Thurlow enjoys a very diverse and interesting wildlife, mainly because of the varied habitats the two villages offer. I deal here with both Thurlows together, since from the point of view of the wildlife (as opposed to the parishioners) the human boundaries are quite arbitrary and, indeed, invisible. The dominant natural feature is, of course, the River Stour. Water is so important to all life that the river is probably the reason Thurlow was founded just here in the first place, and it not only sustains within it many kinds of fish (and interesting invertebrates like the freshwater crayfish), but also attracts a wide range of birds and animals, including of course our star bird, the kingfisher. Thurlow Lake is also a magnet for birds, with its resident ducks, geese, heron and other waterbirds and with many rarer visitors on passage and in winter. We also have arable fields, pasture, copses, woods, meadows, gardens and even (less glamorously) our own little sewage plant , which is an important site for wagtails, warblers and other insect eating-birds attracted by the abundance of flies and by the green sward. All these different environments are like little worlds of their own, with their local inhabitants, habits and cycles and we are lucky indeed to have such a wealth of them.
The bird life is particularly rich. In the last 15 years I have recorded no fewer than 115 different species here, which is a lot for such a small inland village. I've given the complete list at the end of this article, annotated to show whether each is a resident, a seasonal visitor or a vagrant. About 80 of these could be said to be regular, but in addition to the familiar species we do occasionally get a real rarity, like the splendid woodchat shrike which in June 1995 somehow found itself in the hedgerows of Thurlow rather than the olive trees of the Mediterranean.
But for the most part the cycle of seasons has a satisfyingly familiar course. If the year begins with a cold snap there will be an influx of 'winter thrushes', driven south in search of berries and softer ground in particular noisy bands of fieldfares and redwings from Scandinavia. In the hedgerows there will be foraging groups of mixed species long-tailed, great, blue, marsh and coal tits, goldcrests, treecreepers all flocking together as better protection against predators like sparrow hawks and kestrels (both resident here). In our gardens the hungry visitors to the bird table will include not only such familiar residents as the robin, blackbird and song thrush (though this last is getting worryingly scarcer) but also greenfinches, maybe greater spotted woodpeckers and (in recent years) the acrobatic siskins, which are little finches from the pine forests. Meanwhile, if Great Thurlow Lake isn't actually iced over it will be harbouring various winter duck tufted duck, pochard and occasionally teal, gadwall, wigeon or shoveler as well as the resident coot, moorhen and heron. And on the open fields the rooks and wood pigeons will be joined by roving flocks of lapwing, gulls and golden plover.