Distance: 2 miles – with plenty of options to make this longer or shorter
Parking: Yes some on road and a massive car park, the parking charge is optional and you can pay online, using your phone or at the payment machines. It is £3 for the day
Family Friendly: Yes
Pushchair/ wheelchair access: Yes
Facilities: Yes, this has a lovely shop and toilets at the start of the walk
I really enjoy walking here, it is beautiful. Even on a busy day you can get around and not feel like you are alone! There is also a lot of biodiversity here.
The paths are all marked and easy to follow, there is a map at the start of the walk, so you an decided where you want to go and how far.
One of my favourite things is the lovely shop, it has so many gorgeous things from essentials for bird watching, to gifts to household items. I could have spent a fortune! It also has a café that serves a variety of drinks and a small selection of snacks. I always think it is nice to treat yourself after a good days walk! The toilets can be found in here too.
Outside the front of the shop there is seating, but you will be joined by a whole load of Canada geese, which I love! They do not try to steal anything and are very used to people, so you can walk past them without any worry.
The centre also run various activities and you can even hire the centre for meetings or parties. They have some ranger activities to get people interested in and connected to the nature all around them! Something I can really get behind!
Identified Species
Little Robert – Geranium robertianum
A lovely little pink flower, with 5 petals which is smaller than the herb Robert and has visible yellow antlers. The stem and leaves have hairs, the ones of the leaves can be felt more than seen. The leaves are palmate to the base with 5 leaflets all lobed and rounded tips.
Canada Goose – Branta canadensis
These geese are tall, with long thin black necks and a white cheek strap that runs from cheek to cheek. They have black heads and a black beak. Their backs are brown with the tips of the feathers being white, which gives the birds a stripped appearance. Their chest and belly is a creamy off white to light brown. Their bottom and underside of the tail is white. Their tails are dark brown with black tips. Their feet are also black.
Canada geese can be found in fields and in large numbers where they will eat seeds and grain.
Canada geese tend to pair for life, and will start mating when they are 4 years old, but will pair up when they are 1. The female will choose the nesting site and will make most of the nest on her own, but her partner will protect her and their nest. The young will often stay with their parents for the first year of their life.
Mute Swan – Cygnus olor
Arguably one of the most recognised birds within the UK. This lovely large bird is completely white, from the top of their head down their long and elegant neck and to their tail. They have an orange beak which has a black knob nearest to the face on the top of the beak, which runs from their eyes to the top of their beak. This can be quite large in some birds. They have a black line that runs from the top of their beak to the tip of their beak.
Their feet are large and orange with webbed toes.
Swans mate for life and this has fostered their image as birds connected to love. As romantic as this is, do not go near a nesting site, as swans are very protective and can become quite aggressive if challenging during mating season.
Cormorant – Phalacrocorax carbo
These were the first birds I ever identified and so they have a special place in my heart. I adore them! Cormorants are large black sea birds, some have black plumage all round and others have white chests and necks. Cormorants have a grey beak, which is slightly curved at the end. They have orange markings nearest their beak and which cheek plumages. This is one way you can tell this bird from a shag.
Cormorants are normally found in land, where shags are found more along the coast.
White Throat – Sylvia communis
The identification of this bird is all thanks to a lovely guy who stopped and helped me whilst I was trying to get a photo of this lovely bird that was quite far away. He could not see it, but knew it was a white throat from its call. Which is something I really need to work on!
This is a lovely very small bird, with a long and musical call. It is brown to light brown on its back and the underside is light brown to cream coloured. It is a distinctive white throat (hence the name) that puffs out when the bird is singing. It has a small beak with a grey top and lighter coloured underside, their faces and heads are also grey to grey brown.
Male whitethroats will arrive before the females ready for mating season to start in April.
Willow Tit – Poecile montanus
I am not 100% certain on this one, but it does look a lot like a willow tit, so I have turned to the BTO for some help on this one and the distinguishing feature is the call, and it is call of the willow tit that I am sure I heard.
This bird is very similar to the marsh tit and really it is only the call that will help to identify them. This bird is small with a brown back and brown wings, a creamy off white to light brown belly. It has a black head and white face and cheeks, with a small patch of black on the chin.
This bird unfortunately has declining numbers and is a conservational concern. So I am over moon I managed to hear and see it.
