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

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!