Sutton Park NNR

B, E and I paid a rare visit to Sutton Park National Nature Reserve yesterday. Sutton Park covers 2400 acres and is located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. As well as being a NNR it is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The habitat consists of heathland, woodland, 7 lakes/pools, wetlands and marshes. The lowland heathland, which extends over 465 acres of the park, is a rare and threatened habitat and Sutton Park is the second largest unbroken stretch in Staffs and the West Midlands. It comprises dry and wet heathland areas, bog, mire and acid grassland and has existed on this site since at least Roman times. The park has been grazed at a low level for 100's of years (today ponies and cattle are used) to allow heathland plants to flourish.
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Brief History of the Site

Over 6000 years ago in Neolithic times nomadic people would have hunted and fished in this area and some of their flint tools have been discovered. Bronze Age mounds from 3000 years ago have also been found. In Medieval times King Henry in 1125 gave parts of the forest (which then extended over a huge area) to the Earls of Warwick. In the 1520's Sutton Park as we know it today came into existence and was used for hunting by King Henry VIII.

In 1528 a John Harman (who lived in Sutton Coldfield and later became Bishop of Exeter) persuaded the King to grant a charter placing the admininstration of Sutton Coldfield town in the control of a warden and local people and it also allowed Harman to enclose a section of what was known as The Chase to use as a park for the benefit of local citizens. This charter allowed local residents to hunt and fish and graze their animals there.

Recreational use of the park began in the 19th century when there were 2 horse racing courses in the park (no longer there) and a golf club was built. During World War One huts for soldiers and convalescent camps were built in the park as well as a prisoner of war camp. In World War Two the park was used as a training ground for troops and the Home Guard and an internee camp was built.

Activities in the area today are varied and include wildlife watching, canoeing, cycling, dog walking, fishing, golf, horse riding, orienteering and sailing.

We parked in Streetly Wood and walked onto the Heathland from there.

Ryknild Roman Road crosses the park and according to the information you can make out the bank and ditches

which can just be made out in the two photos below.

As you can see from the photos it was fairly quiet in this area of the park although sadly we saw very few birds - only Wood Pigeons, Carrion Crows and a Great Tit!

We wondered what lay on the other side of the railway line and

went through two gates and under the bridge.

We had entered a much busier part of the park near

Little Bracebridge Pool which was built in the Middle Ages to stock fish. Not a duck in sight but in view of the number of dogs running in and out of the water I was not surprised! Weekends are obviously not the best time to visit. At this stage we beat a hasty retreat and returned to the more peaceful area of heathland and walked back to the car by a different route.

Fungi on birch

The last time I went to Sutton Park was in 2015 and by coincidence I visited the same area of heathland. Some of you who have been reading the blog for years may remember I was given some tiny Emperor Moth Caterpillars in 2014 by the County Moth Recorder which I successfully raised. The adult moths can take between 1 and 5 years to emerge from the pupa (I still hope each year I may get more adults) and in 2015 the first adults emerged. I was hoping to get males and females so I could acquire more eggs but only males emerged and I took them to Sutton Park to release them as it is the nearest location to me that has a wild colony of Emperor Moths.


Spot the moth!

A close up - aren't they beautiful? To be honest I was really sad at the time as I had raised them from when they were so tiny but it was the only way they were going to find a female in the wild and reproduce. Males are attracted to females by the pheromones they emit which can travel for miles. If a female had emerged, before releasing her, I was going to put her in a large cage in the garden in the hope that if we did have a colony of Emperor Moths close by they would assemble in the garden around the cage. But this was not to be.

Photos of Sutton Park taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330. Photos of the Emperor Moths were taken in 2015 with the Olympus e-420 dslr.


Reference: Birmingham City Council website pages on Sutton Park


On Saturday D and I had a day out in Lincolnshire visiting the village of Bottesford and the amazing church there and then Easton Walled Gardens to see the snowdrops. I will do a few posts on our day out later this week when I have sorted out the church photos (there are a lot!).

Water Vole Surveying Along a Canal, Release of another Emperor Moth and a late Blue Tit nest

Seven or eight years ago I undertook water vole surveys for the local Wildlife Trust after attending one of their Water Vole Surveying Courses. Unfortunately, I eventually had to give them up due to lack of time with the number of family commitments I had then. Of all the surveys I've done in the past Water Vole surveying was the one I enjoyed the most so when I noticed the People's Trust for Endangered Species had launched a National Water Vole Monitoring Programme I decided to register to take part. Water Voles are our fastest declining mammal. A National Water Vole Survey in 1989/90 estimated a 94% loss of water vole sites during the 20th century. The most recent national survey which took place in 1996/98 revealed a further loss of 89%. The aim of the PTES monitoring programme is to make yearly visits to sites that were surveyed in the 1980's and 1990's to gather up to date information on the distribution and abundance of the species and to detect any changes since the last survey and to monitor future changes.

