Priory Country Park Visit- 15 Feb 2024
Following flooding and some anxiety around access to the areas we wished to visit at Priory County Park the day of our visit dawned dry and warm.
A group of 13 of us met in the Cardington Mill Car Park and donned waterproof footwear whilst enjoying the sound of many birds in their early season singing.
It was interesting to view the park with such high water levels and we were able to follow the early part of our planned walk and enjoy the usual birds encountered in the park. We were very pleased to note that the Grey Herons already appear to be sitting on their nests – indeed we found ourselves very close to a couple of these birds.
As we progressed around the lake we had views of a Great-Crested Grebe pair performing part of their courtship ritual and of Oystercatchers on the island.
We had hoped to walk along the riverside path but it proved much too muddy so we stayed on the main path. This was fortunate as we met a fellow U3A member studying something which proved to be a Red-eared Terrapin. Given that this species was probably put into the lake when it’s attraction as a pet had waned and that it really should not be there we were, never-the-less, very interested to see it. It was also pointed out that the egret we had seen from the far side of the lake was, in fact, a Cattle Egret rather than a Little Egret which had been our assumption. We carried on to a point where we could clearly see the Cattle Egret which we had not previously encountered on our walks although it will probably feature more and more in future.
Although we had become increasingly aware that we were wearing too many layers for the day we had a very interesting and enjoyable morning.