Wildlife in the Queens Park this week

The blind scented garden has been landscaped this week with a new layout and path. The Gulf War memorial is still missing having been vandalised.

 

The south side of the park  is now open from Morton Rd and the path isnt to bad there.

The Cafe is now open and servings food etc with facilities for young children.

Wildlife this week

Its been a strange week with new wildlife coming this week and some old favourites' the rare Barnacle Goose   has been around all week.

The Heron has taken up residence on the Island and has been around all week again.

A new addition this week is Moor hens

Latin name

Gallinula chloropus

Family

Rails (Rallidae)

Overview

The moorhen is a medium-sized, ground-dwelling bird, that is usually found near water. From a distance it looks black with a ragged white line along its body. Up close it is olive-brown on the back and the head and underneath are blue-grey. It has a red bill with a yellow tip. It breeds in the UK in lowland areas, especially in central and eastern England. It is scarce in northern Scotland and the uplands of Wales and northern England. UK breeding birds are residents and seldom travel far.

Where to see them

There's a chance of seeing a moorhen anywhere where there is water - from a small ditch or a lake in a city centre park, to a big lake or reservoir.

There has been two the older one and the young one which doesnt have the coloured beak yet.

The bedraggled Mandarin Duck has come back he has not been around for a while(click on the image to see it better)

Stef Bennett sent this picture in of the Grebe and all so a small grebe has been seen fishing but no pictures yet.

Winter is coming and Blue Tits, Squirrels, rabbits have all been seen this week 

Queens Park Restoration Review

There has been a lot of comments on the state of the park with the grand opening. I thought a review of whats been done may be interesting.

Starting at the main gate the lodges have been restored at a cost of £250,000.00

 

In the same area the clock tower has been done with a clean repaint of the iron work and broken bits of stone work repaired cost of £24,000.00

The bowls hut and the cafe have been total rebuilt in sandstone and the paths around them re-laid. They are both state of the art and cost £1,625,800

The Boer war statue has been renovated and the old base recovered after 30 years and now stands proud cost £27,000

The bandstand was lovingly restored and and an area for Bats provided cost £160,000

All the bridges have been rebuilt and are all new and the lake has been restored with edges re done the lake clean out and desilted  along with the islands. Some work remains like the bank to Morton road planting of flowers etc in the lake and Burma island. cost £1,850,354  The cleaning of the lake cost £330,00 and the massive Broadwalk bridge cost £250,000

 

The Monkey hut is now finished at a cost of £28,000 aprox and the children's play area shelter has also been done at the same cost aprox

The play area has been rebuilt from scratch with all sort of new activities at a cost of £210,000.

There are other things that have been done like all the fence the new gates at every entrance the man footpaths. So the building work has now been completed and what remains is really maintenance. Left o be done is Coronation Walk planting and paths along with the stream and fountain. The main work is on the paths but Morton road south east side is now open its just the west side were heavy cranes destroyed the path that most work is needed along with a Tidy up of building material. The truth is the park will never be fully finished just like your house there will all ways be maintenance to be done  and there is a 10 year plan to keep the park in good condition and keep it replanted

Grand Opening Evening

On the old Bandstand there were groups playing but a bit dimly lit

Starquest Winner

Another band on the old bandstand

Starquest winner being present with her prize

A spectacular show of water and lights most un usual  the highlight of the day

Finally the Fireworks

Grand Opening Parade

Next came the parade which started in Pyms Lane

Above the Sea Cadets

Old Fire Engine

Scots Band

Band

These were Aces

Can Can

Another Fine mess you got me into Stanley is this Blackpool?

Jovial Mayor

Grand Opening Day Morning

I have had to split the day into parts. In the morning it was good to see the Burma Stone back in its rightful place on the island.

The park was not that busy early on but the fun fare was there and keeping in with the Victorian theme the pictures are old style

We had to have a car show didnt we

The RNLI put on a good show keeping with the theme

They also had the herdy gurdy man and old folks watching

 

It was nice to see the old steam train out even it is was a small one

There were also Birds of Prey on show

Grand Opening Event

Next week on the 10th September the Grand open event is on so dress up and come and join in the fun.

There has not been a lot going on this week the main work is the Bowling hut were the path has been excavated and its hoped to be ready for the opening. The flowers are putting on a good show.

 

The main entrance flowers are in full bloom and lovely at this time of year.

The sting in the tale is Autumn is on its way. The first sign is this tree in the Queens Park as every year this is one of the first trees in Crewe to show its on its way as its colour starts to change.

On the wildlife front the white duck has settled into park life and taking bread from visitors.

This week we had 3 herons on site so the lake is getting popular with them.

The Barnacle Goose has been seen all week and now getting tame.

He has rings on so he must have been tagged at some point but its still a rare site