Wildlife Watch Walk 20/12/2022
This month’s Wildlife Watch Walk was a very brief and shortened walk due to time pressures in the run up to Christmas. However, this didn’t impede the number of bird species that were seen & heard.
As we left the Jenkinson Garden, where the spring bulbs are starting to peak through, a red kite flew above us. Entering the woodland path, we observed a female blackbird along with a number of blue tits. As we walked above the woodland garden, we spotted a number of wood pigeon, a buzzard soaring above the meadow and a chaffinch, along with a robin who seemed to be following us.
The Bishop’s Pond was back to its normal capacity. A moorhen and 2 male mallards were on the pond. It had been reported to us the previous week that we’d had a visitor from North America, a female ring-necked duck had been spotted along with a group of tufted ducks on the pond. Unfortunately, the staff & volunteers weren’t fortunate enough to see them. The meadow, though very wet under foot, was still walkable and there was very little water in the ha-ha. Being able to look back at the parkland from the meadow gave us the opportunity to assess the tree canopy and be able to spot wildlife, especially birds, that we couldn’t see from the pathways. All the deciduous trees had now lost their leaves, except for a few branches of beech who were clinging on to some of theirs. Most of the berries had gone, though we could see some berries left on the variegated holly along the ha-ha and rosehips along the pond fence. These were being fed on by great tits, a bullfinch and a male and female blackbird. Along the ha-ha we saw & heard a mistlethrush, a wren and a number of gnats hovering above the ha-ha! Whilst walking back along the lower path, we saw that there was still a great deal of interesting fungi on a number of the logs and tree stumps.
We finished the walk in the walled garden where we saw some robins and blackbirds feasting on the windfall apples and the new compost on the beds. While we were in there, we observed a buzzard being attacked by a group of crows above the meadow and a group of 3 Canada geese flew overhead.
Wildlife Watch Walk December 2022
Posted: 10/01/2023 by Ffiona Jones
Wildlife Watch Walk 20/12/2022
This month’s Wildlife Watch Walk was a very brief and shortened walk due to time pressures in the run up to Christmas. However, this didn’t impede the number of bird species that were seen & heard.
As we left the Jenkinson Garden, where the spring bulbs are starting to peak through, a red kite flew above us. Entering the woodland path, we observed a female blackbird along with a number of blue tits. As we walked above the woodland garden, we spotted a number of wood pigeon, a buzzard soaring above the meadow and a chaffinch, along with a robin who seemed to be following us.
The Bishop’s Pond was back to its normal capacity. A moorhen and 2 male mallards were on the pond. It had been reported to us the previous week that we’d had a visitor from North America, a female ring-necked duck had been spotted along with a group of tufted ducks on the pond. Unfortunately, the staff & volunteers weren’t fortunate enough to see them. The meadow, though very wet under foot, was still walkable and there was very little water in the ha-ha. Being able to look back at the parkland from the meadow gave us the opportunity to assess the tree canopy and be able to spot wildlife, especially birds, that we couldn’t see from the pathways. All the deciduous trees had now lost their leaves, except for a few branches of beech who were clinging on to some of theirs. Most of the berries had gone, though we could see some berries left on the variegated holly along the ha-ha and rosehips along the pond fence. These were being fed on by great tits, a bullfinch and a male and female blackbird. Along the ha-ha we saw & heard a mistlethrush, a wren and a number of gnats hovering above the ha-ha! Whilst walking back along the lower path, we saw that there was still a great deal of interesting fungi on a number of the logs and tree stumps.
We finished the walk in the walled garden where we saw some robins and blackbirds feasting on the windfall apples and the new compost on the beds. While we were in there, we observed a buzzard being attacked by a group of crows above the meadow and a group of 3 Canada geese flew overhead.
Category: Monthly Wildlife Watch, Wildlife