Another 30ft deadly tree in the park

One of the new ducks that has grown up a bit has strange colours and is very cheeky

A lot of comments on Facebook about the geese mess by the lake and people with children are complaining it gets on pram wheels and shoes meaning you take it home

Research has shown that the excrement of geese contains a wide variety of pathogens capable of infecting humans and that can also be transferred to the water and air quality. However, the transmission of disease or parasites from geese to humans has not been well documented. The parasites do exist, so the potential exists, and the higher number of geese the higher the potential. But since there are gaps in the research, we do caution that the presence of a disease does not necessarily translate into a threat to public health.

Parasites, bacteria, viruses and fungus that are present in Canada geese

Parasites
Parasites can cause diarrhea and infection, especially in individuals with compromised immune systems. Three parasites that are a concern to humans are cryptosporidium, giardia and toxoplasmosis.  Infection may occur through eating a goose that is undercooked or drinking contaminated water. Caution should be observed when swimming in any lake, pond or beach area that has a presence of geese.

Bacteria
The bacteria transferred from Canada geese that cause humans concern are chlamydiosis, e-coli, listeria, pasteurella multocida and salmonella. Infected birds can shed the bacteria through feces, nasal discharge and when someone is bitten. Humans normally manifest infection by pneumonia or through a wound.  The presence of e-coli correlates to the temperature, so there is a higher probability of e-coli presence during the month of June rather than February. Unless you are working around Canada geese or involved in feces clean up, the risk of infection can be low.

Viruses
Canada geese are members of a group of birds that have been known to contract avian influenza. In 2004, researchers confirmed that Canada geese could contract H5N1, and it is an on-going concern that geese can introduce the disease.  There is on-going research to help validate these concerns.

Fungus
Lastly, histoplasmosis fungus grows in soil enriched with bird droppings, including those from geese. When these contaminated soils are stirred up, the fungal spores can become dispersed and inhaled, thereby infecting individuals. Goose droppings have not been identified as a source for histoplasmosis, however, in light of the conflicting information, we suggest people practice caution when raking, mowing or stirring up soil enriched with goose droppings. It does not appear that goose droppings on sidewalks and other non-soil surfaces pose a risk.

How to proactively protect yourself from diseases that Canada geese carry

As a general rule, keeping a distance from geese and areas frequented by geese will always be the first line of defense in combating any diseases that geese can carry. Individuals with compromised immune systems should be extra cautious.

We suggest the following safety guidelines:

• Wear protective gloves while working with feces or geese
• Wash hands after working outdoors around geese
• Launder work clothes
• Shower after a day of working outdoors around geese
• We wash our dogs paws daily at the end of every working day
• We suggest washing bottoms of shoes at the end of every working day

One of the dead trees that Cheshire east are leaving  to endanger members of the public its over 30 ft and if that comes down it could kill a lot of people if they are close. As per last week post managers have been advised since January but no action is being taken

Coronation walk and the water fall still only works when we have had a lot of rain the rest of the time its dead. When it does work the flow is so slow its not worth having and as it leaves stagnant water its becoming another hazard as its covered in weed, alga and rubbish. If the flow was more and it worked all the time it would be washed away. adding to that when its strimmed all the rubbish goes in the brook clogging it up. The whole stream wants a good clean not a massive expensive job  

If kids get in this what can they catch?

New Signets in the park

Coronation Walk is still in a right mess with the stream still not working after all this time. The steam is covered in mud dirt and weeds and the water has virtually stopped. Why would the council pay for this if it was your house you wouldn't pay until it worked properly. Same with the plants  you wouldn't pay if they were stuck in the middle of weeds. Its possible if they don't fix it soon the pump will overheat and require a new one again. All that's needed is a couple of holes in the pond wall so water will flow in from the lake it will find its own level  the whole thing has been a cock up again. They have put new bench's down the walk so you can sit and look at the weeds and empty stream.

Lots of new wildlife with baby ducks, Canada geese and now signets. Lets hope they survive this time but watching today as they swam close to a fisherman who cast inch's in front of them its not good. I  thought they had to bring the line in and let swans swim past not try and hook them. The other problem is people feeding them as if they are babies so they get humanised which often gets them killed when they leave as they have no fear of humans. Swan rescue groups have advised not to feed by hand but people ignore that and still do. This makes the swan a threat as lots of people specially with babies fear them as they come right up to you for food and its frightening if you have a young baby and a swan is pecking close to it.

Lots of Baby Ducks

 

Squirrel enjoying a sunny day

Lots of baby ducks  with one mother having 8 and another one with 4. Wildlife is coming alive at this time of the year

New Azalea bushes have been planted down Coronation walk  Not buy the park gardeners but I suspect by Micky Mouse Inc. or bodge it and scarper. Who in their right mind plant them in  the middle of weeds without first killing the weeds or digging them out? You can just about make out the small bush under the nettles and weeds soon the weeds will be bigger than the bush so you wont see them. Planted like that you cant even cut the weeds without killing the bush. They were all put in and never watered in the dry spell so they are luck to live. You have to blame Park management for passing this as ok and not getting them back to do the job properly

They have created a bog garden at the base of the water fall but not advised anyone and the amount of people who have walked on it to look at the water and sunk in the mud and ruined their shoes. The water seems to run off the water fall but there just isnt enough flow its just a dribble downstream  

Green Flag raised

Mallards have new babies this nice little one it late for them to have them now

Heron ready for fishing hope he has a rod licence

Blue tit taken with a canon eos1300d 300mm lense

The green flag awarded to the park now has its new flag pole displaying it

Swan Dies

The father swan has died he and his daughter were the only 2 swans left in the lake but he has died believed to be from eating mouldy bread. People have started on social media quoting Angel Wing as a problem and clearly this has never happened and it only normally happen in young duck fed very high protein. Above the heron coming in to land

Tits in the park and even new baby ducks which are late this year and may struggle if we get an early winter

 

The vandals have been in at work again breaking the cycle stand and one more tree near the rack has been cut down

Wild Life master plan

A plan for wildlife in the park was compiled with the help of visiting experts in many fields to cover all aspects of the habitat.

