Families flocked to Horsham Park bird event

The Horsham Park bird event proved very popular with families, with children voting the robin as their favourite species.The Friends of Horsham Park’s bird event was held to coincide with the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch at the end of January.All bird-spotting walks sold out ahead of time and extra sessions were scheduled to meet the demand.Parks and Countryside Wardens, Jake Everritt and Jo Glossop, guided families around the Park, showing great places to spot birds, including at the newly cleaned up pond. The leaders were impressed with the enthusiasm and the ability to identify birds. A bird treasure hunt in the Human Nature Garden was another fun way to learn how to identify birds. Children also voted for their favourite bird, putting the robin in top place again after it won in the last Bird Event in 2020. They also enjoyed spinning a wheel to find out about the target species the Friends and Horsham District Council’s Parks and Countryside team focus on supporting, including fieldfares, hedgehogs, bumblebees, and butterflies. Sally Sanderson, Chair of Friends of Horsham Park said: “It was great to see so many families enjoying the event. It’s a good reminder to us all to enjoy the wildlife. Slowing down, looking and listening can add to the delight of a visit to the park.”Many birds spotted at the event including herring gull, wood pigeon, magpie, mallard, black headed gull, carrion crow, tufted duck, moorhen, song thrush, blackbird, robin, starling, coal tit, goldcrest, nuthatch, redwing, stock dove, and wren, and pigeon.The Friends are undertaking various projects to record the flora and fauna in the park, including encouraging visitors to submit sightings of wildlife on the free ‘iRecord’ app.The Friends of Horsham Park aims to protect, enhance and promote our Park as a place of recreation and enjoyment for the long-term benefit of everyone. Anyone is welcome to join the Friends, contact [email protected]