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Kingfisher Country Park
Kingfisher Country Park is a country park situated in East Birmingham and the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in England. Initially designated as Project Kingfisher by Birmingham City Council, the park was formally declared a country park in July 2004. The country park is located along an 11 km stretch of the River Cole from Small Heath in Birmingham to Chelmsley Wood at the M6 motorway. It is a Local Nature Reserve. Project Kingfisher The overall aim of the project was to preserve and care for the River Cole valley. The project was inaugurated in 1985. Funding Both the Birmingham City Council and the Solihull MBC sponsored the project in a joint venture. Charities and organisations that funded the project were: * English Nature * The Environment Agency * Warwickshire Wildlife Trust * Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country Geography The country park has an area of around and crosses the border between Birmingham and the Metropolitan Borough of Solihul ...
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River Cole, West Midlands
The River Cole is a river in the English Midlands. It rises on the lower slopes of Forhill, one of the south-western ramparts of the Birmingham Plateau, at Red Hill and flows south before flowing largely north-east across the plateau to enter the River Blythe below Coleshill, near Ladywalk, shortly before the Blythe meets the Tame. This then joins the Trent, whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. Its source is very near the main watershed of Midland England : tributaries are few and very short except in the lower reaches, so the Cole is only a small stream. Geology Average gradient of the central reaches is 10 1/2 feet in a mile. There is a fast run-off from the drift covered Keuper marl clay which makes up its catchment area, and heavy rain produces sudden floods; in the absence of replenishing side-streams these subside as quickly as they rise. The Cole is normally shallow, except where weirs maintain an artificial depth. Etymology It bears a Celtic ...
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Habitat (ecology)
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ecological niche. Thus "habitat" is a species-specific term, fundamentally different from concepts such as environment or vegetation assemblages, for which the term "habitat-type" is more appropriate. The physical factors may include (for example): soil, moisture, range of temperature, and light intensity. Biotic factors will include the availability of food and the presence or absence of predators. Every species has particular habitat requirements, with habitat generalist species able to thrive in a wide array of environmental conditions while habitat specialist species requiring a very limited set of factors to survive. The habitat of a species is not necessarily found in a geographical area, it can be the interi ...
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European Water Vole
The European water vole or northern water vole (''Arvicola amphibius''), is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces and short fuzzy ears; unlike rats their tails, paws and ears are covered with hair. In the wild, on average, water voles only live about five months. Maximum longevity in captivity is two and a half years. Appearance Water voles reach in length, plus a tail which is about half the length of the body. Weights reported for adults are variable. It is possible for large, optimal adults to weigh as much as However, these are peak weights. Elsewhere, the mean body mass has been reported as , although this figure includes immature water voles. The minimum weight to successfully breed as well as to survive winter is reportedly in females and in males.Yavuz, Güliz, Ercüment Çolak, and Teoman Kankılıç. ''Investig ...
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Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, but also can be seen in Europe. They can be found in deep forests near calm ponds and small rivers. The family contains 114 species and is divided into three subfamilies and 19 genera. All kingfishers have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with only small differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests. They consume a wide range of prey usually caught by swooping down from a perch. While kingfishers are usually thought to live near rivers and eat fish, many species live away from water and eat small invertebrates. Like other members of their order, they nest in cavities, usually tunnels dug into ...
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Heron
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus'' are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus ''Zebrilus'', form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets do not form a biologically distinct group from herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks. The classification of the individual heron/egret species is fraught with difficulty, and no clear consensus exists about the correct placement of many species into either of the two major genera, '' Ardea'' and '' Egretta''. Similarly, the relationships of the genera in the family are not completely resolved. However, one species formerly consid ...
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Sheldon Country Park
Sheldon Country Park is a country park located in Sheldon, Birmingham, UK. Located at the far eastern edge of the city, the park covers an area of just over 300 acres of grassland, wetland, hedgerows and mature woodland. A small dairy farm dating from the 17th century, the Old Rectory, is located near the main entrance. The farm was home to the celebrated clergyman Thomas Bray Thomas Bray (1656 or 165815 February 1730) was an English clergyman and abolitionist who helped formally establish the Church of England in Maryland, as well as the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge and Society for the Propa ... between 1690 and 1721. The park's other attractions include three football pitches, a children's play area and a viewing platform for the nearby Birmingham International airport. Park rangers are also available to provide guided tours of the park. References Country parks in Birmingham, West Midlands {{WestMidlands-geo-stub ...
