Roundhay Park

I haven't been to Roundhay park in a while and as it turned out to be a decent day Saturday I headed over with my daughter (tying it in with a stop at Tropical World too). Off the bat we were greeted with carpets of Crocus - the colour is fantastic.

Squirrels, Woodpigeons and Magpies were in and out of the flowers

This squirrel was gathering material and taking it up to it's nest.

My daughter pointed out a Crow walking down the grass with a tennis ball in it's beak!! Of course it dropped it right as I got the camera on it.

On the Upper Lake there was a lot of Tufted Ducks, a few Mallard, Coots, Moorhen and Black Headed Gulls. By the island at one end a pair of Gadwall. A Jay flew into the trees on the island and got into a bit of a squawking match with a couple of Magpies. The Coots were starting to nest in the reeds.

We kept hearing a Woodpecker as we walked but never caught up with it unfortunately. There were more Jays flying around and I just spotted one in the undergrowth.

On Waterloo lake are possibly the most well fed (overfed) birds in Leeds, lots of Swans, Geese, Gulls and a couple of Cormorants too.

The Gulls were fighting over food dropped on the path until two Crows came along and fought them all off.

The top end of the lake had more Cormorants, Coots, Mallard and a lone Great Crested Grebe. There were a few Blue Tits in the trees but the woods there were pretty quiet.

A couple of photos of the Cormorants by the cafe and we were off, the park was getting a little too busy to stroll through without dodging dogs and bikes!

Roundhay Park

Took the little one off to Roundhay Park today, made the obligatory visit to Tropical World - had to pay a visit to see the baby Meerkats!

Then we headed out into the park and explored around the Upper Lake for a change. There is a wooded area that i've never been in before and we spent quite a bit of time around here listening to the bird song.

It was quiet and peaceful and the little one was happy watching a Coot on a nest in hope eggs would hatch any minute - they didn't in fact the Coot stood up and there were no eggs at all!

Anyway there were two Robins vying for our attention one either side of the fence and both quite friendly. I spotted movement on a tree and moved closer to see my first Nuthatch of the year, it even flew out onto some branches so we watched if for a while. A very large crow came along and had a bath in the stream. The birds are obviously very used to the people and didn't seem to mind us at all. Before we left the wood a male Blackcap put in and appearance and sang beautifully for us.

On the lake there were quite a lot of Tufted Ducks, Coots, Mallards and the odd Moorhen. A pair of Swans are nesting just under the island and one of them chased off a pair of Canada Geese, not just away from the nest but right off the lake.

Onto the the main lake we passed a lot of Crows, Jackdaws and the one or two squirrels. We sat and watched a Great Crested Grebe and a lot of Black Headed Gulls for a while. A bird suddenly flew around our heads making a lot of noise - an Oystercatcher! It flew up and down the lake, the Gulls weren't impressed but it stayed around a few minutes constantly squawking before flying off again over the trees. A very nice bird to end an the afternoon and a little surprising to see at Roundhay.

Roundhay Park

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.