Paid a visit to Roundhay Park yesterday with my little one, mostly to go to Tropical World but we ended up walking round the lake too. The park keepers (if that is their correct title!) do a wonderful job in the gardens here - well not just here but all over at the moment.
The canal gardens near Tropical World are beautiful. Especially a little wall filled with Nasturtiams which reminded me of my childhood as my parents used to grow them each year. Planning on having my own next year now.
There were bees and butterflies everywhere we looked. A lot of Small Whites, Peacocks, Commas, Red Admiral and Tortoiseshell. I don't think I have ever seen so many different bees/flies in one place before. Inside Tropical World the butterflies were a bit scarce but there was plenty of other things to see!
We headed across the road into the large park. We did check out the newly opened Mansion and the gift shop is very nice and they have nice toilets too just in case anyone needs to know!! There were plenty of squirrels running about and lots of noisy Crows.
At the lake the Canada Geese and Mallards were in residence along with a few Mute Swans including this little chap.
As we walked around we spotted a few Great Crested Grebes that had young with them. They never get too close to waters edge so didn't get a good look but it's the first time i've seen young Grebes. A family of Mallards still had some pretty small ducklings. Can't go near water without seeing Coots and Moorhens either of course.We found a large patch of these Orchids (I think!) by the water.
The funniest thing was a row of posts across the Lake each one had a Gull on it! There were Herring Gulls and Black Headed Gulls also. Apart from Magpies we did not see another bird in the whole time we were there, not even a Sparrow which odd.
What a pretty place to visit Pam and you took some lovely photos, the Nasturtiums on the wall looked so colourful. I enlarged the photo of the flower beds with the fountain and it looks beautiful. A very nice way to spend a Summer day.
ReplyDeleteRoundhay Park certainly looks lovely Pam, I too especially like the pic of the nasturtiums & ferns growing on the wall.
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether the pink flower could be Himalayan Balsam? It grows over a metre tall, often near water, has a distinctive smell & the flower buds pop open with a bit of an oomph. Hope this helps, see what you think. Linda
Thank you both for the comments. I forgot how lovely Nasturtiums are, I remember them taking over part of the garden and I have just the place for them next year!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the help on the flower Linda, you are right that's exactly what they were :-)
Pam