Warburg Nature Reserve

Seasonal highlights

Warburg is home to an incredible range of habitats sheltering thousands of species, and each season there is something interesting to experience.

This is my favourite wild place to come for a walk - you can't match it.

BBOWT member

In spring, the woodland is awash with spectacular bluebells and wood anemones.

In May and June the reserve has a dawn chorus second to none. The wide sunny rides and open glades of chalk grassland are full of summer flowers, including pyramidal orchid and swathes of aromatic wild marjoram and thyme. These are followed by autumn and Chiltern gentians and glorious colours throughout the tree canopy, while down below, an incredible 900 species of fungi grow.

In winter, you can enjoy magical frost along the valley bottom.

Nature Detectives Trail

It's free, it's fun and it's great for all the family!

From the visitor centre families can pick up a special backpack that includes games, trail notes and spotter sheets for wildlife as tiny as beetles and as big as red kites. Children can follow the trail through the woods, the wildlife pond and the grassy glades at their own pace.

Oddities and rarities

Warburg is BBOWT's best reserve for orchids - 15 species have been recorded here, including fly orchid and bird's-nest orchid. In June and July you can see the yellow bird's-nest, a strange leafless plant that grows in some of the darkest parts of the beech wood. Warburg is also wonderful for rare butterflies. Oaks provide food for purple hairstreak caterpillars, while the silver-washed fritillary lays its eggs in bark crevices above violets on the ground below.