Wow what a great summer we’ve had here! The weather has been fantastic and we’ve had lots of activities going on at the park.
After the success of their Easter shows, we welcomed back Mad4Animals for another of their brilliant live shows! The laughter and cheering coming from the marquee told us kids and their families were having a blast meeting all of their fascinating and exotic animals. We also welcomed back The Falcons Crest and their stunning birds of prey every Wednesday. Delighted visitors were able to view these beautiful birds, chat to their keepers and even hold a bird of their choice for a unique photo opportunity. Craig from Surviving Wild Bushcraft was also back with his popular archery sessions every Monday. Our rangers led a range of free activities too throughout the school holidays including a flower bashing craft (lots of banging, lots of smiles!), moth trap unveiling, nature table, pond dipping and sand lizard feeding. It’s been wonderful to engage with our visitors about our fabulous wildlife, even inspiring a few future rangers!
With so much going on and lots of people visiting the park, we were very happy to open up an overflow parking area. This has provided us with much needed extra parking spaces and cut queuing times into the park.
The clear, warm evenings have provided the perfect weather for our Bat Discovery walks led by our rangers and local bat expert. The bats certainly put on a brilliant show including common and soprano pipistrelles and serotines.
Out on the heath, visitors have been spotting lots of wildlife on their walks including smooth snakes, adders, slow worms, toads and common and sand lizards. Towards the end of August, visitors have also started spotting fungi in the wooded areas, a sign that autumn is on its way.
Our rangers have been working very hard this month to provide a varied and exciting range of events and activities, keep the park and facilities clean and tidy and provide assistance and a warm welcome to our increased numbers of visitors. It’s a lot of work but seeing everyone having such a great time here makes it worth it. We haven’t neglected our habitat management duties either with pond clearing, fencing and invasive species management still keeping us busy.
We’ve had a brilliant summer but now that the weather is starting to turn we are looking ahead to autumn and wonders the new season will bring.