Kingfisher Country Park is a

country park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised coun ...

situated in East

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and the

Metropolitan Borough of Solihull The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull is a metropolitan borough in West Midlands county, England. It is named after its largest town, Solihull, from which Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is based. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region ...

in England. Initially designated as Project Kingfisher by

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...

, 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 Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. ...

Chelmsley Wood Chelmsley Wood is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England, with a population of 12,453. It is located near Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. It lies about eight miles eas ...

at the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...

. 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

and the Solihull MBC sponsored the project in a joint venture. Charities and organisations that funded the project were: *

English Nature English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006. It was a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Environmen ...

The Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enh ...

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is a Wildlife Trust and Registered Charity covering the county of Warwickshire and Solihull and Coventry in the county of West Midlands, England. The Trust aims to protect and enhance wildlife, natural habitats and ge ...

Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country is a wildlife trust covering Birmingham and the Black Country in the West Midlands of England. It covers five of the seven districts of the West Midlands county: Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell ...

Geography

The country park has an area of around and crosses the border between Birmingham and the

. Within the original project, and now surrounding the country park, are several local nature reserves. These include Yorks Wood which was declared a local nature reserve by Solihull MBC in the 1990s after purchasing it in the 1980s. Other nature reserves include Babbs Mill Lake and Alcott Wood. Cole Bank, Smiths Wood, Elmdon Nature Park and Elmdon Coppice are proposed local nature reserves. Flowing through the country park is the River Cole which forms the River Cole Valley. The valley is home to different

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

habitat 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 ...

s and different types of

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

. The area contains a number of artificial lakes surrounded by plants ranging from

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

and

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 ...

which dates back hundreds of years. Babbs Mill Lake in Kingshurst was dug to be a balancing feature in times of flooding at the river.

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 ...

was created as a result of an old quarry being filled with water. The area is open to cyclists and walkers who can walk along the river towards other nearby country parks such as

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 t ...

and also walk to other places such as the

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 st ...

, Coleshill, Kingshurst Brook,

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. ...

and

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 datin ...

Nature

Animals seen along the river include

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 ...

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, ...

s (note the project name), water voles and

mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...

. In the ponds created in

Shard End Shard End is an area of Birmingham, England. It is also a ward within the formal district of Hodge Hill. Shard End borders Castle Bromwich to the north and Kingshurst to the east which are situated in the northern part of the neighbouring Metr ...

, many invertebrates have nested as well as many

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

Skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...

s have been seen around the course grassland and they have bred successfully for a number of years.

References

External links