Wollaton Park - New Life
w/e 03 May 2009
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
We have often visited Wollaton Park over the years
in all kinds of weather and it was almost becoming a tradition
to go there during the winter months. Even when we have visited
in other seasons it was not unusual for a cold wind to be blowing
so it was a pleasant change to be in the park on a beautiful
and mild spring day.
On this occasion we approached via the Parkside entrance which
leads into the park through a gap in Thompson's Wood. Although
the wood is off limits to the general public there are extensive
views from the path into the park which at this time of year
are enhanced by the dappled sunlight falling on the millions
of bluebells heralding the new life all around.
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The main path from this entrance leads directly to the lake,
one of the focal points of the park. Here too new life was abundant
where a number of waterfowl were escorting their new broods around
the edge of the lake. In the two broods pictured above there
must have been close on a dozen youngsters with each adult bird.
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We followed the path along the north eastern bank of the lake
to the golf course where plants too and in particular these trees
were also showing signs of new growth with a variety of colourful
blossoms and leaves.
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And looking across the golf course to another focal point in
the park, Wollaton Hall, this zoomed shot shows several new additions
to the deer population in front of the formal gardens and Camellia
House.
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In all the times we have been to Wollaton Park, I don't ever
recall accessing the park via the Derby Road entrance but another
path leads directly there from the lake running alongside the
private golf course. We followed the path as far as the entrance
before retracing our steps back to the lake which is seen here
in the distance. The trees along here are, like many others in
the park, just bursting into life with this year's leaves.
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Reaching the lake again we continued in a clockwise direction
around it stopping on the south western bank for this panoramic
view across to the Hall. Click on the image above for an enlarged
view in a new window (and press F11 to view full screen) but
please but aware that this a large file and may take some time
to download.
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Further examples of new life in the park can be seen here with
these close up views of a couple of trees and even in the view
across the lake, the candles on the horse chestnut tree are apparent.
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That concludes our look at Wollaton Park on this
occasion but we moved on from there to Highfields Park and here
are a few bonus images from there.
On a previous visit to Highfields we had seen a heron standing
at the edge of the lake so it was no surprise this time to see
one again on the far side of the lake. What was surprising was
that this time it was much more active than before and began
to fly and circle the lake landing briefly on the near side too.
It then took off again and as we watched it circle overhead it
eventually made its way to a tree opposite.
Other passers-by were also watching and there were cries of "Oh,
there's two. No ... three ... four!" As the birds settled
I took this zoomed shot across the lake and closer study showed
that there were at least eight and possibly nine birds in the
tree. Herons congregate in colonies like this and the name for
such a gathering is, not unnaturally, a heronry. I suspect there
are several young herons in this group and coupled with the new
broods seen in Wollaton Park, it seems that this has been an
exceptional year for new life.
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