Welcome to Barrow
Welcome to the Barrow 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 stories to read more.
Barrow upon Soar
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.
Wild places in this parish
Barrow upon Soar is a large village in the north of Leicestershire and in the Soar Valley. The village lies to the east of the river where it is joined by the Fishpool Brook. The river and surrounding floodplain provides considerable wildlife interest. Another feature of note is the location of British Gypsum which occupied a large area of calcareous land thanks to the gypsum deposits. This supports a range of plants not found very often in other parts of Leicestershire.
Parish Update
Barrow has joined the verge biodiversity project and is working with NatureSpot and the County Council to improve a verge on Cotes Road. This verge will be left unmown during the summer and will be surveyed to identify the wildflowers found there. Read more on our Wild Place page for this site.
Total species seen in this parish:
Wild places
Parishes
Thanks
Thanks to the following for supporting this page:
- Leicestershire County Council
- Barrow upon Soar Parish Council
Recording wildlife in Barrow
We need more wildlife observations from around Barrow. 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.
Banded Demoiselle
The Banded Demoiselle is the UK's largest and possibly most spectacular damselfly. Males are metallic blue with a dark band across the wings, females are metallic green with clear wings. This beautiful image of a male was taken in Barrow along the River Soar by Christine Pochin in 2020.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 580 | 990 | |
| Wildflowers | 176 | 288 | |
| Moths | 137 | 169 | |
| Birds | 50 | 147 | |
| Grasses, Rushes & Sedges | 31 | 46 | |
| Trees, Shrubs & Climbers | 26 | 36 | |
| Slugs & Snails | 21 | 30 | |
| Beetles | 18 | 33 | |
| Butterflies | 17 | 55 | |
| Bugs | 15 | 21 | |
| Hoverflies | 11 | 19 | |
| Mammals | 10 | 20 | |
| Flies | 10 | 10 | |
| Dragonflies and Damselflies | 10 | 51 | |
| Bees, Wasps, Ants | 9 | 14 | |
| Spiders | 6 | 10 | |
| Lichens | 5 | 6 | |
| Fungi | 4 | 4 | |
| Craneflies, Gnats & Midges | 4 | 5 | |
| Ferns & Horsetails | 3 | 4 | |
| Grasshoppers & Crickets | 3 | 3 | |
| Mites, Ticks & Pseudoscorpions | 3 | 4 | |
| Sawflies | 2 | 5 | |
| harvestman (Opiliones) | 2 | 3 | |
| Earwigs | 1 | 1 | |
| Algae, Bacteria, Virus | 1 | 1 | |
| Fish | 1 | 1 | |
| Caddisflies | 1 | 1 | |
| insect - true fly (Diptera) | 1 | 1 | |
| Lacewings & Scorpionflies | 1 | 1 | |
| Amphibians | 1 | 1 | |