Nearly 600 hundred guests enjoyed the Open Day at New Ferry
Butterfly Park which marked the opening of the season to the public. The event was presided over by the Mayor of Wirral
Councillor Steve Foulkes. He unveiled a
new feature at the park, an “eco loo”, and took it in good spirit with lots of good old jokes, which lifted the crowd and drew out many a laugh, setting a fun tone
to the start of the day.
The eco loo was sponsored by a grant from the South Wirral
constituency Your Wirral Fund from Wirral Council. This
will be a big boost to volunteers, park warden and guests at the park and the liquid gold collected
will come in useful as a compost activator for the cut vegetation gathered when
scything the meadows here. The finished
compost is given away to local allotment societies.
592 visitors is the highest turnout of guests so far for an
Open Day and eight species of butterflies were on the wing, another record for
an Open Day. Our newest resident species the brimstone butterflies stealing the
show, with the bright yellow males darting up and down the hedgerows and some of
the paler females spotted laying eggs.
The Mayor went to every stall there except the spider stall!
He got into a spin making a healthy fruit smoothie with a pedal powered blender
brought by Sustrans.
The Park is open every Sunday from 12 - 4 p.m. until 13th September. There are trails to follow and
environmental games to play. So, if you
want explore wildlife on your doorstep, do come along. There are knowledgeable
volunteer wardens to guide you and what is more it is free.
Paul Loughnane, Honorary Reserve Manager