Eaton Square Nature Walk in the Sun

On March 30th we had a wonderful crowd attend for the Eaton Square Park Nature Walk. We had all ages from 3 to 80+ years old join the walk in the warm sunshine. We had hoped Éanna Ní Lamhna would lead the walk but unfortunately she was not able to attend due to illness. Not to disappoint anyone, I took up the mantle and led the light-hearted walk.

I was delighted with the feedback that everyone learnt something and so did I. I used many resources to identify the trees and we all discovered there are some exotic tree and plant species from Japan, South Asia and Morocco as well as some native Irish trees.

We learnt from some of the Eaton Square residents who attended the walk that the Moroccan tree was actually someone’s Christmas tree about 20 years ago, that had been bought with its root intact and was planted out in the Square post Christmas.

We also learnt that the big ‘nests’ in one of the birch trees are not actually nests at all but a tree deformation called ‘witches broom’. This is where the shoots and branches do not grow correctly and form a nest shape within the tree. One of our Ukrainian walkers told us that in Ukraine these are called Raven’s Nests although she knew they weren’t actually nests. We discussed seeing the larger birds such as magpies steeling sticks from these witches brooms for their own nests.

As we were talking about lime trees and how they are an all you can eat buffet for ladybirds due to the large number of aphids that live on them, what did we see but several ladybirds. It was still a bit early for aphids but it was lovely to see all types of nature enjoying the sunshine.

In addition to the walk, there was a hive of activity in creating fairy doors as well as planting seeds. The children from Presentation Primary School who often enjoy the park after school were excellent at planting seeds too.

This was our first nature walk in Eaton Square Park and we hope to continue with these types of community events in the coming months and hopefully Éanna will be available for the next one and we’ll learn even more.

Thank you to everyone who came it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon and see all ages happily enjoying the park. Please take a look at the photos in the past events gallery.