Wildlife at our workday 16th April 2016

Friends of Mayow Park organised a gardening session at the Pavilion Triangle beds, not knowing who or what might join us. Two of us had just arrived and were standing by the holly tree when down flew a gold crest. The bird then hovered at the tree ( a bit like a humming bird) and few back into the conifers by our compost bins. Jon had seen the bird and its markings very clearly but was not quick enough to get a photo.
<https://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/g/goldcrest/>


Over the next two hours people made other discoveries: a centipede and a frog in particular. The following photos are from Carol Robinson (CR) and Lumen Silveira (LS)

(CR) what have we found?

                                                                       

(CR) looks like a frog

(LS) Frog taken to a place of safety

After the gold crest and the frog, would we something else? We found a centipede scuttling out the way  of people busy with weeding and planting. 

(AS) Grow Wild wild flower seed pack

(CR) sowing wild flower seeds in our mini meadow

                                                                   

(AS) wild flower mini meadow

More photos and a summary of our Big Dig will be in  the next blog. 

Bird walk 12th April 2015

At 8am on a sunny Sunday 12th April 2015 eleven people gathered for a bird walk round Mayow Park. Our last bird walk in March was a cold and miserable day with few birds but today was much better,  good visibility and plenty of bird song to guide us. The trees are not yet in full leaf, making it easier to spot the birds. Many thanks to Paul Barrett for leading the walk.
Here is a list of birds we saw:

• hedge sparrow/ dunnock (a pair) 
• great spotted woodpecker on tree near tennis court)
• parakeets
• magpies
• song thrush
• wren (pair)
• great tit
• blue tits (particularly in and around the cherry tree in bloom by the rose beds near the Silverdale entrance)
• long tail tits (pair)
•  robins
• starlings
• wood pigeons
• stock doves
• chaffinch male (two in different places)
• blackbirds (pair)
• jay (pair)
• crow
• herring gulls (flying overhead)
• mistle thrush
• nuthatch (pair) in rockery area in front of bowls site

These photos show some of the trees where birds were present though the camera did not get to shoot them. The third photo shows  two parakeets at a hole where they are nesting.

we saw birds in these two oaks

Plenty of blue tits in this blossoming cherry tree near rose beds

Can you see the parakeets half way up the right hand trunk?

male chaffinch somewhere in this tree

Activities weekend 14th & 15th March 2015

The weekend of 14th & 15th March will see two events arranged with the friends of Mayow Park.

On 14th March Nature's Gym volunteers will work to tidy up the Triangle beds and lay more wood chip on paths.  Nature's Gym volunteers have helped us in Mayow Park over the past few years, originally planting bulbs around the Dawn Redwood tree. They also planted the now-established hedgerow along the wall of the bowls cabins in an effort to make that wall less visible.
Come along to say hello or help from 11am to 2pm. Meet near the cafe. Do wear suitable clothes and shoes for gardening work.

On 15th March we will have a bird walk around the park, led by a local amateur ornithologist. You may have heard the birds getting more chatty recently and seen some carrying nest-building materials in the beaks or a robin with a tasty worm. Learn more about the birds of the park.
Meet at 7.30am near the cafe. The walk will finish in time for breakfast at the cafe, should you wish,  and you can be home in plenty of time to celebrate Mother's Day.