Bats

Apart from humans, dogs and hedgehogs, there is another mammal that likes to visit us.

Our garden is the ideal place to watch bats flying against the dusk sky. It is especially designed to attract insects and as a result attracts bats hunting for food.

Come just as the sun goes down, find yourself a bench and it won't be long before you see them darting through the sky feeding on the insects and moths.

This photograph is a common pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) flying through Regent's Park.

There are many myths surrounding bats in particular that they are blind and the other is they get caught in your hair! Neither is accurate and you have nothing to worry about. They are keen to leave you alone while they search for food.

Bats do not make nests, but choose various places throughout the year to roost. Some prefer hollow trees, others caves, some use both at different times. Many shelter in buildings, behind hanging tiles and boarding, or in roof spaces. Bats are clean and sociable animals and spend many hours grooming themselves.

For several weeks in summer, female bats choose somewhere warm to gather in a maternity roost.

Here they have their babies, staying until the young are able to fly and feed themselves. A bat mothernormally has only a single baby in a year, and not always every year.

In August the young bats are around six to eight and begin to catch insects for themselves and no longer need their mothers’ milk. The summer maternity colonies begin to disperse and bats may move to autumn mating roosts.

Bats are often found roosting in houses, both modern and old. You may realise that you have bats roosting in your house during the summer months, when they are most likely to be active. If you do think you have bats, call the Bat Helpline (0845 1300 228) and ask for a copy of our ‘Living with bats’ booklet, which gives advice and information for roost owners.

It is illegal to harm or disturb bats, or deliberately alter their roost sites without first seeking advice – call the Bat Protection Trust Helpline (above) for more information. Bats need everyone’s help and protection. For more information about Bat Walks, supporting bat conservation and what to do if you find an injured bat, visit www.bats.org.uk

What a difference a year makes.......

Regular visitors to the garden and this blog will remember that last year we did some planting on the lake bank near the York Bridge. You can check out the entry for the 9th April 2008 to see the boggy mess!

A year later the once mud flat mess is filled with life. The rich plant life provides shelter for the birds, attracts an array of insects and maybe brightens a once dull corner of the lake.

The Garden is currently filled with Great Tits, many of them young birds that hatched this year. At one point today there were 20 sitting in the trees taking turns to gorge on the feeders will fill with nuts and seeds.

Next time you visit our garden, take a seat and within a minute or two watch the garden come to life.

Attention Geocachers!

A bit of help for 'geocachers' visiting the Wildlife Garden!

Curious? Visit www.geocaching.com

Hercules the hedgehog

The main aim of the Regent’s Park Wildlife Garden is to provide a safe and friendly environment for people to visit and wildlife to flourish.

Our non-intrusive gardening policy avoids the use of chemicals wherever possible, to use native plants that need little water to avoid draining precious resources and enrichment that includes a pond and bog to further the biodiversity of the garden.

Much of it is left to grow wild to provide cover for birds, to encourage butterflies and hopefully a safe haven for hedgehogs.

While we have seen plenty of birds,bats,dragonflies, butterflies, insects and moths, hedgehogs have never been seen in our garden even though Regent’s Park is the only park in London that has them. As nocturnal creatures, the chances of ever seeing them were remote!

That all changed yesterday. While doing some routine work, we discovered a baby hedgehog had fallen into a well. He was covered in mud and had no way of escaping. Fortunately, using a very thick pair of gloves, we were able to pull him out into safety.

Although covered in thick mud, it was clear that with some quick action, his chances of survival were good, so two volunteers rushed him off to a vet who deals with wild animals in distress.

After being cleaned up and given a tasty meal consisting of wet cat food, he was given the all clear this morning to return.

Once again, two volunteers went to Wood Green, collected the hedgehog and brought him back to the Park.

We’re pleased to report that Hercules was released back into a secluded area of the park and after a few seconds of getting his bearings, he dashed under cover for some well earned rest.

All the volunteers learnt a lot in 24 hours about hedgehogs!

The latin name is Erinaceus and our own British hedgehog is scientifically known as Erinaceus europaeus; it is the same species that occurs throughout most of the continent of Europe. In Britain it is found almost everywhere except some of the Scottish Islands, but tends to be scarce or absent from wet areas and pine forests. Uplands and mountainsides are not popular, probably because they lack both suitable food and suitable nesting places. Hedgehogs are well established in our urban habitat and can, somewhat surprisingly, survive very well in our cities, making extremely good use of cemeteries, railway land, wasteland and both public and private gardens.

