Sutton Park.

Bog Cotton (Eriophorum angustifolium).

Milk Thistle (Asteraceae).

A fern unrolling a young frond.

I haven't been to Sutton Park for over three years for some reason, so with there be plenty of habitats and woodland I decided a visit was due to hopefully see some fledglings and I wasn't disappointed, saying that the last thing I saw in the back garden as I was leaving this morning was four Blue Tit chicks, which was nice especially as they were the first Blue Tit fledglings I've seen in the back garden this year.

One of today's highlights funnily enough was a bird I didn't actually see, it was the unmistakeable call of a Cuckoo, which was heard on many occasions, sadly you don't hear the Cuckoo much these days let alone see them, hopefully that will change one day. 

Highlights of the fledglings seen were four Goldcrest chicks being fed by their parents in some pine trees, as were four Meadow Pipit chicks in amongst the gorse, also seen were many Blue Tit and Great Tit chicks being fed by adult birds, without a doubt the noisiest bird wanting to be fed was a Great Spotted Woodpecker chick, there may have been more, but they were too far up the trees to see. I also saw scores of Song and Mistle Thrush chicks, who were foraging among the many ferns growing on the open grassland near the Banners Gate entrance, it was great to so many Thrush juveniles, easily numbering in the twenties. Other juvenile birds seen today were Starling and Woodpigeon.

Maybe not so great for the songbirds or mice but it was great to see a Kestrel swooping effortlessly from one set of trees to another via the open grassland. 

Adult birds which were highlights to see were Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Meadow Pipit, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Greenfinch, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, and House Sparrow. If you've read this blog before you'll know I enjoy seeing any bird, no matter how often I've seen it before or if people call it a dull bird, such as the Dunnock, they are all precious to me and you should enjoy every bird you see because they way we're going you'll be lucky to see any bird, don't forget thirty odd years ago birds such as the House Sparrow were common, not so these days even though I am blessed to have about fifty visit my garden every day.

Birds seen today were Kestrel, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Meadow Pipit, Wren, House Sparrow, Robin, Starling, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Mute Swan, Coot, Mallard, Canada Goose as well as the following juveniles, Goldcrest, Meadow Pipit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Starling and Woodpigeon. 

What with Sutton Park being the largest urban park in Europe consisting of 2,400 acres and a mix of heathland, wetlands, marshes, seven lakes, extensive ancient woodlands and many entrances to explore, rest assured plenty more visits to this wonderful place will follow, especially as not only are there birds to see, you also get the added pleasure of seeing many free roaming cows and a Donkey sanctuary.