Go wild in your park with the RSPB

Aldi & RSPB Wild Parks- David Broadbent 

• RSPB Connecting with Nature report revealed that only one in five children are connected with nature and are not spending a healthy amount of time outside.
• The RSPB and ALDI have today launched the Wild Parks project aimed at getting families to take a step closer to nature by discovering the wild side of their city.
• Families will be able to join an RSPB expert in parks across Liverpool throughout the summer.

 

With the amount of time children and families are spending outside in nature in decline, Europe’s largest conservation charity and discount supermarket ALDI, are challenging families to get out and go wild in their local city park this summer with the RSPB.

The RSPB Connecting with Nature report revealed that children in the UK were missing out on a wealth of mental and physical benefits from not spending enough time outside, with only one in five having a healthy connection to nature.

To encourage more children and their families to take a step closer to nature the RSPB has launched Wild Parks aimed at getting people to uncover the wild side of their city.

From now until September, families will be able to join an RSPB expert in parks across Liverpool for a range of fun and engaging activities aimed at helping families take their first steps on their own wild adventure. There are a number of activities on offer ranging from minibeast safaris and scavenger hunts to bioblitzing and national treasure hunts, which are all free and do not require pre-sign up.

Mary Breeze, RSPB Wild Parks Family Events Officer for Liverpool, said: “Families gain so much from being outside exploring and discovering nature. Summer is the perfect time to get outside and connect with the natural world. You don't have to travel far from home to embark on your wild adventure; there is loads of wildlife just waiting to be discovered in your local park. From bugs to butterflies, hedgehogs to house sparrows – it’s always a thrill to see what wildlife is making its home there.

“Getting outside and discovering nature is important whether your motivation is happy healthy children, memorable family time or to see our towns and countryside richer in nature. The opportunity to connect with nature should be a part of every child’s life and the RSPB Wild Parks project is here to help every family to explore the wild side of their city.”

Wild Parks also offers the opportunity for families to start their own wild adventure at home with the RSPB Wild Challenge. With 24 activities to choose from, the Wild Challenge will take you from your own back garden to exploring wildlife in towns, cities, woodlands and even the coast. Participants can then log their achievements on the Wild Challenge website in order to collect their bronze, silver and gold awards.

The RSPB’s ambition is for the Wild Challenge to help more families across the country reap the benefits of spending time outside in nature. Research has shown that children who have a healthy connection to nature are more likely to benefit from higher achievement at school, better mental and physical health, and develop stronger social skills.

Jonathan Neale, Joint Managing Director of Corporate Buying at Aldi, said: “We’re proud of what our partnership with the RSPB has achieved so far, and are pleased to help promote the importance of safeguarding the environment, while helping families get closer to nature through this new Wild Parks initiative.” 

For further information about park events happening near you, visit www.rspb.org.uk/wildparks

To start your own wild adventure, visit www.rspb.org.uk/wildchallenge

Saturday 3 June

Wild Parks - Stanley Park

Sunday 4 June

Wild Parks - Newsham Park

Wednesday 7 June

Wild Parks - Wildlife Workshop - Stanley Park

No permit required

No permit required!

This was taken over the weekend at Stanley Park in Blackpool.

'Caught this fellow', thinks he' above the law! (Which he is!)

Chris Melia.

And so ends the voting of the Liverpool watch - RSPB Liverpool's BGBW

Thanks to all who sent in their recordings 

A total of 21 gardens and 1 park were scrutinised.

SPECIES	NO’ OF GARDENS SEEN IN	TOTAL NO’S OF  SPECIES SEEN	RANKING By no’s seen	RANKING By gardens found
BLACKBIRD	20	50	1 J	3
MISTLE THRUSH	1	1	15 J	20 J
WREN	7	7	9	15 J
BLUE TIT	20	42	1 J	4
GREAT TIT	17	38	2	5
COAL TIT	6	7	10 J	15 J
LONG TAILED TIT	3	5	13 J	15
ROBIN	16	22	3	10
BLACKCAP	3	3	13 J	18
STARLING	8	33	8 J	7
DUNNOCK	12	17	5	12
HOUSE SPARROW	8	52	8 J	2
FERAL PIGEON	6	61	10 J	1
WOODPIGEON	14	26	4	8
COLLARED DOVE	7	8	9	14
GOLDFINCH	9	35	7	6
CHAFFINCH	6	16	10	13
CHIFFCHAFF	1	1	15 J	20 J
JAY	5	7	11	15 J
JACKDAW	4	18	12 J	11
MAGPIE	11	25	6	9
CROW	3	6	13 J	16
RING NECKED PARAKEET	1	4	15 J	17 J
NUTHATCH	1	1	15 J	20 J
GT SPOTTED WOODPECKER	2	4	14 J	17 J
KESTREL	1	1	15 J	20 J
PIED WAGTAIL	1	1	15 J	20 J
GREY WAGTAIL	1	1	15 J	20 J
LESSER BLACK BK GULL	2	2	14 J	19
BLACK HEADED  GULL	1	1	15 J	20 J
HERRING GULL	1	1	15 J	20 J
GREY SQUIRREL	3	4
CATS	2	2
MONTY ADELIE PENGUIN	1	1

Once again the curse of the bird watch would appear to have fallen,  in that the majority of our watchers reported  -

‘Sadly it was one of the quietest days in the garden for a while’,   ‘  the birds were mostly staying away from my garden too’ ,  ‘ they all decided to stay away despite all the lovely food’ ,  ‘Mine was pretty pathetic,’  ‘ Where did all our birds go?’ ‘ Did they know about the Big Garden Bird watch and went on a go-slow?’

