Wildlife

Ducks
Male Mallard ducks

Wildlife Group
We meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month (not winter) at 12-1pm in the Hub Cafe in Lordship Rec to catch up and plan. All are welcome to join us. We also do wild flower surveys in the Rec. Come and join in. You can learn something and enjoy looking too.   We also do other tasks to increase biodiversity.
For more info email:  rutharooot@blueyonder.co.uk

For info about the meadow areas and the orchard field, and volunteering to improve these, contact: shaywill@fastmail.co.uk. For info about the woodland by Downhills Park Road entrance and volunteering there, contact: 47moonraker@gmail.com.

There are a host of beautiful trees and lots of wildlife to be enjoyed in the rec, whether it be on the lake, along the river bed or in the spinney, woodland, orchard field and hedgerows.

The lake is home to many birds including: Swans, mallard ducks, moorhens, coots, canadian geese, sometimes seagulls and more rarely, Egyptian ducks, tufted ducks and herons. Frogs, toads and newts abound at mating time and the lake is full of their eggs. Many water insects can be seen in the water like pond skaters, water boatmen, daphnia and in the summer dragonflies hover over the surface.

The hedgerows of the perimeter are alive with the twittering of hedge sparrows.

Bats can be seen at night in the large trees next to the lake.

In the woodlands and trees grey squirrels collect food and urban foxes can be seen running around the rec at night.

We also have developed meadow areas throughout the Rec.

List of sightings:

SPECIES SIGHTINGS IN LORDSHIP REC.
Bird Species sighted in Lordship Rec by Caroline Jepson

1) Particularly in model traffic area and woodland area
Regularly :
Blue Tit
Great tit
Chaffinch
Robin
Wren
Blackbird
Thrush
Sparrow
Greenfinch
Green woodpecker
Kestrel
Jay
Occasionally
Long tailed tit
Gold finch
Goldcrest
Greater Spotted Woodpecker

2) Pond area and River
Regularly:

Pied Wagtail
Mallards
Coots
Moorhen
Shovelers
Tufted duck
Swans
Canadian geese!
Occasionally
Heron
Cormorant
Little Grebe
Egyptian goose

3) On Field
Gulls
Crows
Starlings
Sparrowhawk
Other Species:
Amphibians:
Frogs – large numbers to be seen mating in the Lake in the spring.
Newts -When the blanketweed was removed last summer there were lots of newts caught up in it – believed it was the most common type, not crested.
Dragonflies/Damselflies: Emperor dragonflies
Last summer – during hot weather in June there were masses of the
electric blue damselflies Last September – for a couple of weeks there were lots of the red/brown dragonflies, which I know as Ruddy Darters.
In the late summer I also saw a large dragonfly, recently emerged,
drying its wings – which were a wonderful bronze colour, but I cannot be more specific than that!
Beetles: Lesser stagbeetles
Butterflies:
What you see seems to vary enormously from year to year depending on the weather. For example, about 4 years ago when there was a very wet spring, there were a lot of Orange tip butterflies. The ground was so wet that there was Ladies Smock growing in the grass and I found out later that they do feed on this. But since that Spring, I have never seen another one.
Other butterflies I have seen walking down the path from Higham Road, near the thicket, include Peacock, Tortoiseshell, Gatekeeper (or a Meadow Brown), and Speckled Wood.
Mammals:
Foxes
Squirrels