Before and after renovations

Sunday saw the park full of bike of every size age and type from penny farthings to modern bikes, Dr bike was there doing free repairs for all bikes

 

After over 5 years and 7 million pounds of renovation parts of the park are still a tip. Its been that long people wont remember what it used to be like above is Coronation Walk today un kept and full of weeds and no water fall. Below is how nice it used to look before they started renovating it which is better? The park is being destroyed and made worse than ever

Wildlife habitat destroyed by the ANTS

A new ram has gone in on the island at the bottom of the lake so the moorhen's can get on to the island with their young. For  along time they nest by the little bridge in the bamboo along with rabbits but this has all been destroyed by the ANTS cleaning it up. Its in borders so cant go far and it doesnt grow to big but they saw fit to totally destroy it. in the same area there are 10 self seeded trees that want pulling out and the borders with bushes are full of weeds but they have left them. The whole problem is people come into the park think they are doing good but in fact they are destroying it. They removed very old plants form the lodge garden that were rare totally wiping them out. The groups in the park dont have a master plan to work to and just step on others toes due to lack of communication.  The ANTS put up bird boxes many in the wrong place facing the wrong way as they dont know what birds go into which area they dont know what box to put were and put them facing to wrong way the chicks can get to hot if in direct sunlight.

Would you take your car to a garage that let untrained volunteers repair it no you wouldnt as they could wreck the car in the same way these people know very little about gardening and wildlife and just destroy everything. What is needed is groups to work together and to get trained supervision of these events. In the same way the wildlife group are feeding the swans in the wrong way and they could suffer as they are now to use to humans and when they leave they may well suffer as they seek out humans all of which arnt nice people  

Autumn is on its way

One of the first trees to change with the onset of Autumn is this one in the park and its started changing colour and dropping leave so its on its way you do get some nice colours over the next few week as the trees change

Two new power box have gone in this week by the lake ready for the new aeration scheme to  pump oxygen into the water as the fish were dying due to lake of oxygen they will float on the surface and be like mini fountains and have to be anchored down or the spin out of control. This should have been done as part of the restoration but wasnt done

A few Robins are collecting in the park just like Xmas. The cygnet no3 has been returned this week from the RSPCA after it had the fishing line in its mouth. The swans are now learning to flap their wings and normally the parents will chase them off but as dad is alone its more likely they will stay and dad will go and find a new mate return and then drive them off

More Cygnets hooked in fishing line

Last week saw 2 cygnets and a duck caught in fishing line the picture above show what came from one cygnets mouth and the duck is now in Stapley. So despite everyone best efforts this is not working. The problem is that people are going down all day feeding the swans which is good but its how you feed them that is causing the problems. They are now so tame they eat out of anyone's hand and this how they are being fed. People are doing this out of ignorance and think its very good but swans are wild life not pets. As they are so used to humans they think this is how they get food so they see fishermen and head over for food and as a result get caught in line. No Canada gees have been hooked as they are not hand fed.

This presents another problem its ok for the duck, squirrels etc to get very used to humans as they often stay in the park for life  but swans the father will sooner or later drive them away and they will leave and find new homes but believing food will come from humans so they will go to any one and of coarse some people arnt nice and may catch them for dinner or get hooked in more fishing line.

The problem is the hand feeding this must now stop they can be fed from the bridge or have food placed on the ground for them but humans must back off so they find food by natural foraging if this doesn't happen they will leave and be unable to survive in the wild. Problem is people now wont see that and they will eventually suffer as a result. All wildlife sanctuaries try to keep human contact to the minimum if creature are to return to the wild

above the power supply for the lake aeration is now in and this will bring more oxygen to the lake for fish wildlife etc  as fish have been dying due to lack of oxygen it was part of the original plan along with plants to help but never got done

Deadly Path Made Safe?

After last weeks report of the deadly path the Chronicle also ran the story this week with picture and low and behold a gang of workmen appeared and created a new feature a mud wrestling ring and closed the path. But at least its responsible sae now. The council claimed it was down to fly tipping but as I witness back in may the council do it this wasnt the case, it sad that you have to get press coverage to get things made safe when it was so clearly deadly

The cygnets have been ringed this week and we have 2 boys 2 girls and one they dont know. The one from Stapley injured by fishing line  will be released soon they hope but cant return to the park as father may drive it off

A ramp has gone in on the island so wildlife can then get back on the island with their young as it was once they left the island young couldnt get back and were in danger,

The swans are growing well now and dad is still looking after them well

Could You be KILLED in the Queens Park

Above is a lethal death trap in the park for  a long time the path at the end of the lake by the golf coarse has been very bad as its very narrow and slippery on one side is the lake and the other is a trench left by the restoration which for ages has been full of dirty stagnant water so either way you fell you would have got wet. But then the council decided to create a death trap and dumped a load of rubbish in the trench turning a wet pool into something lethal. click on the picture and take a close look at the metal very sharp rusty and just right to kill you. If you fall onto that your dead or very seriously injured. If that doesn't get you then there are bricks concrete slabs and other nasty's to crack your head open. The council have left it like this  and created the problem them selves. How can anyone say this complies with Health and Safety laws there can be no argument its deadly and they have done nothing about it the person who instructed this to be done could be criminally liable. Even though they know about this nothing has been done when anyone dies or get hurt they can come on this site for photographic evidence of the CEC H&S failings and win a compensation claim

