Winter is well and truly here now with bitterly cold mornings and biting winds. Our Rangers have been keeping a close eye on the trees around the park as the heathland has been hit by two storms this month. But we’re a hardy lot and managed to stay open to our visitors every day despite the bad weather. Needless to say, our log burner has been extremely appreciated!
We kick started December with our very popular Pull-a-Pine event. An army of visitors and volunteers gave our rangers a helping hand by cutting down invasive pine trees out on the heath which is a vital part of heathland management. As a thank you, everyone was invited to take home a pine tree of their choice for Christmas. It was a fab event with lots of fun, laughter and mince pies! A huge thank you to everyone who joined us on the day.
Our birds have been the stars of the show this month with our bird feeders alive with activity! One particular robin has been keeping the rangers entertained by coming to visit us every day, perching on our windowsills and peering in to see what we’re up to. We’ve named him Robbie and, if he stays much longer, we may have to find him a tiny ranger uniform and put him to work!
We were also treated to a fantastic aerial display by two buzzards one evening this month. Buzzards are often spotted in the sky above Avon Heath and so we believe that at least one mating pair incorporate Avon Heath in their territory. Buzzards are very territorial and so one of our residents may have been seeing off a rival. They were certainly making a racket about it! Our Rangers have also been lucky enough to spot 5 snipe and a woodcock out on the heath this month which was great to see.