hedges - some of the best in the county. Many are tall, broad, dense and species-rich, often accompanied by a wet ditch and mature trees. There are also a number of wide and species-rich verges along several roads.

2 Spot Ladybird

Only one of our native Ladybirds, the 2 Spot Ladybird, has been adversely affected by the arrival of the Harlequin Ladybird. More...

Total species seen in this parish:

Wild places
Parishes
Thanks

Thanks to Witherley Parish Council for supporting this section.

Verges for wildlife

Parish Councils are being invited by Leicestershire County Council to take over the management of selected road verges in their area in order to improve their value for wildlife. So far, over 50 verges have been adopted and all have been, or will be, surveyed by NatureSpot to find out which species are already growing there. Surveys by NatureSpot have revealed a surprising diversity of flora with an average of over 30 species on each verge. Encourage your parish council to take part! More information about the project can be found here.

Welcome to Witherley

Welcome to the Witherley NatureSpot page which gives local residents the opportunity to find out about, and contribute to, our knowledge of the wildlife in the parish. Just click on the headers of these news stories to read more.

Recording Witherley Wildlife

We would like more wildlife observations from around the parish. So, if you've seen a species you recognise, from a Blue tit to a Bluebell, click on the header to find out what to do.

First for Leicestershire

A rare water snail has been discovered living in Witherley - the first confirmed record for Leicestershire. The Moss Bladder Snail Aplexa hypnorum. It is likely that this species is more widely distributed within the parish given its habitat preference of ditches and temporary water bodies.

Moss Bladder Snail

 

The images and records below are all from the parish/ward and have been submitted by members of the public.

Latest images

The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.

In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.

Latest records

Species group Total no. of species Total no. of records
Total6792564
Wildflowers243954
Trees, Shrubs & Climbers49372
Birds48247
Grasses, Rushes & Sedges48278
Beetles3078
Moths2851
Bugs2748
Flies2347
Bees, Wasps, Ants2050
Butterflies17125
Hoverflies1754
Slugs & Snails1733
Fungi1316
Spiders1024
Mites, Ticks & Pseudoscorpions1017
Lichens915
Craneflies, Gnats & Midges912
Ferns & Horsetails818
Sawflies817
Grasshoppers & Crickets716
Dragonflies and Damselflies724
Mammals528
Woodlice, Crustaceans512
Lacewings & Scorpionflies33
Mosses & Liverworts33
Amphibians23
Fish22
insect - true fly (Diptera)22
Caddisflies22
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