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Wildflower Meadow
You may have noticed the area of uncut grass near the junction of Frayne Road and Ashton Road. FrOGS is developing a wild flower meadow here, as part of our programme for improving the park. At the moment, the meadow is in an early stage and it may be four or five years before it is fully established.
So far, we have planted seeds and plugs of English wild flowers including: Yellow Rattle, Meadow Buttercup, Meadow Cranesbill, White and Red Campion, Lesser Knapweed, Ox Eye Daisy, Tufted Vetch, Greater Stitchwort, Foxglove, Primrose and Bluebell. At first, most of the flowers will be hidden within the grass. See our Gallery section for photographs of these plants.
Over each summer, however, they will set seed. In autumn, the grass and flowers will be cut back. New flowers will come again each spring. Year by year the number of flowers should increase so that eventually it will be the flowers that dominate the area. As the flowers grow, they will attract bees, butterflies and other insects as well as birds.
The less people walk across the meadow, the better will be the chances of the wildflowers growing. We ask that dog owners refrain from letting their dogs foul the meadow, and that people leave the flowers for all park users to enjoy.
Wildlife (mostly birds!)
Greville Smyth Park is home to lots of wildlife - the most obvious are birds but there's also lots of insect life as well as various animals which either make the Park their home or are just passing through.
The Park's best places for wildlife tend to be in the triangular area bordered by Frayne Road, Ashton Road and the children's playground. Most of the mature trees, bushes and undergrowth - which the birds, animals and insects all need for cover, food and raising their young - can be found here. Particular hotspots for birds are the trees and bushes all along the Frayne Road boundary (where there are always lots of blackbirds), the area known as Prospect Point near the Ashton Road entrance (good for robins, long-tailed tits and chaffinches) and the bowling green (pied wagtails) and its surrounding hedges and flower beds (wrens, dunnocks (also known as hedge sparrows) and robins). Before their removal to enable essential repairs and improvements, the trees and bushes around the tennis courts also attracted large numbers of birds (goldcrests, blue and great tits, greenfinches, etc.). Hopefully this area will become wildlife-friendly again when the re-planting matures.
Records of wildlife observations in the Park over recent years show that blackbirds are by far the most common bird. Large numbers can be seen in all seasons and in all areas (though most abundant in the Frayne Road and wildflower meadow area). Robins are the second most common bird, with song thrushes, blue tits, great tits and chaffinches also figuring highly. Periodically, large numbers of black-headed gulls can be seen "paddling" on the football pitches trying to bring worms to the surface.
Other birds which can be seen throughout the year (but in smaller numbers) include jays, magpies, collared doves, starlings, green and great spotted woodpeckers, tree-creepers and coal tits. Winter sees influxes of redwings and in the summer large numbers of house martins (some of which nest under the eaves of houses in nearby Clift Road) can be seen on the wing above the Park, especially over the wildflower meadow.
Animals seen in the Park include grey squirrels (although not as many or as often as you might think), hedgehogs and the odd fox.
In summer many different butterflies (including red admiral, peacock, small tortoiseshell and orange tip) are attracted to the Park, especially the wildflower meadow and the hedges and flower beds around the bowling green; and in at least one recent autumn a huge irruption of ladybirds (reaching a peak of over 100 individual) was present for over a month on one of the benches overlooking the wildflower meadow!
If anyone's had any unusual or interesting sightings of wildlife in Greville Smyth Park we'd love to hear about them. We'd also love to know if anyone sees any birds using the many nest boxes put up in the Park by FrOGS members. Please report any sightings to info@frogs.org.uk.
For more on local wildlife visit: Avon Wildlife Trust.
The PDF file attached provides a "snapshot" of wildlife observations (mostly birds) in Greville Smyth Park in 2007.
Wildlife (mostly birds!) document
Trees
Details to be added