This February, we welcomed lots of visitors to the park over the half term. Several families joined us in making nest boxes ready for the spring nesting season. This is a great time to put up nest boxes in the garden to help our garden birds find safe places to raise their young. One of our nest boxes has a camera which we have been keeping an eye on lately and, sure enough, a little blue tit has been spotted checking out the box. Many of you will remember that last year we were lucky enough to have a pair of blue tits nest in the box. Visitors could watch the live camera stream in the Visitor Centre as they laid their eggs and raised their chicks. It was wonderful watching the chicks grow bigger and eventually fly the nest. We are hoping the box will be used again this year- we will keep you posted!
The work on the stewardship project to remove many of the invasive trees across the heath has been well underway and is now almost complete. The difference to the landscape is really noticeable! Removing these trees has shown how barren the ground beneath them is as they block out the light and prevent plants from growing underneath. However, now that they have been removed, native heathland plants will be able to re-establish in those areas and the native trees that we have left like oaks and beech will be able to grow into beautiful mature trees. We are excited to see the benefit to wildlife over the coming years as the heathland restores itself.
After all the heavy rain at the start of the month, it was a relief when the clouds finally broke and the sunshine revealed the first signs of spring. Snowdrops and daffodils have been coming into flower and the yellow gorse flowers were even giving off their sweet coconut-like scent. Rangers Dan and Mike were treated to a fantastic view of a huge white-tailed sea eagle souring above the heathland. Our volunteer, Liz, also spotted a colony of wood ants emerging from their nest under the warm sun. It seems the worst of winter may be behind us and warmer days are definitely ahead.