Colston Hall is fortunate to be situated in a quiet, rural location with a wide variety of wildlife right here on our doorstep. A gentle stroll through the garden, along the waymarked paths, and around the fishing lakes will bring you into contact with a wealth of birds and animals.

Kingfishers perched on branches overhanging the lakes, woodpeckers feeding their fledglings, our resident robin perched on its favourite fence post, and song birds outside the Breakfast Room window are regular sights, together with ducks, moorhens, pigeons, rooks and even the occasional heron.

We are very enthusiastic to be taking part in the Suffolk Barn Owl Project, a joint project between Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Suffolk Ornithologists Group. We have two Barn Owl boxes and one little Owl box, and over recent years have seen successfully reared Barn Owl chicks. The chicks are ringed to study dispersal, longevity, and causes of mortality in the local population which has been under threat since the 1930’s largely due to loss of habitat and nest sites.

We are about 20 minutes in the car from RSPB Minsmere and the Suffolk Coast which provide a huge number of wildlife and bird watching opportunities, including bitterns, avocets, shearwaters, cormorants, egrets, terns and grebes.