Black-headed Gull – Chroicocephalus ridibundus
Small water fowl, white plumage with grey wings, a grey to black eye stripe and small black patch on the cheek, an orange bills with black tip, black tail feathers, orange legs and orange webbed feet. After their first winter the males get their black head plumage.
These are loud birds when they call. I think they are adorable and very cheeky!
Coot – Fulica atra
Small water fowl, black plumage all over, with a distinctive white bill and white patch above the bill. The legs are long an black with long toes. The feet have white lines, looking almost like skeleton feet. This is such a wonderful bird. It is easily identified with its black plumage and white face and bill. The coot will be along the edges of the water more commonly, they only swim out for food when they cannot find food along the edge. Coots have long feet and long legs, they do not have webbing like ducks. Their chicks are fluffy little grey/ black things.
Great Tit – Parus major
This is a small garden bird and can often be confused with a blue tit. They are roughly the same size, but the great tit has a distinctive yellow chest with a black line running through the middle. This black line runs up the chest to a patch under the beak. Their beaks are small and black and they have a black head with white cheeks. The black markings run on the underside of the cheeks like strap around their faces.
Their backs are a deep green colour, leading down to blue/ black wings. They have long tails which are also black with some white feathers on the edge and underside.
Carrion Crow – Corvus corone
These are a stunning member of the corvid family. They are easily recognised, although sometimes confused with ravens.
Crows are gorgeous black birds, with all black feathers, black beaks and black eyes. They are smaller than ravens, although large when compared with other corvids.
A gathering of crows is a murder.
Crows are solitary birds, unless they are paired. When they do pair, they will pair for life and have been observed mourning the death of their partner. They are very intelligent, and can recognise human faces, meaning if you are kind to them, they will remember you. They also use basic tools, and have been seen rubbing themselves in ants. The reason is not clear, but it might be a nature insecticide, helping to keep themselves clean. They are very clean birds and will often wash their food before the eat it.
Goldfinch – Carduelis carduelis
These are bright little birds, with their faces being very distinctive. They have bright red plumage on their faces with a black around their beak and down the back of their head and neck. Between this is a white band. Almost making their faces look like a little target. They have a white belly, with light brown flanks. Their back are light brown too.
Their wings have a patch of bright yellow with black and white banded wings below this yellow patch.
They are mainly vegetarians, although will eat aphids in the spring. They eat thistles, with males able to eat from the teasel as they have longer beaks. They tend to flock together and will migrate to the Mediterranean in the winter.
Egyptian Goose – Alopochen aegyptiaca
This bird is absolutely stunning in my opinion. I love its colouration and distinctive eye markings. They have a red/ brown eye ring around each eye, a mottled off white to light brown head, with a red ring around the middle part of their necks. Their plumage on their lower neck is a light brown colour which turns lighter and greyer as it goes around the chest and underside of the bird.
Their wings are a variety of colours from brown to blue, almost looking like a water mark or oil painting type mass of colours across their backs and wings. Their wing tips are black.
They have an unusual white beak with red lining and pink legs and feet.
These birds originate from the Nile in Africa, but have escaped private collection in Europe and America to form a population here too. They like to stay in flocks for protection and will pair up for breeding, but do not remain in the same pairs once mating has finished.
Grey Squirrel – Sciurus carolinensis
This is a well known UK mammal. It has all grey to brown grey fur with a long grey tail that is often upright up its back and curls over itself. They have small rounded ears on the side of its head, and large black eyes on the sides of its head.
Their bellies are a lighter grey to white colour, which extends their full underside.
They are cheeky characters and will happily visit a garden bird feeder, preferring nuts to seeds.
Squirrels make beds called dreys for themselves out of twigs taken from the tree they are resting in, these dreys look very similar to a birds nest. They will make their drey in the space where 2 branches fork, they will also use holes in trees as dreys.
They are diurnal, meaning they are active early in morning and will be active all day.
Creeping Thistle – Cirsium arvense
A lovely thistle that has a complex root system allowing it to spread with easy, and can become a problem in agricultural landscapes. It is tall with slender stems. The flower heads have spines leading up the bracket and a pink to pink purple flower head on the top. The leaves are long and have multiple lobes, each lobe terminates in a spine. The spines do not reach up with the stem.
Hazel – Corylus avellana
Another lovely small deciduous tree. The leaves on the hazel tree are simple and round, with a serrated edge. To tough they are lightly furry and the tips are pointed. The stem and twigs are lined with hairs. This tree was not in seed, but the seeds are small brown woody nuts inside a green (later brown) leaved case which has pointed edges. Leaves arranged in the alternate position, simple leaves with a pointed tip and toothed edge.
