Latest News 2019 |
The car-park buzzard. © C Cockbain
Below are some portraits from
© Mike Roberts. |
The buzzard that is roosting in the trees around the car park is still entertaining our visitors. We assume the bird has been (illegally) hand-reared and then released because its behaviour is far from normal for a wild bird. Originally it was mainly feeding on worms. However, people have been leaving food out for it: including raw liver.
Fortunately someone has started to feed it higher up on the Pickerings Pasture Centre, well out of the way of cars and dogs. It remains very photogenic. Although it is usually around the car park, it has also been seen moving further afield - on to Hale Marsh, across to Frodsham and over the other side of the main road. Hopefully as it gets more confident it will start to behave more normally. |
Buzzard. © Paul Dooley
|
Tree Clearance We are sure many of you will have noticed the removal of trees on the bank of the riverside walk, towards the white bridge.
Earlier in the year The Friends of Pickerings Pasture, and many visitors, were very concerned at the work that was being done in this area: large amounts of wood chippings were left, two foot deep, covering the primroses, daffodils and other wild flowers. Some of the Friends group spent a considerable time removing these before the Spring.
However, we have been assured that they are working to a Management Plan and only a certain section will be worked on this year: further work will be undertaken next year, thus giving the area time to recover itself and, more importantly, allowing the wildlife to adjust. Sympathetic woodland management: coppicing of trees and leaving dead wood, brush wood and thinning out a few trees, is ideal for increasing small insects, mammals and a rich flora.
The team leader in charge of the tree removal also assured me that in January more berried shrubs and trees will be added. These will make the area more attractive to humans and, more importantly, the wildlife.
Earlier in the year The Friends of Pickerings Pasture, and many visitors, were very concerned at the work that was being done in this area: large amounts of wood chippings were left, two foot deep, covering the primroses, daffodils and other wild flowers. Some of the Friends group spent a considerable time removing these before the Spring.
However, we have been assured that they are working to a Management Plan and only a certain section will be worked on this year: further work will be undertaken next year, thus giving the area time to recover itself and, more importantly, allowing the wildlife to adjust. Sympathetic woodland management: coppicing of trees and leaving dead wood, brush wood and thinning out a few trees, is ideal for increasing small insects, mammals and a rich flora.
The team leader in charge of the tree removal also assured me that in January more berried shrubs and trees will be added. These will make the area more attractive to humans and, more importantly, the wildlife.
