Around the beginning of May, the first CANADA GEESE parents of the year appeared, proudly showing off their recently hatched young. Small and yellow the GOSLING looked very cute, as it explored the area under its parent's care. Idly they swam around the Wilderness Pond, when out of nowhere a LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL flew in and tried to take the gosling. It caught the gosling but dropped it again before the goslings parents flew in and managed to scare the gull away. The gosling survived that attack but in the end it wouldn't survive the repeated attacks of the gulls. Of the ten pairs of CANADA GEESE that nested on the Wilderness Pond none managed to fledge any young. The GULLS nest on buildings around the park and mainly feed on the rubbish people leave around the place. They are truly having a negative effect on the park's wildlife.
Christchurch Park is a large park in the centre of Ipswich. It is a grassy area with scattered trees, many ancient, as well as a wooded nature refuge, where you can find the Wilderness Pond. Probably the best place to birdwatch in Ipswich, it is ostensibly a duck pond, with lots of mongrel MALLARDS, CANADA GEESE, and a population of MANADARIN DUCKS.
STOCK DOVES are common in the park. Two pairs nest by the Wilderness Pond where they feed on food given out to the ducks. Around ten pairs nest in the park as a whole.
One of the mongrel ducks. The pond has wooded islands where wildfowl attempt to breed.
Several families of BROWN RATS nest around the pond. Unusually for rats they are very open and engaging and often feed right out in the open. Several baby rats were seen at the end of June.
SNAKES HEAD FRITTILERY growing in the fen area just north of the pond at the beginning of May. By the end of June the area is overgrown by nettles.
Several released TURTLES sun themselves on a log on the pond. The bigger one has been here for several years.
There is a very tame ROBIN around the Pond one that would often pose for photos.
Being an urban site the brdwatching is fairly limited, but those birds that are here are very approachable and allow photos to be taken. It is a very peaceful area for central Ipswich and provides a place to unwind whenever I am in town.
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