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Meriden Park
Meriden Park is a public park located in Chelmsley Wood, near Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ..., UK. The park has a large natural lake, natural woodland, a children's play area, a skate park and a football pitch. It hosts a number of community events throughout the year. Meriden Adventure Playground, sited in the park and operated by an independent charity, is one of the leading adventure play facilities in the country. It offers free, open access play to 0 - 16 year olds Tuesday to Friday after school and all day during holidays. Under fives must be accompanied. References Meriden Adventure Playground Association Parks and open spaces in the West Midlands (county) {{WestMidlands-geo-stub ...
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Coleshill, Warwickshire
Coleshill ( ) is a market town in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England, taking its name from the River Cole, on which it stands. It had a population of 6,481 in the 2011 Census and is situated east-northeast of Birmingham, southeast of Sutton Coldfield, south of Tamworth, northwest of Coventry by road and 13 miles (21km) west of Nuneaton. Location Coleshill is located on a ridge between the rivers Cole and Blythe which converge to the north with the River Tame. It is just to the east of the border with West Midlands county outside Birmingham. According to the 2001 Census statistics it is part of the West Midlands conurbation, despite gaps of open green belt land between Coleshill and the rest of the conurbation. The green belt narrows to approximately to the north near Water Orton, and to approximately at the southern tip of the settlement boundary where Coleshill becomes Coleshill Heath, but is in excess of wide at some points in between. ...
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Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter stretching for with 166 locks from London. The Birmingham line has a number of short branches to places including Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover, and Northampton. The Leicester line has two short arms of its own, to Market Harborough and Welford. It has links with other canals and navigable waterways, including the River Thames, the Regent's Canal, the River Nene and River Soar, the Oxford Canal, the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, the Digbeth Branch Canal and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. The canal south of Braunston to the River Thames at Brentford in London is the original Grand Junction Canal. At Braunston the latter met the Oxford Canal linking back to the Thames to the south and to Coventry to the north via the Coventry Cana ...
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Shire Country Park
The Shire Country Park () is a country park in the south of Birmingham, England, taking its name from Tolkien's The Shire. It consists of the Millstream Way following the course of the River Cole from Yardley Wood to Small Heath and includes the following sites: Scribers Lane SINC, Trittiford Mill Pool, The Dingles, Chinn Brook Recreation Ground, Sarehole Mill Recreation Ground, Moseley Bog LNR, Burbury Brickworks, The John Morris Jones Walkway and Cocksmoor BMX. History River Cole's race to Sarehole Mill formerly went under Brook Lane in a culvert, but this has been blocked and the line of the race is lost to northward. The spillway from race to river is seen to be still there, and the slots for the removable plank weir can be seen. The riverside walk continues as the John Morris Jones Walkway past the site of Robin Hood Lane ford, across Cotterills Meadow which has been Colebank Playing Field for the last ninety years until it reaches the Grade II Listed water mill, Sareh ...
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Shard End Lake
Managed by Kingfisher Country Park, Shard End Lake is a man-made lake created out of an old quarry. Located in picturesque Birmingham, this lake holds a variety of silverfish including roach to 1 lb, perch to 2 lbs, bream and tench to 6 lbs, and carp and pike to 30 lbs. Geography of Birmingham, West Midlands Tourist attractions in Birmingham, West Midlands Lakes of the West Midlands (county) {{WestMidlands-geo-stub ...
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Woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see differences between British, American, and Australian English explained below). Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of primary or secondary succession. Higher-density areas of trees with a largely closed canopy that provides extensive and nearly continuous shade are often referred to as forests. Extensive efforts by conservationist groups have been made to preserve woodlands from urbanization and agriculture. For example, the woodlands of Northwest Indiana have been preserved as part of the Indiana Dunes. Definitions United Kingdom ''Woodland'' is used in British woodland management to ...
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