They are a protected species and it is an offence to deliberately harm them. They are also in decline and need all the help and support they can get. If you are interested in doing your bit, whether in with hedgehog friendly gardening, or supporting the charities that work hard to look after them we found these organisations helpful:

http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/ proved to be a valuable resource as well as http://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/ We’d also like to thank J F Staton and his assistant for caring for Hercules for absolutely no charge. If you live in North London and need any veterinary help, then give them a call on 020 8888 4523

Live in a London flat?

Visitors to our Wildlife Garden often tell us how they wished they lived in a house with a garden rather than in a flat.

The good news for the many Londoners (or any city dweller in fact) is that if you live in an apartment, attracting birds is fairly easy.

All you need is a stick-on bird feeder which you can purchase from the RSPB online site, fill it with tasty food and within a few days you should get lots of feathered visitors.

Volunteer Darren says 'It took a while for the birds to discover the feeder, but once they know it's there, providing the food is good quality, they will come back for more. The most frequent visitor is the Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) who love to gorge themselves on sunflower seeds. (This photo is the feeder on my window). I've tried mixed of food and discovered they don't like it (they toss the non sunflower element to one side for the pigeons!) and niger seed (which they love but it causes a terrible mess!).'

'The record I have so far is 18 goldfinches! Two perched on the feeder, three hanging on the wall waiting patiently and the others sitting on the tv aerials of the houses opposite my flat.

I also get the occasional Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great tit (Parus major) but Goldfinches are by far my favourite visitors!'

Foxgloves

Foxgloves have started to appear in the Wildlife Garden and most of the trees are now looking fantastic in their full glory. Pop in and enjoy the colour!

The newt has a new hair cut....

Issac has a new hairstyle.....come visit him soon!

Butterflies

Today's Guardian newspaper has an interesting feature on the decline of Britain's butterflies.

We have lots of butterflies visiting us at the Regent's Park Wildlife Garden largely due to the plants we select to attract them. We also leave an area of nettles that attracts tortoiseshell and red admirals.

If you have a garden, you can do your bit by planting buddleia, ice-plant and michaelmas daisy. If you only have a window-box, try lavender.

You can read the Guardian article here: http://tiny.cc/W5ZJg

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/

Spring continues!

The Wildlife Garden is blooming marvellous at the moment! The blossom looks gorgeous, the bog is flowering and attracting lots of bees and the frog spawn has hatched and tadpoles have been spotted enjoying the pond.

There is plenty of bird activity too. A woodpecker can be heard all day long...the tapping must be giving him a headache! There are plenty of finches and tits (blue, long-tail and great) to be seen as well and the herons pop in from time to time.

The Garden is open to all during day-light hours and offers peace and quiet from the madness of our great city, so pop in and enjoy it soon.

Soundbench

The wildlife garden has an interesting new addition...an interactive soundbench!

Take a seat to hear the following tales from the local community on how our parks are such special places

Hey, this is what we did

You don't have to be in the country

Here and in my country

Nothing beautiful left

Our Royal Parks

Listen out for special guest Theo Walcott!

Wild in the Parks would like to thank the following people for their wonderful contributions to the projects community wildlife garden soundbench: St. Augustine's CE High School, Uxendon Manor School, Brent Asian Women’s Resource Centre, Theo Walcott, Louise Clark, Jacqueline Weir, Anna Chrempinska, Odonelle, Nadia Penn, Mahmoud Elhaj, Lindy Leonce, Rebecca and Alison, Rachel Fancy, Catriona Corfield, Patrick Nicholson and The British Library.
Also a big thank you to RSPB and The Royal Parks for making it all possible and of course everyone else who participated and helping to make the project such a success

Daffs

Daffodils enjoying the sunshine in the wildlife garden.

Spring has sprung

After what feels like a very long winter, signs of the new season have appeared in the garden. Daffodils everywhere, birds are nesting and we had our first frog sighting of the year!

Can you spot the frog?

Happy New Year!

All the team here at the Regent's Park Wildlife Garden wish you a very happy new year.

Don't forget during these freezing nights and days to ensure your birds have access to plenty of food and water. Fresh water freezes making it difficult for our birds to survive, so providing them with a fresh supply, in a safe place will help them get through the day. For more information about feeding birds during the winter visit www.rspb.org.uk