Learn about our visiting winter birds as you explore Peel Park and the Coppice Local Nature Reserve with our Winter Bird Pebble Walk. Get out of the house during the school holidays and stay safe in your Covid bubble. This circular route around Peel Park and the Coppice takes around an hour and is suitable for all ages. Whilst following the walk, hunt for the nine pebbles painted with birds that visit British woodlands in winter. Be sure to tag us on social media with any pictures you take during the walk - Facebook: @ProspectsFoundation and Twitter: @Prospects1998 Scroll down to see the route map, how to keep safe during the walk and for more information about the birds featured on our pebbles.
Useful Links
In these trying times, everyone is worried. We've created risk assessments for the pebble walk and Covid-19 to outline all the possible hazards you could come across during the pebble walk and how to avoid them. You can view the risk assessments through the links below. We recommend you read the RAMS (link below), this is a reader friendly version of the Risk Assessments. By taking part in the Winter Bird Pebble Walk, you are agreeing to follow the "Control Measures" outlined in the RAMS.
The route for the Winter Bird Pebble Walk begins at the Avenue Parade entrance to Peel Park. The walk takes around an hour, although there are some steeper sections some people may struggle with so allow extra time.
Thousands of birds visit Britain each winter to escape the cold, icy weather of countries further North and East, some birds travel up to 800miles! The arrival of winter migrant birds is less dramatic than the arrival of summer migrants; winter migrants arrive in dribs and drabs depending on the weather and food availability in their home countries. Winter visitors start arriving from autumn, the best time to see them is from October onwards.
Who is visiting?
Brambling – Brambling are found in Beech woodlands and the surrounding fields. Beech nuts are it’s favourite food. They nest in the forks of trees. Loss of woodland habitat threatens bramblings. The Prospects Foundation manages eight woodlands around Hyndburn, find out more by visiting our Woodlands page.
Chaffinch – Chaffinches are common year round in the UK but numbers do increase over winter. The Chaffinch’s plumage helps camouflage it when feeding under trees and shrubs. Chaffinches prefer ground feeding, they don’t use bird feeders. Help Chaffinches by providing seeds and water at ground level in your garden.
Blackbird – Blackbirds are deceptively named, although the males live up to their name with their distinctive black plumage, females are brown with dark brown spotted chests. Blackbirds are a members of the Thrush family and brown females can easily be mistaken for their cousins the Song Thrush and the Mistle Thrush. You may be familiar with blackbirds living in your garden (the Uk has around 5,100,000 breeding pairs), although in winter this number explodes to 10-15 million. Help blackbirds by avoiding using chemicals on your garden, pesticides and weed killers can build up in blackbird’s diet and become toxic. Blackbird numbers declined between 1970s- mid-1990s but have started to recover, meaning Blackbirds have moved from the Amber list to the Green List of Birds of Conservation Concern.
Redwing – Redwing migrate at night, calling “seep seep” to each other. They can be found in large open fields e.g. school playing fields and farmer’s fields, redwing are often mixed with flocks of fieldfare. They are on the UK’s Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern, they are protected by the Wildlife & Country Act, and listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This is because long running monitoring programmes have noticed a steep decline in the number of breeding pairs. You can help redwing by documenting where you see them on apps such as iNaturalist and iRecord, especially if you have photos of the birds.
Fieldfare – Fieldfare migrate from Scandinavia and Iceland (flies 500-800miles). They are social birds, spending winter in flocks roaming the countryside. Like Redwing, they are on the UK’s Red List. Fieldfare love feasting on berries in hedgerows and woodlands. Their call sounds like chuckling. Help redwings by maintaining traditional hedgerows or plant a hedgerow in your garden instead of a fence.
Goldcrest – Britain’s smallest bird, weighing the same as a 10 pence piece! They have a thin beak to pick out insects from between pine needles. These tiny birds are adorable!
Starling – The number of starlings in Britain doubles in winter as Eastern European starlings join the flock. Starling numbers are rapidly decreasing in Britain. Starlings put on impressive murmurations at sunset, its worth watching the display one winter afternoon! The murmurations show amazing aerial acrobatics as the starling flock swiftly change directions to confuse predators.
Robin – Severe winter weather can affect robins as they burn through fat reserves. Robins need to feed well everyday through winter to survive. A robin’s red breast is used to signal territory to other robins. Help robins by leaving fat balls, bird seed and water in your garden during the winter months.
Waxwing – Waxwings travel around 800 miles from Scandinavia to get to Britain. They are attracted to Rowan berries, rowan trees are often found in supermarket car parks. If the berry crop in Scandinavia is poor, we see “iruptions”of waxwing numbers in Britain as thousands more waxwings risk the migration journey to survive winter.
For more information on these amazing birds, check out the RSPB's website here
The Winter Bird Pebble Walk was organised by the Prospects Foundation's Outdoor Learning Officer Danielle. Danielle is working to help the people of Hyndburn connect with nature and learn about Climate Change. For more information about the Outdoor Learning Project and future events, click here. Danielle would love to hear about your experience of the Winter Bird Pebble walk, please direct your comments and photos to Facebook: @ProspectsFoundation and Twitter: @Prospects1998
