........ and Caring

[jenny]

This morning there was the delight of a goldcrest on the nuts,
Britain’s smallest bird and not seen in this garden before so joining
the first goldfinch visitors earlier in the week. And whiskery, tissue
paper saffron flowers just opening on the witch-hazel.

On the outskirts of Aberdeen is a fine, heavily-wooded park,
Hazlehead, which was originally part of freedom lands granted to the
city and its people in 1319. At some point it passed in to private
hands but was bought back by the city in 1920 and developed for the
‘health and well-being’ of inhabitants. Stretching beyond the park,
to the north and west, are many acres of hazel, birch, beech and Scots
pine woodlands. It was a great pleasure to find this morning that a
little more of these woods has been made sympathetically accessible by
the opening up of long stretches of wandering paths. We greeted a few
others enjoying the pale sunlight and maybe walking off Christmas
excess and there was evidence of a horse rider, cyclists and even a
wheelchair on one fairly level route.

Not so easy to see are its shy inhabitants - the roe deer, red
squirrels, badgers and many bird species that live there. In a policy
document Aberdeen Council states that the priority is to manage the
woodlands for their wild life but to do so in a way that allows the
Council to continue with its responsibility for the well being of
others who might wish to enjoy them.

Jenny