And for one particular unlucky individual ,

Poplar demise - K Appleton

Settling down in a comfy chair, plate of hot buttered toast and a nice steaming cuppa, binoculars count sheet and pen ready for the hour  -Then Calamity, a buzzsaw noise from next door’s garden,  here was  a team of tree surgeons  taking down two one hundred ft  Populars. Oh no. If I was a bird I would vacate the area, so for mitigating circumstances there was no point in waiting around!  Poor Keith. 

Watch out  - K Appleton

(On a plus point he did share with me this photo he took of a Giant Gull at Crosby!)

To be fair, there were a few positives,  ‘ delighted to see that 'my' woodpecker turned up’, ‘ I had a lucky day’. ‘ finally, on the stroke of the hour, the blackcap!’, ‘The lady at the back encourages the gulls by putting out bread for them and the jackdaws like it too - hence the large numbers.Happy birding!’

Comparing our mini watch to last years, we had more visiting blackcaps, no winter thrushes, parakeets have crept in  and Jays and Jackdaws have arrived big time- something I've noticed myself in the last couple of year here in west derby and yes they were missing when I did my count!.

All differences I guess could be down to weather and new recorders/their garden locations.

http://liverpoolrspb.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/a-battered-big-garden-birdwatch.html

Remember in a world bereft of birds even a magpie would be welcome!

For those of you who have enjoyed taking part in the big garden birdwatch and would like to record more, please consider joining the BTO garden birdwatch , this will involve you recording your birds every week and uploading them to the BTO. The count includes other nature sightings such as insects & mammals and also records the type of food you put out, more recently they have included your sightings of diseased & dead specimens.

 http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw

Blackpool has secured a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant of almost £330,000 to undertake one of the biggest green space projects the town has seen in many years.

Marton Mere

Blackpool Council, The Conservation Volunteers, Blackpool Environmental Action Team (BEAT) Nature Watch group and Bourne Leisure are teaming up to develop a new visitor centre, build new and renovate existing bird hides and carry out a whole host of environmental improvements at Marton Mere Local Nature Reserve.

Marton Mere is the only designated Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) within the town and is nationally recognised for its bird populations.

It also supports a number of other regionally important species such as otters, dragonflies, butterflies and orchids.

The funding will help safeguard the variety and quality of site’s ecosystems and biodiversity and make the reserve more accessible.

A project manager will also be allocated to the reserve to oversee the works and encourage the local community to get involved as well as develop volunteer and education programmes.

The three year project is set to begin in January 2014 and volunteers are now being urged to get involved.

Cllr Graham Cain, Blackpool Council’s cabinet member for leisure and tourism, said: “Securing this funding will help to safeguard, protect and improve Marton Mere for decades to come.

“As well as providing an important habitat for wildlife including rare species, it is also an extremely positive educational and ecological resource for Blackpool.”

Kath Godfrey, from The Conservation Volunteers, said: “People often don’t realise there is an incredible eco-system and wildlife habitat right here on the doorstep in Blackpool.

“What we want to do now we’ve secured the funding is work together with the local community, including everyone from schools to community groups, to help improve it.

“We’ll be reaching out to local groups to ask for their input and I hope lots of people will want to get involved in this very exciting project.”

And Sara Hilton, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund North West, added:  “Today’s HLF support will help protect and enhance the wealth of natural heritage, including many rare species, at Marton Mere.

“As the largest green space in Blackpool, this project will not only help boost the area’s biodiversity but by developing the site as an educational resource, local people and visitors will have a fantastic range of opportunities to get involved and take care of this important landscape for many years to come.”

As well as the new visitor centre – which Bourne Leisure have agreed to be sited on the fringe of the Marton Mere Holiday Village site – and improvements to the hides, there will also be a whole host of other work taking place.

Entrances will be upgraded and made more welcoming and the footpath network will be refurbished to create safe and secure access for visitors and enable wheelchair access.

A significant amount of specialist reed, scrub and grassland habitat management work will take place as well as the creation of special feeding and nesting habitats for waders and skylarks.

Vegetation clearance and pond works will also take place, helping to restore former orchid habitats and create better conditions for amphibians to flourish.

A comprehensive range of new education and training programmes as well as an interesting programme of events, will also be funded from the grant.

For more information on how you can get involved, email Lisa Foden, Stanley Park & Parks Development Manager atlisa.foden@blackpool.gov.uk/ tel: 01253 477477 or Kath Godfrey, Area Manager at k.godfrey@tcv.org.uk/ tel: 07764 655711.