by DKG
A few bird photos taken early yesterday morning, some proving uncooperative (yet again). Our resident Jackdaws near the picnic area are nest building in their usual hole, in fact this pair remain here or close by throughout the year.
Continue reading “Bird watching”
Sunlight through the trees
The Winter Flu caught DKG this year and put him out of commission for a while; we missed him and the website missed his pictures. He’s back with a gallery of pictures all about his obsessions with the rising sun and trees. There is a squirrel keeping a eye on him, though.
Click to go to the gallery
Our Famous Tree
A message from DKG
“Just to let you know, my photo of the lone oak with the cloud halo above it was shown on the BBC Weather report this morning”
Beautiful autumn colours by DKG:
Another gallery here:
A Brief Description by DKG
Click here to read more:
There are three kinds of pigment in a usually green leaf: carotenes which are yellow, red and pink anthocyanins, and chlorophyll, which is the green that masks the other colours until autumn.
Read on:
Pictures, by DKG, of Tuesday’s misty morning. Click any picture to open the gallery.
A roe deer doe, early on Sunday morning, photographed by DKG who said:
“A lovely morning in the park this Sunday. A few photos taken of three Roe Deer spotted near the footpath leading from Studley Green; unable to get closer just in case I spooked them.”
DKG photographs the Lone Oak in all weathers, lights and seasons, and from all directions.
Words and pictures by DKG:
“A few photos of a Heron, Bullfinch and a Robin.”
The header picture is of a garden bumble bee (Bombus hortorum) in a spear thistle flower at the edge of the large pond.
On Wednesday, DKG and his macro lens took a close look at some of the park’s invertebrate inhabitants.
Click on any picture to enlarge it.
Sunrise on the summer solstice by DKG.
“A few photos of the sunrise on June 21st. The sky was producing some lovely cloud textures, a lovely dawn chorus as usual….”
Click on the first picture to open the gallery:
We sent DKG, and his macro lens, to look at the common spotted orchids in Village Green.
Most bio-degradable poo bags are not really bio-degradable; they are photo-degradable.
BY SARAH MARSH
The winter weather has not been kind to the Friends and all over the Park the ground has been very boggy and waterlogged. When it has stopped raining, we had to endure bitter icy cold winds blowing from the east. However, we are a hardy bunch and only missed one session of volunteer work and that was due to Countryside Team staff illness!
Surprisingly, once we find a sheltered spot we can work well and keep warm. Again, we have been tidying around our magnificent oak trees clearing away scrub and bramble and already the signs of Spring can be seen. Snowdrops in particular have been seen all around the Park and the daffodils are appearing and beginning to bloom.
The volunteers joined the annual Great British Spring Clean this year and we gathered on Saturday, 10th March. The weather was poor and the Friends were joined by Councillor Horace Prickett.
We managed to collect 10 bags of rubbish including a worn out rubber tyre. The depressing thing about collecting litter is that a week later it all needs doing again and it is very hard to understand why people throw litter, doggy poo bags etc. in an area they like to use for leisure. As I have mentioned before our volunteers regularly pick up litter and are very grateful to the many members of the public who also collect rubbish when they are using the Park. It is good to know there are many “FRIENDS” of the Park who feel like we do and want to keep this amenity clean for all.
This article has also been published in Southwick Village News.
Photographs: DKG
In 2016, a pair of tawny owls nested in the owl box in Sheep Field and reared these two owlets. The parent birds returned in 2017 to inspect the box, but it obviously didn’t meet their standard and they left.
This year a pair of barn owls is hunting across the park, roosting in one of the park’s oak trees and, we hope, looking for a nest site. We have asked the Countryside Team to help us clean the nesting boxes in the hope that the barn owls will stay.
Photograph: DKG
One of a pair of barn owls seen hunting over the park this weekend by DKG and Chris Seymour.
Photograph: DKG
Another gallery by DKG:
