Hello once again to you all, I hope you've all had a splendid couple of months, seen lots of wildlife and maybe even a place or two I have mentioned. This time I will be back in Kent, looking at some of the wildlife you can find around the grounds of Leeds Castle near Maidstone.
This castle, self proclaimed as "The Loveliest Castle in the World", stretches over 500 acres and although more managed than the areas I more usually cover, is still home to some wonderful views and animal life in the parkland and gardens. The area is also currently being kept to a more wildlife friendly approach, balancing habitat diversity and the wonderful gardens loved by the visitors.
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| The Lake surrounding Leeds Castle |
From the minute you enter the grounds, walking through the woodland pathways, a variety of water and ground-based bird life greets you. Black headed gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and the occasional coot (Fulica atra) feed along the water's edge and can be seen bobbing about across the area. As you carry on forward, whooper (Cygnus cygnus), mute (Cygnus olor) and black swans (Cygnus atratus) can also be found gliding through the water, with Canada (Branta canadensis) and domestic Emden geese (Anser anser domesticus) stumbling clumsily towards the water's edge.
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| Coot feeding in the lake |
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| Emden goose resting on one foot |
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| Mute swan cutting through the water |
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| Canada geese at the water's edge |
Always a pretty sight, here and there you can see male green peafowl (Pavo muticus) showing off their plumage to the public, pecking at bird feed scattered on the ground. Accustomed to a reasonable level of human presence, these birds can give a wonderful view of their coloured fan of tail feathers if you are patient.
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| Peacock showing it's tail fan |
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| Head shot of a curious fella |
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| Peacock foraging for bird feed |
Following this direction, alongside the winding river, traversing the grounds will lead you to the castle itself with it's broad moat and historically significant rooms kept meticulously. Home to many an English medieval queen, this castle has stood for over 900 years and provides a really interesting look into the history of the area.
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| Surrounding moat of the castle |
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| Boardwalks crossing the river |
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| Entrance across the moat to the castle |
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| Coot wading across the wet ground |
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| Moorhen calling amongst the leaf litter |
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| Arch constructed from woven trees |
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| Whooper swan foraging on the ground |
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Western jackdaw curiously surveying
from some cobblestones |
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| Young mute swan bobbing in the moat |
Travelling onward from the castle itself, there is a selection of food and drink establishments in the courtyard which borders an area of cultivated gardens. There is what I found to be quite impressively confusing maze here with the exit following into an exquisitely decorated underground shell grotto tunnel that emerges by the entrance.
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| Black headed gull warding off other gulls |
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Female black headed gull perched
at the edge of a picnic area |
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| Looking down at us from a wall |
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| Stone face in the maze grotto |
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| Wooden face constructed from driftwood |
Through the area, you can also see a variety of foraging bird life amongst the leaf litter. I in particular enjoy watching one of my favourites, the Western Jackdaw (Corvus monedula). These birds tend to be a bit more tolerant of public disturbance than most species, and I really like their black with hints of blue colouration and how powerful they look when keeping watch.
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| Proud Jackdaw foraging in the leaf litter |
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| Jackdaw spying on the ground below |
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| An inquisitive look |
Surrounding these areas is the sizeable lake which, whilst beautiful in the afternoon sun, has also become the focus of restoration conservation projects for European water vole populations in the area. Run more recently as part of the RSPB's Giving Nature a Home campaign, the project aims to protect and encourage water voles to both remain and return to the castle grounds. Rather broadly, this involved reaching favourable habitat conditions by thickening water margin vegetation and controlling bank erosion with coir rolls, however more information for those who are interested is shown on boards beside these areas in the grounds.
As mentioned previously though, there are many areas which have been enhanced to encourage a variety of wildlife, including continuous tree cover and veteran tree management strategies. Along with this, there is also grazing pasture regulation and encouragement of wildflower growth to foster the butterfly and insect species.
Although not personally observed, a range of other, some rarer avian species are noted to be present over the grounds and lake, including grey herons (Ardea cinerea), kingfishers (Alceda atthis) and birds of prey such as the buzzard (Buteo buteo) and sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus). The wildlife is not limited to bird life though, with a range of lovely insects and butterflies, as mentioned, visible flitting between the flowers and the odd fox and water vole occasionally popping up when not shying away from the public.
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| Afternoon sun over the castle lake |
So there it is then, my account of some of the wildlife, facilities and sights that await you should you choose to visit this lovely castle. I hope you all enjoyed this post, and for those of you who are interested, the topic of my next post will be left a mystery for now.
Until next time then, look after yourselves and if you get a chance, explore the area around you, you never know what you might find!
