Signs of winter......

It may have been a beautifully mild and sunny day, but the Wildlife Garden has hints of the season looming!

The end of autumn and winter looms!

19th November was a beautiful morning in the Wildlife Garden.

The sun was shining through the autumnal leaves, the birds were gorging on the food we supply preparing for the winter ahead and the volunteers cleared the left over summer detritus from the flower beds and the pond.

There was plenty of activity on the bird front too.

We have three squirrel proof bird feeders. Two contain sunflower seeds and one is filled with peanuts. Over the year, we've noticed that the birds we have in the garden prefer the sunflowers seeds!

Feeder one is always the first on the route for our birds. It attracts all kinds of tits, chaffinches and the occasional squirrel!

Feeder two is very close to feeder one and that contains the nuts. However, once feeder one is empty, the birds fly beyond the pond to feeder three (filled with sunflower seeds) to empty that! Once that has all gone, they will begrudgingly eat the nuts.

As one of the volunteers filled the seeds, the birds immediately boycotted the nut feeder and queued up for their turn at the seed. As this picture taken on Wednesday morning shows, sunflower seeds are very popular indeed.

As the colder days loom and natural food becomes scarcer, it's time to ensure you have plenty of bird food on hand for the birds that live in and around your garden. If you don't have one, think about buying a window feeder.

It may take a few days or even a couple of weeks to attract them, but once your local birds realise the feast you are offering is too difficult to resist! Buy your food from a reputable retailer. Haith's and the RSPB both offer excellent selections!

More summer memories!

Summer remembered.....

It was a spectacular summer in the Wildlife Garden this year.

An array of colour burst into bloom at various times of year and we attracted many wild visitors including bats, bees, heron, blue/great tits, goldfinches, frogs and the occasional human too!

Enjoy our look back at the year........

Autumn is on the way.

Visitors to the Wildlife Garden will see that many of the plants are turning to seed and coming to the end of their flowering season. The grey squirrels continue to be a nuisance digging up our beds as the pointlessly bury food!

Now is the time to start looking after your garden birds with extra food and water. They will be preparing for the onset of winter, so stock up on your seeds, give the feeders a good clean and set them up in sheltered areas away from any danger.

If you live in a flat, you can buy feeders that stick to your window and they will provide a good food source for the birds and hours of entertainment for you!

More about ponds

Even a small pond the size of a washing up bowl can be useful for wildlife. The important thing is to have some plants that allow animals to hide and also the herbivores to eat. A shallow edge which allows animals to climb in and out is also valuable. If you have your pond in a tub make sure you put some sort of step in it for the same purpose.

A stone can be a useful place for a frog or other creature to hide in your pond and a mix of plants that float on the surface and emerge from the water is ideal. Frogs are wonderful animals to encourage into your garden because they may eat pests such as slugs for you. As they can spend very little of the year in water make sure then that you have some vegetation where they can hide and some stones or logs where they can overwinter.

Mating on the bog!

The Regent's Park Wildlife Garden features a pond and bog to encourage insects, amphibians and birds.

Over the past weeks we've spotted a number of different types of dragonfly.

Today dragonflies were flirting with each other in and around the bog!

Ponds and bogs are an extremely important feature in any garden to encourage biodiversity, so if you have space in yours, think about installing one.

Rain!

Following on from the last post about how important water is, last week there was some welcome rain for the garden. It may seen to us that it wasn't long since it had rained but plants grow best if the soil has a top up of rain every 2-3 weeks.

At the moment the weather is tempting out the butterflies in the garden, though there are still very few of them around compared to some other years. This morning a speckled wood and small white were flying in the garden, with many bees finding nectar in the raised bed.

Water in the garden

Water is very important to animals at this time of year. The pond in the wildlife garden is providing a source of water for birds to drink from.

If you watch, you will also see damselflies flying and hovering across the pond, as well as laying their eggs on some of the foliage that emerges from the water. Pond skaters can be seen skimming across the top, tracking down flies and other small insects that may fall onto the surface.

During a drier period of weather such as we are having now, we are having to keep the adjacent bog topped up with water. Fortunately we can link a hose to the main lake and use this to ensure the bog plants have enough water to live!

Summer is here!

A few months ago, the Regent's Park Wildlife Garden looked drab and dull as it recovered from a wet and windy winter!

A visit to the garden now reveals a completely different picture.

The garden is buzzing with life - dragonflies, great tits, bumble-bees, honey bees and bush crickets were all spotted within a few minutes of arriving.

If you have a moment or two, come and pay us a visit!








Bumble Bee......























Colour fills the garden......











Every shade......














Check out the blog from 26/3/08 and look at the same flower bed now......















Strange creatures were also spotted, yet to be identified!

Some of the plants in the wildlife garden were chosen because they attract moths - such as honeysuckle and evening primrose. Many of these flowers are scented during the evening when most moths start searching for nectar.

Across the country moths are heavily in decline and Butterfly Conservation Trust has set up a garden moth count. Why not join in during June, whether in your own space or in the Community Wildlife Garden?

http://www.mothcount.brc.ac.uk/default.aspx

Spring evening

The sun drenched the garden this evening, making this peaceful haven in the middle of London a delight to be in. A Great Crested Grebe paid a visit, as did an unwelcome squirrel. Fortunately, the food was safe, for the moment at least!

Wild moments in the park.

