Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Pensthorpe Natural Park

It was raining the day we visited Pensthorpe and it just happened to be Paul's birthday too.  He particularly wanted to see the red squirrels here as well as the water birds and wild flower meadows.  This reminded me that we'd seen red squirrels in Scotland last year for his birthday  - link to post here.

We did eventually see a red squirrel at Pensthorpe

The last time we visited, must have been about twenty years ago it was called Pensthorpe Waterfowl Park. It has expanded and changed quite a lot since then.

 This covered viewing area was very useful in the pouring rain.

We ventured out and started to wander around the  Mill Pond and the other meres and lakes to see what we could find.  I fell for this little chap.

Crested Merganser

White-naped cranes with little one - just a day old when I took the photo

Tufted duck

Smew

These Eurasian cranes were very noisy.

These cranes made no noise at all

At this point we were making our way back to the shop and cafe as we were getting quite wet -  a coffee break was calling.
Back outside again we followed the bug walk and the wildflower meadow walk along by the river Wensum which runs through the park.

The wildflower meadows were full of damsel flies and the paths alive with little toadlets.  I showed photos of these on my 30 Days Wild blog - link here as I managed to continue the daily posts whilst away with limited access to the internet.

Below are some of the other beautiful birds we saw.....


Avocet

Little Stint


Turtle Doves - two turtle doves.  I didn't see a partridge in a pear tree though.

Not a bird but a fascinating sculpture in one of the gardens

Barnacle goose

Mandarin duck

My favourite geese - Greylags

So distinctive and such a beautiful shape.

Apologies for the number of photos.  I have loads more and there are some beautiful garden areas to explore too.  We spent nearly all day there.  Got wet through, dried out, got wet again and by the time we left the sun was shining. 
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22 comments:

  1. Simone8 July 2015 at 13:20

    So many beautiful birds. The Crested Merganser looks quite a character! I love days out like this and I bet you and Paul enjoyed it despite the rain. x

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    1. Rosie9 July 2015 at 13:31

      Yes, we did enjoy it as it wasn't too cold, Luckily we'd taken small umbrellas in with us:)

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  2. The History Anorak8 July 2015 at 14:27

    Avocets! Wow! They used to be so rare except for very short stretches of East Anglian coast. I was over the moon the first time I saw them and even your photo makes me excited. Lovely place. Thanks for telling us about it.

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    1. Rosie9 July 2015 at 13:32

      It is a super place and if you like wildlife you can spend ages here. There were a few Avocets and some little ones too:)

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  3. rusty duck8 July 2015 at 15:01

    Fabulous shots Rosie, I do love water birds especially geese!

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    1. Rosie9 July 2015 at 13:33

      I thought you would like the geese, Jessica:)

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  4. Mac n' Janet8 July 2015 at 15:25

    It looks like an incredible place to visit, rain and all, such a variety of water birds.

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    1. Rosie9 July 2015 at 13:34

      Thjere was lots to see and the rain made it even more atmospheric:)

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  5. Ian Doyle8 July 2015 at 16:08

    Great post Rosie, super photos.

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    1. Rosie9 July 2015 at 13:36

      Thanks, Ian it was certainly a good day for photographs:)

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  6. Jo@awholeplotoflove8 July 2015 at 16:16

    Lovely shots, I believe we have a similar sort of park close by x

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    1. Rosie9 July 2015 at 13:37

      Thanks, Jo how lovely to have something like this close by:)

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  7. Crimson Kettle8 July 2015 at 17:21

    What a lovely place! Never apologise for too many photos, they are great! :-)

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    1. Rosie9 July 2015 at 13:38

      Thanks, it was hard to chose which photos to include as I took far too many - as usual:)

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  8. Pamela Terry and Edward8 July 2015 at 18:34

    I love those webbed feet!
    xo

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    1. Rosie9 July 2015 at 13:39

      Hello Pamela and Edward how lovely to see you here again - yes the webbed feet are lovely:)

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  9. Louise8 July 2015 at 20:50

    Oh wow what an amazing place! So many birds I've never seen before - like the turtle doves and avocets, plus others! Definitely somewhere to put on 'the list' - thanks for sharing your day out :)

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    1. Rosie9 July 2015 at 13:41

      You would love it, Louise. It's well worth a visit if ever you are over that way:)

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  10. Linda P9 July 2015 at 21:07

    Wonderful photos of so many unusual birds. The wildflower meadows look beautiful and interesting.

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    1. Rosie10 July 2015 at 13:45

      The river Wensum and the wildflowers meadows at the side of it were very beautiful - the wildflowers were full of damsel flies. It was lovely to see the different waterbirds and waders:)

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  11. Rowan9 July 2015 at 23:14

    It looks a great place to visit - how wonderful to see avocets as well as all the other wildfowl. The wildflower photo is gorgeous, such simple flowers but so beautiful.

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    1. Rosie10 July 2015 at 13:46

      The wildflower meadows were lovely and such a large area of them too, full of damseflies, It is a lovely place to visit:)

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