Christchurch Park - 7&9/1/2020

Urban parks provide a green lung to otherwise urban areas, an experience of wildlife far away from the country. In the town of Ipswich there are some good parks, of which Christchurch is its crowning glory. Beautiful parkland with some ancient trees, the trunks twisting and turning like there are spirits writhing beneath, providing plenty of habitats for wildlife.

 CORMARANTS spend all day drying their wings on the log

 

In the park there is the Wilderness Pond which is probably the best birding site in Ipswich. Because amongst the water side trees, amongst all the feral MALLARDS, the cantankerous CANADA GEESE, and GULLS, some good bird sightings can be had.

 

The pond is the best area in Suffolk for MANDARINS, and on the 7 Jan I saw an amazing 19. The birds nest most years, but the chicks get eaten by the large GULLS that nest on the surrounding roofs. Urban gulls are the new rat. And there are plenty of RATS scurrying around burrows beside the pond, feeding on the grains left out for the ducks.

 HOODED MERGANSER

 

Bird of the day has to be the HOODED MERGANSER. It has been present in Ipswich for a couple of months now. I have described it in a previous blog, but have only recently caught up with it again.

 MANDARINS have to be the most bejewelled of  British birds. Although they are not native, they have naturalised and are classified as a British bird.

 

The MERGANSER is feral, having escaped from a wildfowl collection. It has a yellow ring on its leg, evidence that it belonged to someone. The bird is very tame, coming up quite close, so close I could reach out and grab it. Bird photography shouldn't be this easy!

The bird originates from America, so it would take a lot of effort to make its way all the way over to Ipswich, and so is classified as an escape, so won't be seen as a tick on the bird list.

 

STICK DOVE and MOORHEN

 



There are other birds away from the pond, birds that like the parkland habitat at Christchurch. STOCK DOVES are one of the commoner birds with around ten pairs present. They are easy to spot around the Pond where they feed on the grain put out by families to feed the ducks.

 

GREY SQUIRRELS, love them or loathe them, are common in the park

 

There are plenty of other parkland birds such as GREAT SPOTTED & GREEN WOODPECKERS and MISTLE THRUSHES, liking the habitat of grassland with scattered trees.

 



 

I have left it to last to describe the most famous resident in the park. For a long time Mabel, a TAWNY OWL, would spend the winter sitting out in the open on the edge of a hole at the top of the tree. Often featuring in the local paper, and with even a wooden statue erected outside her tree, she became the most famous owl in the country. The bird disappeared for a couple of years, and now has returned back to her position. Is this Mabel, or is it another bird, who knows? If its Mabel she would be really old, but what are the chances some other owl would copy her habits?

Anyway, even the most urban of environments can reveal a large amount of wildlife, so keep a look out every where you go. The animals are used to humans and so are fairly tame, making them good subjects for photography. There are plenty of positives to urban birding.