wildlife – Alex Bloodfire

I have visited this tranquil park many times as it’s near to where I live and is home to the free zoo. It houses a growing collection of rare and exotic birds and mammals including laughing kookaburras, ring-tailed lemurs, ring tailed coatis, wallabies, a stumpery and butterfly house.

Golders Hill Park Zoo plays an important role in the interpretation and education of the habitats and wildlife of Hampstead Heath, London, UK. It’s one of only two free zoos in the London area and registered with The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA)

The Greater Rhea Bird

The Greater Rhea is my favourite in the park, housed in the Deer enclosure next to the kids playground and is a fascination to watch

Native to the UK this is the largest bird on the American Continent. The Greater Rhea belongs to a group of flightless birds known as Ratites.

The park is very popular in the summer months and as you can see below has some cute and interesting animals, birds and wildlife.

Golders Green Hill Park has a range rare and exotic birds, including wild birds

The park introduced a stumpery a few years ago to encourage hedgehogs and the likes to flourish. Many wild squirrels seek home in the park and can be seen running around climbing the trees, particularly in the stumpery. Ducks and Geese live in and around the duck pond banks and breed in the summer and it’s a pleasure to see it full of baby ducks and baby geese,

Golders Hill Park opened to the public in 1898 and is an historically important part of Hampstead Heath in the city of London. The landscaped grounds contain beautiful plant displays including a peaceful Mediterranean water garden. It hosts a popular café and a bandstand situated on the green and a host of music played in the summer months.

You can support the park by adopting an animal here at Golders Hill Park Zoo by getting in touch. Volunteering roles and opportunities are also available.

Sign for River Lee Country Park — River Lee Country Park, UK

River Lee Country Park is Located in the Lee Valley Park and managed by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

It’s quite a big park covering over 1,000 acres on either side of the River Lee Navigation between Broxbourne and Waltham Abbey.

I passed a few big lakes teaming with wildlife, some watercourses and open spaces as well as hiking the River Lee itself full to the brim of canal boats.

Much of the park here is of special scientific interest and almost everything is linked by footpaths and cycle tracks. The area isn’t just important for birds the network of waterways is a haven to some of the most endangered mammals like the Otters and Water Voles.

I recommend this park particularly to bird watchers as the whole park is teaming with them everywhere. In fact every winter the Lee Valley Regional Park supports over 10,000 water birds as an inland wintering area. There’s also amazing wildlife and birds to see throughout the year including the rare otters which disappeared from Lee Valley in the 1970’s and have now made a come back. I didn’t get the opportunity to see any otters nor water voles this time but maybe I’ll be back!

Following the Trail I saw Swans and Geese with their little babies, Kingfishers, Seagulls, lots of Dragonflies, Herons, Warblers etc. See below some of the photos I snapped.