As autumn turns to winter, many of our heathland species have hunkered down for hibernation or migrated back to warmer climes. But there’s still plenty of life out on the heath.
The fieldfares have arrived and visitors have spotted:
- Dartford warblers
- long tailed tits
- nuthatches
- tree creepers
- chaffinches
- stonechats
These hardy little birds will stick it out even as temperatures plummet.
And plummet they have! It seems that overnight winter has arrived with a bite, leaving stunning, glittering frost across the heath in the early mornings. It’s mornings like these when working at a country park feels like a real blessing. Those feelings can be short lived though when the next minute it’s pouring with rain but that’s the joy of nature- it keeps us on our toes!
The colder months are when the rangers knuckle down on invasive pine tree removal. Just in time for Christmas trees! Ranger Marco and Ranger Kacey selected a beautiful big pine to decorate the Visitor Centre. Children visiting the park have helped us decorate it by colouring in paper baubles to hang on the branches. With the fairy lights up and our little gift shop bursting with perfect presents, the Visitor Centre is looking ready for the festive season!
This month, we've teamed up with Matt and Jonny from Brothers Make, a Bournemouth based company who transform waste plastic into unique, eco-friendly products. They've taken the used plastic ice cream tubs from the cafe, melted them down and metamorphised them into beautiful butterfly keyrings! The blue and silver colouring represents our stunning and rare silver-studded blues. Every one is unique and they are now available to purchase from our gift shop.
Of course, this month saw the return of our ever-popular Pull-a-pine event! Over 250 people attended, pulling up and cutting down invasive Scots pines – at the same time selecting a special one, or two, to take home to decorate for Christmas and posing for pictures in our Santa and Snowman photo frame. Mince pies and hot drinks were served to the accompaniment of festive music around the bonfire. A truly feel-good and much loved eve