Last Sunday my walk home from visiting my local nature reserve took me through Carey Park.
The park is part of the the Northwich Woodlands and is the closest area to the town.
Opened in 2003 it's named after Councillor Ron Carey who was active in bringing about the regeneration of the site... the park is located on the site of the former Witton landfill.
The reclamation project has turned the area into a woodland and nature reserve.
Carey Park is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) with rare grasses, wild flowers and butterflies thriving alongside other wildlife.
Hello!
This fella was so curious.
The easiest way of maintaining the balance of scrub versus grassland is by grazing with livestock.
I had seen a flock of Hebridean sheep earlier over at Ashtons Flash.
I had only been watching the cattle for a few minutes when they all trooped off up the hill.
I continued on my way... my route following alongside the herd.
It looks like they had something a bit tastier at the top of the rise.
Hey!... wait for me.
There's always one....
This image was taken from the same spot as I saw the cattle.
The old landfill site is to the left and the River Weaver down to my right.
The river cruiser is just a few hundred yards from reaching the town centre.
And me?...just over a mile from my own front door.
A bit of info about my local nature reserve... apologies if you already know all about it.
Carey Park is one of nine sites which make up the Northwich Woodlands.
Created from what was once largely derelict land the Woodlands now provide a rich and green environment to the north of Northwich town centre.
Each of the nine countryside sites that make up the Woodlands has its own unique character and history.
The Weaver Navigation and the Trent and Mersey canal flow through the heart of the Woodlands adding further variety to the landscape.
Its network of surfaced paths provides many routes accessible to all and appeals to a variety of users including horse riders, cyclists, nature lovers and families.
29 comments:
Marvellous portraits and what a sprint!
Hope you are having a good Easter weekend. And happy Easter although it's already late in the day.
looks like a herd of heifers so that might be a girl checking you out. SO cute!
Thanks for the info about Carey Park and the Northwich Woodlands - I hadn't heard it before. Though it is of course, vital that we maintain existing sites that are good for wildlife, my favourite type of reserve is where one has been created from scratch.
#501437, has stolen my heart. too cute!! & so sweet as well. (:
Nice shots, Andrew!
Have a great Sunday evening!
Eva
Oh dear, and Theresa too, who lives in Texas among all those longhorns! That is a nice herd of steers and heifers and don't worry Andrew, you at least can tell a boy from a girl. So good to see your cattle for comparison to our breeds and they were being fed 'dry' feed, i.e. hay, to stop them getting 'the runs' from all that lush spring grass.
Great that you have this Reserve so close to home and do't have to drive anywhere for a wander in nature.
Good shots Andrew.
So nice that reclaimed land is now a nature reserve. Nicer still it is so close to home. Like the galloping cows and your new header photo.
The use of landfill is very good, they do it by me, it has the Bee Orchids for instance. Lovely cows that use it, beautiful images. Oh, don't the others, your guess was right.
Love the action shots of the cattle. The highland cattle we saw yesterday were very docile and just stared at us.
that third photo is a real cracker!!!
Love the cows shots, especially the closeups.I always think it is funny to cow a cow running, they are usually so big and clumsy looking. Great photos. Happy Sunday!
Peaceful and serene captures Andrew .. You live in a wonderful corner of the world .
Andrew, new and beautiful header.
Beautiful shots, is a great post.
Greetings.
A very nice set of photos...
I like all those different patterns on the cattles. Nice shots of the running one.
Great photos Andrew! The cattle look amusing! I can't believe they are not frightened of the camera.
Alright, this is my third visit to your post! It's been a hectic day here with the grandchildren! Every time I went to post a comment someone interupted me and I would forget all about you..sorry about that Drew!
Love all the cow photos, especially the one with the tagged ear!
nice pics Drew; the cattle look like they have lovely property to graze, and the river view is charming too. I had to convert a mile to kilometres; it equals just 1.6 kilometres so I have a real idea now quite how far away you were. Looked to be a lovely day outdoors.
Hi there - looks like an interesting area to explore. I used to work on a similar series of nature reserves in the NE of England - one of which was formed from an old tip as well.
Seeing that you seem to have a regular patch to walk and watch on I thought I'd recommend a book called "A Patch Made in Heaven" - its about a year in one birders local area. Rather different from the 'how many birds can I see in one year' type of thing. My review is on Amazon UK.
Cheers - Stewart M - Australia
Brilliant bovine portraits Andrew, love the way they all tear off at the hint of food arriving! Carey Park sounds brilliant and even more so that it has been reclaimed and 'greened' and is now used by so many folk. Hope you had a wonderful Easter.
Nothing like having a curious cow come up...just look in those eyes and tell me....how can you not love it?!!!
Excellent images!!! And no, I don't know about anything much of your countryside, so this information you share is always a bonus if you ask me.
Love the photos Drew! I am impressed with what they are doing with an old landfill. Your countryside is so beautiful!
i would love to walk in this place. i love wild flowers and grasses and cows and you found all of it in one place.
LOL! Those made me laugh! Cows aren't the brightest of creatures, but they're funny sometimes.
Andrew, when I click post comment, I get the comment box pop-up, but I've also been getting some download pop-up that wants to download a file to my computer. I close it, of course, but it started happening last month and only with your blog. Just wanted you to know.
next time you go to see the cattle go into the field and sit motionless after a few minutes the curious will come and have a sniff then just move your arm and watch them scatter .
I love these!! Gave me quite a chuckle!!
The close-up of the cow is wonderful :-)
Nice Pics...Thanks
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