CHAIR'S REPORT 2024
(Presented to the AGM held on January 19th 2025; covering the year 2024)Our first event of last year was the Birdsong Walk which took place on Sunday 14th April 2024. The weather was excellent, warm and sunny and we saw lots of birds and other wildlife. A scarcer warbler, the Lesser Whitethroat was also singing with at least 3 present in the park. Very good news to have this many here. As well as migrant birds, we also saw and heard many of our resident birds such as Goldfinch, Robin and Blue Tit. We also saw 3 bird of prey species - Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, and a very distant Kestrel as we had our coffee at the pavilion. In addition to birds, we also saw 4 species of butterfly, including a good number of Orange Tip, the first seen this year. Finally, we also managed to see one adder basking in the sun. Overall, an excellent day with lots to see.
The Picnic in the Park event took place on Saturday 1st June. The weather was dry but we had a cool breeze, and it was cloudy most of the time. Not really June weather but at least it was not raining. It was nice to see quite a few chicks at the lake, and the Canada Geese have had 10 chicks for several weeks now. A few Swallows and House Martins were good to see, and we also heard a couple of Reed Warblers. There are still plenty of migrant birds singing the park and we also heard, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Common Whitethroat.
Our annual moth and stargazing night at the Wick Country Park was due to take place on Friday 5th July 2024 but due to adverse weather it had to be cancelled. The event was rearranged for Friday 23rd August 2024, and this time took place in St Mary's Churchyard.
Sadly the Autumn Walk did not take place this year.
A teacher from the Abacus School contacted the 'Friends' to say the school would like to become more involved with the Wick Country Park as they are so near. At the school's Summer Fete held at the end of June we had a table there and a presentation detailing the features of the country park.
Additionally the school requested some help for their visit to the Wickford Country Park on Armistice Day 11th November 2024. On the morning, a group of 57 pupils and their teachers came to hear about the 3 pillboxes in the country park, then, all wanting to see inside, went into the pillbox near the pavilion two at a time! At 11am we then observed the 2 minute silence.
The monthly wildlife walks again expertly organised by Martin Singleton have proved popular. Each month a comprehensive report is produced and also an annual summary which are uploaded onto the FOWCP website. Many thanks to Martin for his continued and welcome support of these and also the event walks.
Thank you to the Wicked Gardeners for maintaining the pavilion garden during the year. The group are on a Winter break at the moment and the gardening sessions will be starting up again soon. Thank you to Marie for organising these and the valued team who come along and work so hard in maintaining the pavilion garden.
Thank you to Ali Riley for her excellent management of our Facebook page and also to Alaric Cundy for all his hard work maintaining the website.
Other news is on the financial side for the benefit of the Wick Country Park. The 'Friends' were successful when applying for an Area Committee Grant - this amounted to £3000 and will be used to create a Wildflower Meadow to be completed in March/April. Additionally 13 fruit trees have been received from Basildon Council which will be planted soon and also £150 for bulbs which have now been planted.
We are appealing for more volunteers, especially to join the committee to help us arrange and give new ideas for this year's events.
Finally, free membership will be continued for another year.
Christine Lee
Acting Chair, Friends of the Wick Country Park
January 2025