Spring continues to try and do its thing battling with the unpredictable weather.

The Garden looked stunning in the sunshine with plants flowering and trees in blossom.

Spring colour

The Regent's Park/RSPB Wildlife Garden was awash with colour and wildlife today as spring attempted to take hold once again.

Mud mud, glorious mud.

Royal Park staff were joined by RSPB volunteers today to plant reeds in the lake by the Wildlife Garden.

Sadly one volunteer got stuck in the mud but was soon rescued and given a less sticky assignment!

Once the reeds grow over the summer, they will provide cover for an abundance of wildlife.

Spring is taking hold in the Garden with lots of activity from our resident robins, blue and great tits, woodpeckers, coots and of course mallard ducks.

Blossom is also starting to appear on our cherry trees and all the hard work over winter is beginning to pay off.

Volunteers also checked out the garden for a 'Geocache' spot. If you're new to 'geocaching', put simply it's a digital treasure hunt using sat-nav systems. Sounds complicated? It's not! All you need is a handheld GPS unit (like the one in your phone perhaps) and off you go.

Regent's Park is full of 'treasure' - check out www.geocaching.com for more information and join the hunt. You may even find some RSPB collectables if you do!

Talking of treasure, don't forget to visit the tennis cafe next to the RSPB Wildlife Garden. Not only can you rest your heavy legs while sipping a latte, but you can put £1 in the RSPB box and get yourself an RSPB badge.

Led up the garden path!

The Regent's Park Wildlife Garden was closed today while the Park team laid the new pathway through the garden.

The path will allow visitors to get an excellent view of the bird feeders, ponds, flowers and plants without having to stray to far on muddy, rainy days.

The amount of wildlife attracted to the garden continues to rise with finches, woodpeckers, long tail, blue and great tits all visiting with great regularity.

If you are interested in learning more, here are two events for your diary:

24th April Guided walk around the Wildlife Garden - 12.30 -1.15pm
Find out more about wildlife gardening and the wildlife that lives in Regent's Park Community Wildlife Garden. To book please phone 020 7935 7430. The meeting point will be given on booking.

26th April Pots, plants and paints
Community Wildlife Garden 11.30am - 3.30pm
Family event - plant your own seeds, make recycled flower pots and decorate your pots with paint. A bumblebee trail will be running at 12pm and 2pm. 020 7935 7430 for more information.

If you can't make either of those dates, check this site for more events throughout the year.

Preparing for Spring!

Gill and Jill, two RSPB volunteers worked hard today preparing the beds for the spring. You can also see the newt in the background with further protection added to keep the pigeons off!

Darren was busy adding mulch to the flower-beds.

The signs of Spring continue - many of the trees are now budding, the birds are busy nesting and another array of daffodils have flowered.

The Blue Tits and Great Tits continue to use the feeders and the Woodpecker pops in now and again too.

If you're planning to visit the garden, there is a cafe less than a minute away, so grab a cuppa, buy an RSPB badge then make your way to the Garden and wait patiently for the wildlife to arrive!

Seeding the Newt!

After a damp winter and spring, the Newt has been reseeded and hopefully will be sprouting soon.....in the meantime it's out of bounds to both visitors and pigeons! The rest of the garden however is still open for all to enjoy.

Birds on the seed feeder

The photos above of a robin, and blue tit and great tit on the seed feeder were taken by one of the garden volunteers, Darren, today. The feeders are still proving popular and one of the nest boxes looks like it is being explored as a potential home by blue tits. See the photos below - also taken by Darren.

Blue tit exploring the nest box in the wildlife garden

Signs of spring

This time of year, look out for frog spawn in ponds and other water bodies. It's warm enough now for frogs to be active after their winter hibernation and laying their eggs or spawn in water. Last week, frog spawn appeared in our pond in the wildlife garden so excitingly in only its first full spring, there will be tadpoles swimming around in it.

Birds have been collecting twigs and leaves for their nests for a couple of weeks now. Different bird species lay their eggs at different times within spring, timed so the baby birds have the best chance of survival. The herons in the park have been on their nests since January. Blue tits on the other hand lay their eggs in late April or early May in order that the chicks hatch when there are most caterpillars around to feed them.

Beams in the wildlife garden

Two giant oak beams were lifted into place to finish the entrance to the wildlife garden. They have come all the way from some fallen down trees in Richmond Park in southwest London.

The garden is coming to life again now, but the recent frosts have slowed the growth of the new shoots. However the warm weather due towards the end of this week should help them along. This is one of the best times to look for birds in the park as they are singing loudly and showing themselves off. As the leaves aren't on the trees, they can be seen that much easier.

The garden is open all year round to the public during daylight hours. It is located off York Bridge and is adjacent to the tennis courts.

Big Schools Birdwatch

Over the last 2 weeks, The International Community School has been carrying out the Big Schools Birdwatch in the wildlife garden. They saw 4 blue tits, 3 great tits, 2 jays, 3 carrion crows, 2 wood pigeons and 2 blackbirds.

These results go into the large pool of data that the RSPB has collected over the last 2 weeks not only from schools carrying out the birdwatch in their schoolgrounds or local park, but from the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who send in results from their gardens.

The Big Garden Birdwatch and Big Schools Birdwatch have now collected over 25 years worth of data, identifying trends such as the decline in house sparrow numbers in London.