According to a 2018 biodiversity survey 50 different bird species use Centre Vale park one way or another. Some live here all year round, some live here only for part of the year (as summer or winter migrants), and others live outside the park but come into it to feed.

Listen to the park’s birds at various points by walking into a blue CIRCLE. Each holds the song or call of a different species, and this sound will play (on a loop) whilst you are stood still within a circle. Clicking on a circle turns it yellow. A banner will come up and you can click this to see if there is a photograph of the bird. These images – all taken in the park – are being captured by local photographer Chris Foster (https://www.chrisfosterphotography.com/), and added to the walk over time.

To hear information on some of the distinguishing features of the different birds’ songs and calls, and how to remember them, walk into the blue SQUARE associated with each circle. The narrative will loop whilst you are stood still in the square.

All the bird recordings, like the pictures, come from the park, so depending on what time of year you do the walk you have a good chance of hearing these birds for real. The busiest and nosiest time of the year for birdsong is the Spring. Things quieten off considerably in late summer, but all year round there is nearly always the opportunity to hear some birdsong. Learning birdsong takes time – but going outside and immersing yourself in it is the best way, and little by little, species by species, you will begin to recognise who is there, even if you can’t see them!

New recordings and pictures are be added to this walk over time (it’s an ongoing project!) and currently you can listen to the sounds of 18 birds (wren, robin, dunnock, chaffinch, blackbird, song thrush, great tit, blue tit, coal tit, long-tailed tit, chiff-chaff, nuthatch, greater spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, carrion crow, jackdaws, rooks and wood pigeon).

There is no defined route – just head for whichever circles and squares you want to. There are quite a lot of them, and the park is big, so you probably won’t want to do everything in one go. Exploring different areas on different visits will work better! Download the walk first (instead of streaming), and have your battery well or fully charged.