Spring is (finally) here...

Well it took it's time! Finally the daffs are out and the sky is blue!

Wildlife Gallery

Just a quick update, we're still keeping our wildlife gallery page up to date, latest spot was a Tufted Duck on the pond, particularly pleasing as we've worked hard to keep the pond clear of weed over the winter so nice to see that the birdlife appreciates it. Other recent highlights include a rather brave fox, a pair of woodcock, massive flocks of Starlings, the stoat (my favourite) and the Heron who seems to be a regular visitor to the pond now. There were lots of deer prints in the snow over Christmas, including quite a few on the deck outside the pool, they must have fancied getting in from the cold!

Helsbury Dog Walk Map

We've been meaning to do this one for a while, it's a map of the key tracks which you can use for walking your dog here at Helsbury. In truth you can take your dog anywhere on site but these are the areas we tend to maintain as tracks throughout the year. It shows which areas are gated and roughly the best areas to walk. The map represents about 3 miles of tracks which are available here on site, as a guide to get down to river and back would take 20-30 minutes, if you take a full loop of the park then you'd be looking at 45-60 minutes of walking. Or you can do what I do which is to try and go a different way each day, there's at least 6 variants so ideal for a week's stay!

You can download it from here, it's a pdf, Helsbury Dog Walk Map

Some lovely shots...

Mike Hawkes also sent these stunning shots he took on site here at Helsbury a few weeks ago, it's a spectacular time of year...

Up close and personal...

There are many great experiences to be had at Helsbury not least of which is getting close to nature and the jewel in Helsbury's crown is definitely the family of Buzzards who live on site, they seem to be getting more and more comfortable in their surroundings and even seem to be happy to pose for photos!

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Spring is (nearly) here...

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Young Red Deer in the Field at Helsbury...

Flowering Now at Helsbury...

Wild – Primrose, Violet, Lady’s Mantle, Dead Nettle, Stitchwort, Bluebell, Wood anemone, Celandine and some Campion. Still some late daffodils/narcissi, Primroses and Heather in the garden. Lots to see and even more for us to identify!

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RSPB Garden Watch Results

The results of the Big Garden Watch have been released which we, at Helsbury Park, were proud to be part of. Well over half a million people celebrated the 30th year of the Birdwacth, making this the biggest bird survey in the world. A huge increase from humble beginnings in 1979 when just 30,000 children took part. For the first time in the survey's 30-year history, the long-tailed tit has flown into the Big Garden Birdwatch top ten. This highly sociable species increased by an astonishing 88% from last years count. This pleasant increase is because this insect-eating bird has adapted to feeding on seeds and peanuts at birdtables and from hanging feeders. This result highlights perfectly the positive impact that our feeding and bird care can have on some birds. For more details click here.

It pays to get up early round here...

Barn owls on site...

We've been very lucky with wildlife this year and even more so recently when we've had a paid of barn owls hunting on the land every evening. They are lovely and quite enchanting birds with total confidence and presence, they are not scared of being approached and have flown extremely close to get a proper look at us while we're walking Solly.

Fledglings stay rent free...

We've been keeping an eye on a couple of nests in our log stores with the help of our guests, last week Claire Fisher noticed that the baby birds had finally got big enough to fly and have indeed left the nest, some great photos here...

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Butterflies on site

Molly Fisher recently stayed with us and kindly did some nature detecting by identifying the different species of butterfly we have on site, she saw the following species: Large White, Small Copper, Speckled Wood and Red Admiral. There may be a few more as well so we'll keep an eye out. Thanks Molly!

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The perfect place to Hide...

We've recently installed a hide in the woods to allow you to keep an eye on the local wildlife, its positioned in a great spot where we've already seen deer drinking, kingfishers and dippers.

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Spectacular summer hedgerows

The hedgerows burst into life this summer and were a riot of colour, this view of our drive gives you a feel for the spectacular welcome you get when you come on to the site here at Helsbury.

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Wildlife Extravaganza...

What a week! Helsbury has really come alive over the past few days, masses of birdlife and wild flowers were topped when Solly and I walked into a small herd of deer in the woods, which are bedecked in bluebells and primroses and are looking stunning. The was topped today when Leza saw an Otter playing in our pond! She was thrilled as we know how hard they are to spot, unfortunately it was probably tempted by the ducks on the pond which had decided to take refuge up at the house!

Other spots include grey wagtails, goldfinch, greenfinch, buzzards [nesting on site], heron and masses of wild flowers.

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