Water voles (Arvicola amphibius) are mainly found along slow flowing rivers, streams, canals, lakes and ponds. They are vegetarian and have been recorded eating 227 plant species, mainly bankside grasses and sedges, marginal and emergent plants and in winter they will eat berries, tree bark and roots. They live in colonies along banks where they dig a burrow system into the bank although on rough pasture land they will build woven nests. Water Voles receive full legal protection and, due to their dramatic decline, have been designated a Priority Species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).

Reasons for their decline include:

Loss and degradation of habitat due to river engineering, canalisation, bank reinforcement, lack of riparian management or inappropriate bank management.

Fragmentation of habitat which isolates colonies.

Predation by the non-native mink (Mustela vision) which escaped or was released from commercial mink farms. Female mink, in particular, are very effective predators and can hunt water voles on land, in the water and are small enough to pursue voles into their burrows. A breeding female mink can wipe out a whole water vole colony.

Disturbance of colonies due to activities along the river and on the water course.

Poor Water Quality and pollution (from farm waste, insecticides and herbicides)

Flooding

Poisoning due to mistaken identity and the inappropriate use of rodenticides.



The PTES survey involves visiting the allocated site(s) in May to walk a 500/600 metre continuous route noting on the way any field signs of water voles, for example, actual sightings, burrows, latrines, feeding signs and grazed lawns. Locations of these in each 100 metre stretch need to be recorded. Field signs (scats/spraints and tracks)of otters and mink, if found, are also noted.

Water voles are rare in Warwickshire. There are colonies in Coventry, Wolvey and Nuneaton and a few isolated colonies elsewhere. Unfortunately, I have had problems gaining landowner permission for the brook I hoped to survey in Warwickshire. In fact, in the end he refused although failed to give any reasons which was disappointing to put it mildly. There were no such problems with the other site I planned to survey - a canal in the West Midlands which I surveyed earlier this week.

When you are surveying for water voles you really don't want to see bank reinforcements such as these

as it means water voles are very unlikely to be present as they cannot burrow into the bank. There were around 300 metres on the opposite bank of the canal which appeared to be reinforcement free
but the whole of the bank on the side I was walking had brick reinforcements so it wasn't really surprising that I found no water vole field signs at all. I will go back in September though just to double check and I may walk further along the canal to see how far the reinforcements go.

Once I'd done the survey I was free to take note of the flora and fauna along the canal.

B had just spotted a Reed Bunting.

Sorry the photos aren't very good - I took the Bridge Camera which I still haven't mastered. It was a bit foolhardy really but I just stuck it on automatic and used it as a point and shoot. Not easy taking photos of moving objects with one hand as I was also holding, maps and survey forms in the other.

Mallard and ducklings

Canada Goose

This Grey Heron was a very long way away taken on full zoom.

Moorhen and Young - sorry really dreadful picture but it was so cute.

It was pleasing to see the number of nestboxes on the farmland opposite

Owl box

An interesting looking footpath into a nature reserve adjacent to the canal.

Sad sight - fly tipping in the car park :( Can never ever understand why people drive to places like this or deep into the countryside to get rid of stuff when they could just as easily visit their local rubbish collection point.

When I made a preliminary visit to the canal a week or so ago I took these photos of dandelions with the Olympus. It really does seem to have been a good year for dandelions.

Emperor Moth News


So far 3 males have emerged from the cocoons - all now safely released.

Sadly, no females yet.... so I haven't had chance to try assembling.

It can take several years for the moths to emerge so in a few weeks I'll put the cocoons back in a cool place and wait until next year.

I've been offered some more emperor eggs/caterpillars and I may take up the kind offer - though will ask for fewer this year!!



Moth trapping in the garden this May so far has been exceedingly depressing with hardly any moths trapped. As its Garden Moth Scheme night I will try again tonight.



Blue Tit Nesting News

Despite activity from a pair of blue tits constantly visiting the nestbox over several months there were no signs of nest building and I really had given up hope. Last week there was another sudden flurry of activity and the female built a nest within a couple of days and she is now incubating six eggs. This nesting attempt is very late compared to usual!