The clock tower has had its 3rd renovation with new finials' this week the colour doesn't match but will fade in time

 

A new sign this week by the bandstand with a map and local details of the walks available locally part of the Sustrans project

The cygnets are doing well with no more fishing problems and are growing well the only real danger to them now comes from humans and fishing. The cygnet in Stapley may be able to come back in a couple of weeks lets hope it doesnt get driven off

Cygnets Hooked by Fishing line AGAIN

Once again the fishermen have injured more cygnets one above with a hook in its mouth and line trailing behind was spotted by the wildlife group https://www.facebook.com/groups/queensparkwildlife/ and action was taken to save it we hope that its not swallowed the line and has internal injuries. Once again the low life that do this don't report it to the RSPCA or anyone to get it help they run off and leave it to die a horrible painful death. The other cygnet is still at the RSPCA Stapley and still isn't out of the woods yet lets hope it pulls through.

Again there is a possibility that another has been caught in line tonight and the one below we are worried about its leg as it seems to be injured.

The problem is there is no end in site things are just getting worse with an almost daily problem and these are not kids fishing these are adults doing this. Nothing is being done to stop this happening. You can see below an illegal act not just park rules but its illegal to leave a rod unattended as it states on the licence https://www.gov.uk/fishing-licences/rod-limits if found by the environment agency  you can get a hefty fine and banned from fishing http://www.fisheries.co.uk/news/news/marshall.htm
Once kids start in the school hols things will be totally out of control and the CEC are doing nothing to help the situation they are covering up criminal acts when swans are attacked every incident with a swan attack should be reported to the police not covered up.
Something must be done I have heard of people suggesting vigilantly patrols and this must be condemned but people are shocked and upset by lack of response by the park

Going by other park rules in the uk the rules need to be changed
no ground baiting (the wildlife see this and come over then the angler doesn't lift the rod)
Clear notices of how to contact the bailiff so people can report problems and if they hook wildlife report it. The stupid £5 fee want increasing to a reasonable £30 then this would pay for more bailiffs
No catapults these are weapons and not suitable in the park as last week the kids were firing at wildlife.
Bailiffs to note who is on what peg and times and that person is responsible for the peg and to clean up after them ie no left line this would also give a clue as to who was fishing if wildlife are hurt.
No casting close to wildlife and rods to be lifted if wildlife come close

Apart form the cygnets there are a lot of baby ducks moorhens and rabbits to see in the park at this time

Wildlife Blood Bath Continues while CEC do nothing

Last Sat 12th,they  had to use a boat to reach a cygnet that was tangled in fishing line. On Mon 14th Derek, one of the bailiffs, had to untangle a cygnet from fishing line. What sort of fisherman hooks up cygnets then leaves them in horrendous pain to die instead of reporting it to the RSPCA or the bailiff they can be only described as low life. If you see anyone doing this report it straight away. Its very clear and proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that all these problems come from fishing which is what the wildlife group tried to stop https://www.facebook.com/groups/queensparkwildlife/

Once the kids come off school things can only get worse and CEC are not doing anything to solve the problem. Despite the bailiffs and people turning out to help these things are still happening so they have proved in effective. So far its only swans that have been the main victims but the Grebe on the lake this week is also a protect species. Part of the problem is fishermen using ground bate which the swans see and think its food then swim over and get caught as the fishermen wont lift their rods to save them. The bailiffs Tel number needs to be displayed all around the area so people can report problems. The low fee of £5 is stupid and should be £35 or so this would provide money for more bailiffs.     

Some new baby ducks on the lake this week lets hope they survive and below a mysterious egg floating in the water this week

Very heavy rain this week meant the sewer at the bottom of the lake over flowed into the lake

The boat house has had a face lift and some painting done to it

Two weeks ago the ANTS cleaned Cory walk and removed the rubbish and two week later the rubbish is still there now causing problems for mowing and rotting the grass so they have just moved rubbish around and solved nothing there is no reason they couldnt have done a proper job and used a wheel barrow to remove it all together

Injured Cygnet Latest

 

Report just in from the wildlife group on Face Book https://www.facebook.com/groups/1502881536594395/

got back from visiting our cygnet at Stapeley. How cool to be allowed to see him but how sad to hear he has a 50/50 chance of surviving. His injury, confirmed to be caused by FISHING LINE has made him unable to walk. If he can not put weight on his leg and is unable to walk he will have to be put to sleep. Made me want to cry. Poor little thing. He is on painkillers and my fingers are crossed. More care MUST be taken when fishing. This is a protected species.

If there is no action taken by the fishing group and the park management then more are going to die the fishermen throw in ground bait and the swans think its food so come over to them we watched today as swans swam under rods and the fishermen made no attempt to lift the rod to keep them safe. Once the kids start then all hell will break loose and the council will do nothing they remove any comments on Face Book trying to pretend nothing is happening. If the RSPCA gave the fishing group a £4,000 vets bill every time this happened they may get their act together.