Himalayan Balsam – Impatiens glandulifera
This is a beautiful looking flower, but is actually invasive and disposed of by the environment agency. The flowers are almost orchid like, and vary from white to pink They have a bell shaped flowers head with his zygomorphic. Having a rounded large petal on the top and 2 smaller petals curved below. The flower head looks too large for the small delicate stem that holds it up.
The plant is very tall and grows along waterways or in damp conditions.
The leaves are ovate and simple, with red or green toothed edges.
DO NOT transplant this flower, try to grow it in your garden and touch it.
Each plant produces 800 seeds and these seeds can disperse through air and water. It is a non-native invasive species.
Field Bindweed – Convolvulus arvensis
This is a smaller version of the bindweed family. The field bindweed tends to have small trumpet shaped pink and white flowers. The leaves are arrow shaped and ovate. The stems are long and thin and wind around any other plant it is grown with. This is a climbing plant.
Rosebay Willowherb – Chamerion angustifolium
A tall and striking member of the willowherb family. This flower can be identified by the tall arrow shape to the flower head, with pink flowers sprouting from slender stems in a conical shape to the top, where there are flowers yet for form. This plant grows is large clusters and has distinctive flower heads. Each flower head has 4 light pink to purple petal, 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom, with the deep pink sepals visible like another 4 petals. The stigma and stamen hang down from the flower head. The leaves are arrow shaped and grow in a spiral up the stem, terminating when the flowering head starts.
Narrow-Leaved Everlasting-Pea – Lathyrus sylvestris
This is a tall climbing pea, with soft pink flowers. The top petal is a lighter pink with deep pink veins. There are 2 other folded petals that fold round themselves pointing downwards, giving the typical pea shape flower. Leaves are lanceolate and narrow, in pairs on the stem, with tendrils attached to the bracket of the leaves. Leaves are deeply ridged.
Hedge Bindweed – Calystegia sepium
This is a larger member of the bindweed family. It spreads veraciously, climbing up to 3 metres wrapping around any other shrubs in its way. The leaves are elongated heart shapes, with a thin and winding stem. The flowers are white and trumpet shaped. The calyx is green at the base of the flower, this can have an epicalyx over the top, these calyx do not overlap and both pairs are visible.
Ash – Fraxinus excelsior
This lovely tree has rich green pinnate leaves, with have either 7 or 9 leaflets from the central stem. There are 3 or 4 pairs of leaflets and one leaflet at the end. The leaves are ovate in shape and end with a point. The bark is a grey brown and soft. The twigs nearer the leaves is a light grey. One of the most iconic parts of this tree is the tips, which all terminate in a charcoal to black tip.
Hogweed – Heracleum sphondylium
This plant is also known as cow parsnip, there are so many plats with the word ‘cow’ at the beginning! This plant has 2 varieties, there is a giant hogweed, and this has sap that causes burns. So I always tell people to just stay clear, or make sure your children know what it looks like, so they stay away. It flowers around June and has a lovely umbrella of tiny white flowers. Each tiny white flower had 5 petals. The heads all form a domed shape. The stem in tall and hollow inside with ridges and spines running down the length and on all stems. The leaves are pinnate, with 2 smaller leaflets forming nearer the stem and one much larger leaflet at the end, that is deeply divided. The ridges on the leaves are very deep and the edges are toothed.
Nettle – Urtica dioica
We all know this plant right! Interestingly the female of this family has the white and green flowers, as pictured above. These flowers hang down in a long cluster of small heads. The male of this species has flowers that are yellow or purple. So, there you are, you can now sex a flowering stinging nettle! You’re welcome! These plants are tall, with spines up the stem, on the underside of the leaves and on the edges of the leaves. The cocktail of poison in the nettles is still largely not understood. But we all know they sting, your skin swells and you spend the next couple of hours trying not to scratch it!
The leaves are toothed at the edges.
This is such a wonderful place to visit, I highly recommend it. There is so much to see. There are some point of historical interest if like that sort of thing. There is even a church with a really old graveyard you can walk through. It is beautiful and very well maintained.
They also have cows now at the reserve! I had to get some cute photos of these
I had to take this little snap too… spot the odd one out! 🙂
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