Kelsey Gardens News: May 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Birdwatching with Michael Flowers

Local birdwatching expert Michael Flowers has recently been visiting Kelsey Gardens with eight of his classes with quite a bit of success. You can read all about the visits on Michael's blog which also has details of how you can join the classes which are extremely popular.

http://eybirdwatching.blogspot.com/

Below are a few examples of the birds seen during these visits.

Cuckoo

Yellow Wagtail

Turtle Dove

Friday, May 20, 2011

A fairy story set in Kelsey Gardens

The Hull Model Boat Club were at South Lake, Kelsey Gardens in April racing their "Peapod" yatchs. Suddenly a shout went up "woman overboard." It was a mermaid from Lewis's yatch. She sank straight to the bottom of the lake. Lewis thought he would never see her again.

Weeks passed and then one day she was returned to Lewis safe and sound by Ian, the manager of Kelsey Gardens. Lewis was astonished and asked how it was possible, "had she swam ashore?"

Ian replied "no." The Police divers had been down there on an exercise. They were told of the fate of the mermaid and set out to look for her body. After a short time they returned to the surface with the mermaid safe and well.

When asked how they found her they replied that they had heard a siren and followed the source of the sound which led them to Lewis's mermaid.

The Hull Model Boat Club would like to thank the Police Divers and all at Kelsey Gardens.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Bank Holiday Tractor Run

On Bank Holiday Monday, the 30th May, Kelsey Gardens will play host to a charity tractor run. The run starts at Tower House Kelsey Hill at 10.30am and is expected at Kelsey Gardens a few minutes later before it continues on its 25 mile route. There will be about 60 vintage tractors in the event which is raising funds for the Macmillan Nurses Charity.
Come along and give your support to this very worthwhile event.

Canoe hire and hot and cold refreshments will also be available all day.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Bird watching event report

After weeks of drought, the weather looked a bit threatening when the class was about to start, but we went ahead anyway! The morning started well with a distant Cuckoo heard from the car park. I managed to spot this and ensure everyone managed to find the bird in their binoculars. It was the first Cuckoo one participant had ever heard, whilst another had never seen one before. We then checked an unpromising industrial area, where a Lesser Whitethroat was belting out its unimpressive song. It gave brief views, but wasn’t seen clearly by all participants. We walked past the North Lake & reached a path with reeds to the left of us where Reed Warblers chuntered through their monotonous songs. At this moment there was a brief striking bubbling sound and a female Cuckoo flew away from the reeds giving brief views. A climb up & down a steep incline, which must have once overlooked the Humber, was most noticeable for its butterflies: at least 3 Orange-tips, a Speckled Wood and a Green-veined White. Along the ‘Path of Brian’ 2 Sedge Warblers were heard, and one gave very good views. More Reed Warblers were singing, and a Reed Bunting called briefly. The walk around South Lake resulted in a Great Crested Grebe, but we couldn’t spy the 3 youngsters. We then had a short walk along the old railway line where we saw Linnets, Whitethroats and a very confiding Willow Warbler. Here we also saw 2 Cuckoos following one another, but they were leaving the area we were studying. Long-tailed Tits were heard, but they failed to come into the open. We returned to South Lake for refreshments and another Cuckoo was spotted in a bare Ash tree. This then flew across South Lake, and one participant was able to follow it the whole way with his binoculars. Overall it was a very successful morning with more than 30 species either seen or heard!