Nature Poster For Whitehall Rec

Wildlife A 2 Poster available for sale - all proceeds go to the rec fund

More flighted residents of Whitehall Rec and environs

Long tailed tit

Robin

Wren

Whitehall Rec flighted Residents (and others)

A census of the nest boxes sited around the park casually taken while out with the dogs has revealed that most are occupied. The larger holed boxes going to great tits and the smaller to blue tits. Both species are well into feeding young - about one week. Here is an image of a typical nest box with eggs:

tits eggs

The blue tit is a very common bird in our gardens that regularly visits feeders. When the blue tit is feeding young it will be found hopping around in the bushes and low canopy searching for caterpillar larvae, most of which are from moths and other aerial insects that are in larval form (caterpillars) in mid Spring.

blue tit

Walking the dogs around the park is a popular activity that allows the participants to see what wildlife is there as the seasons turn. At the moment we have a new brood of squirrels that are learning the ropes (avoiding the dogs) - fewer than usual having survived the poor summer and the cold winter.

common grey squirrel

Another prized resident that puts on an aerial show in the late evening is the pipistrelle bat. You might be lucky to see one flying, or even on a tree near the bat boxes we put up.

Pipestrelle

 

Welcome To Whitehall Rec Nature Blog

Introduction

 

14.5.2013

 Hello everyone, my name is Rod and I live in Chatterton Road. My passion is nature and I spend most of my time writing, photographing and thinking about our local wildlife.

We have a small pond in our wildlife patch which can attract a number of interesting creatures. Here is a dragonfly that I photographed a couple of years ago, but there are other creatures that regularly visit ponds and need preserving.

Libellula Depressa

Here is another image of a friendly face that we might see around our pond. The common frog breeds every two years in early spring (late February and March) and it does so by returning to the same pond in which it was spawned. This year was very good for breeding frogs and several were seen in Pope Road, hopping along the wet pavement during the late evening on their way back home.

Common Frog

Butterflies

Among the butterflies we can expect to find in our wildlife enclosure is the brown argus, which is about the size of a ten pence coin, so quite easy to overlook.

 

  Brown Argus

Moths

We are lucky to have lots of trees in the park where moths can breed. This is the lime hawkmoth - the green caterpillars live on the leaves of the lime tree and maturing in spring to burrow down among the soil at the base of the tree. Later, in early summer, the adult moth appears and climbs up the trunk, where its tightly folded wings inflate and dry allowing the moth to fly. The wings are beautifully marked, but can easily fool a bird into overlooking the tasty moth, simply because it looks just like another bunch of leaves.

Lime Hawkmoth pair, female above male below

Birds  

We are also lucky to have many birds nesting and feeding in the area, especially since there are so many trees and fully stocked gardens. Here is a favourite of mine, the nuthatch.

Nuthatch

If you want some more images and get some more information you can visit me at http://www.nature-photos.co.uk You can also respond through this blog with any images or information you might have about wildlife you have seen in and around the rec.

Nest Box Watch

We are lucky to have a number of nest boxes occupied around the park. They are decorated with painted images and are doing a great job in providing nesting places for our many Great Tits and Blue Tits. At the moment - early June, most of them have young birds that the adult birds are frantically feeding.