Settling In...

Three weeks into the job and I've just about managed to walk round every section of the park at least once (I even managed to find Kemble's seat on Tuesday after walking past it about five times in the past fortnight). I'm sure there's still a few paths and hidden corners I've not discovered yet but at least I'm not likely to get lost any time soon.

One photo of a bird. Many, many photos of empty
water and ripples.

The far end of the lake is becoming one of my favourite bits of the park. The Bullfinch I mentioned in the last post are regular in the trees by the bridge. You don't always see them, but you can hear them making their slightly sad little calls as you walk past. There's also lots of very shouty Treecreepers running up the pine trunks in the Craigie Wood. On the water there's a couple of families of Little Grebe (or Dabchick if you're from down south...). They're fantastic and frustrating in equal measure, if you've got a spare half an hour try and see if you can get a camera on whatever random spot one reappears in after it's dived...

Friends of Haddo

While I've been pottering around looking at birds (and doing a bit of proper work in between), the Friends of Haddo have been doing some heavy lifting in the Discovery Garden just by the car park. On Thursday, along with some Community Service volunteers, they dug the footings for the wooden bridge that's going to go by the big pond. There's a bit of spoil out side the garden which will be moved soon, and just be careful of the holes if you're in the garden over the next week.

We're hoping to organise much more volunteering over the next year, including a regular Volunteers Day once a month to tackle some of the big jobs in the garden and park. 

One of the only two Fallow Deer
in North East Scotland.

If you're think you might be interested in volunteering, of joining the Friends of Haddo then come along to the Friends annual open evening in the tearoom on Thursday at 6.30pm. It includes a free talk from Glenn Roberts of NESBReC on recording local wildlife, and it's a great way to see what the plans are for the Friends area over the next year. 

If you can't make Thursday evening, then drop into the portacabin any time (when I'm there!) and you can pick up some information or just have a chat about helping us out.

Haddo Arts Festival

The Arts Festival has been going on all this week, and runs until Sunday evening. Most of it have been running in the evenings but there was a Tea Dance on Wednesday afternoon which meant there were lots of frilly dresses and smart shoes mingling with the dog-walkers' waterproofs and wellies in the car park. You can find this weekend's schedule of concerts (including a comedy night tonight with Fred Macaulay and Tweedy the Clown) by clicking on the link at the side of this blog.

Project Update

The major regeneration project in the park is creeping towards its end now, and some of the individual projects (the new Cascade Bridge, the Well) are just about finished.

The Scots Mile Bridge is looking very smart and is open again and at the top of the Scots Mile, the two Fallow Deer are back on their plinths.

Sneek Peak. Like the floor tiles!

The new toilets in the Pheasantry are essentially finished too, although we can't open them- until the path along the front of the building is safe to use- I'm told the asphalt for that and the new entrance path will go down some time next week. Most excitingly (for me, anyway) the new Visitor Centre and office are well on the way, the flooring went down early this week and the electrics have gone in as well.  I'm keeping my eyes peeled for the new interpretation boards which should be the final thing to go in before I can move me and my laptop and the kettle into our new home.