Nesting for wildlife on the lake is none existent we have had Grebe in the past but these and others cant leave the water so need nesting on the lake a simple way is to create the floating nest see http://bthbgcm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/building-mallard-duck-nesting-tubes.html

One year we had floating islands for the grebe and they had young all that was used was a pallet and some straw and it worked well. The problem is now with the boats they cant be on that side of the lake as we have seen people in the boat reach onto the island and smash eggs. The only place is in the middle of the fishing side which should be far enough out so fishermen are not affected pallets around the bottom island would work as well grebe are a protected species. Cut down trees could be used tied together then tied to the island so it can rise and fall with the lake plenty of old dead trees at Tipkinder You can build a floating island very simple and cheap this also cleans the water as well as providing nesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P28PNf2JjF0

Many of the duck struggle to bread as there is no safe /suitable place for them to breed nesting boxes would solve that http://norfolkwildfowl.co.uk/?p=duck.nest.boxes

The full answer is to plant more suitable plants in the lake which provide natural nesting sites provide food and improve the water for fish and wildlife

Suggested planting along part of the edge of the lake - a fringe of reed mace, yellow flag iris, meadowsweet and other wetland plants would create a habitat for many creatures as well as birds (N.B. reed-mace can spread rapidly, however it cannot move into deep water, so it should be OK in the lake.
The two steep banks of grass either side of Burma island on the south side are never used as they are to steep and are hard to mow so we want to cover with dense shrubs which would look nice and give wildlife a place to bread this would help wildlife and reduce the need for regular mowing. They could be used for fishing as it doesn’t put people in danger when walking past while people are casting. Possibly the area by the main road that is a bank on the north side could have the same treatment. The wildlife meadow on the South side has helped to bring in insects and should be continued

To encourage wildlife we need to start at the bottom of the food chain by putting lots of compost areas and rotting log piles this needs to be balanced with not looking a mess so it’s a matter of agreeing areas in bushes that wont generally be seen for these we are talking small piles which will barley be seen not huge ones. Other discreet project are log piles and bee hotels again discreetly situated to benefit things like hedgehogs etc. This will fit in with school projects and we would help with an educational resource

More plants are required for wildlife which would include. More bird boxes are also needed and our members are putting up bird feeders to feed birds through the winter.
• Spring: flowering currant, Berberis, Forsythia, guelder rose.
• Summer: Hebe, lavender, honeysuckle, elder
• Autumn: Buddleja, heather, Hypericum, Fatsia
• Winter: Mahonia, ivy, witch hazel, Sarcococca

Much of the winter work is collecting leaves and transporting them this is a natural resource which is being wasted by moving them a few feet into the bush's they improve soil, provide things for nature and put nitrogen back into the soil and will take half the time. A lot of bush's around the fences are cut back in winter and in a lot of cases the denser the area the better there is more for wildlife and it help security by making it harder to break into the park. When that is done all around the park railings you can see self seeded trees and these are never touched. The ANTS could spend a day just removing self seeded trees all over the site.

Since the paths have been done wildlife have suffered as the old paths with holes had puddles for wildlife to drink now there is only Coronation walk left all thats needed is a few small holes that can retain water for wildlife as there is no were to get water as the lake is too steep for a lot of wildlife bird baths would be even better.

Wildlife cameras would be a good asset these would only be deplored as the park was closing and retrieved at opening time so there is no problem with that with these we could check how many badgers we check nest a class wildlife like swans and grebe and gain information on wildlife night life which may show wildlife we didnt know we had. They could be used as a security camera if there were problems at night to capture intruders. You can get cameras for bird boxes which would be interesting to observe the birds all this goes towards getting a better understanding of the needs of wildlife in the park.

Wildlife needs promoting in the park as its a crowed puller and bring responsible people into the park the need is there I tweet my wildlife photos on Twitter and often they are retweeted a 1000 times so people are interested follow on twitter @janmwright

New Wildlife

The swan had a fit this week she came off the island and headed for the bubbles and spent time diving into the spray

The Moorhen baby takes his first swim around the lake after spending a week or so on the island

The Canada geese have had babies this week wit this nice one and other with mum

The first ducks of the years with 7 young very often they don't all survive

Some nice colour from trees and rhododendrons at this time of year

Vandalism in Queens Park

This week saw a lot of vandal's at work with the seat by the Gulf War memorial being smashed up on 3 sides its a nice peaceful spot to sit and also out if the way for vandals to cause damage

The bandstand has all the stones pulled and smashed possibly used as a ramp for bmx or OAPs electric chairs

Some nice colour with the bright bush by the cafe and all the daffodils out on the bank just being a carpet of yellow

The ducks are getting frisky and we will be seeing baby ducks soon

The lake is still very high and the islands in and out of water. The path next to the lake has this strange in lay I dont know if its for a seat  they did the same over the other side of the lake