Summer at Mayesbrook Park
Greylag goose in flight
The Greylag goose (Anser anser) is the largest and bulkiest bird in the waterfowl family Anatidae. Its distribution is widespread, with birds from the north of its range in Europe and Asia migrating southwards to spend the winter in warmer places. It breeds in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic States, northern Russia, Poland, eastern Hungary and Romania. Greylag geese are herbivorous and feed chiefly on grasses. These geese normally pair for life.
The greylag was linked with the goddess of healing, Gula, a forerunner of the Sumerian fertility goddess Ishtar, in the cities of the Tigris-Euphrates delta over 5,000 years ago. In Ancient Egypt, geese symbolised the sun god Ra. In Ancient Greece and Rome, they were associated with the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and goose fat was used as an aphrodisiac. Since they were sacred birds, they were kept on Rome's Capitoline Hill, from where they raised the alarm when the Gauls attacked in 390 B.C.
Mayesbrook Park (Barking), Britain’s first climate change park, is an attractive nature reserve with a newly restored river landscape. The Mayes brook has been brought back into the park within a widened meandering river channel creating an attractive river landscape to help the park to cope with more extreme changes in climate including heavy rainfall and drought. This new river system, with a gravel river bed and banks, provides an ideal wetland habitat for wildlife and at times of high rainfall it is able to rise in a controlled and natural way within a newly created floodplain.
The southern section of the park features two large lakes which are rich in wildlife. Aquatic plants such as reeds and rushes have been planted in ponds and backwaters, creating a rich habitat for wetland species. With over 40 hectares of open space, the park recently received a Mayor of London Safer Parks Silver award for high standards of site safety and policing.
Summer at Mayesbrook Park
Greylag goose in flight
The Greylag goose (Anser anser) is the largest and bulkiest bird in the waterfowl family Anatidae. Its distribution is widespread, with birds from the north of its range in Europe and Asia migrating southwards to spend the winter in warmer places. It breeds in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic States, northern Russia, Poland, eastern Hungary and Romania. Greylag geese are herbivorous and feed chiefly on grasses. These geese normally pair for life.
The greylag was linked with the goddess of healing, Gula, a forerunner of the Sumerian fertility goddess Ishtar, in the cities of the Tigris-Euphrates delta over 5,000 years ago. In Ancient Egypt, geese symbolised the sun god Ra. In Ancient Greece and Rome, they were associated with the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and goose fat was used as an aphrodisiac. Since they were sacred birds, they were kept on Rome's Capitoline Hill, from where they raised the alarm when the Gauls attacked in 390 B.C.
Mayesbrook Park (Barking), Britain’s first climate change park, is an attractive nature reserve with a newly restored river landscape. The Mayes brook has been brought back into the park within a widened meandering river channel creating an attractive river landscape to help the park to cope with more extreme changes in climate including heavy rainfall and drought. This new river system, with a gravel river bed and banks, provides an ideal wetland habitat for wildlife and at times of high rainfall it is able to rise in a controlled and natural way within a newly created floodplain.
The southern section of the park features two large lakes which are rich in wildlife. Aquatic plants such as reeds and rushes have been planted in ponds and backwaters, creating a rich habitat for wetland species. With over 40 hectares of open space, the park recently received a Mayor of London Safer Parks Silver award for high standards of site safety and policing.