Sheringham’s topsy turvy year of wildlife firsts

Something funny’s going on at Sheringham Park. One of the stunning rhododendrons, Christmas Cheer, seems to be too keen to wait for Christmas and is flowering several weeks early. To add to this, the recent wet weather has finally brought out a colourful array of fungi, two months later than normal. This topsy turvy wildlife marks the end of an extraordinary year at Sheringham Park, a real year of wildlife firsts.

The National Trust’s Sheringham Park near Cromer, Norfolk, is always a busy place for wildlife, with species coming and going throughout the year. But this year has been an unusual one, as Head Gardener Graham Brennan notes.

“I’ve been working here for 10 years now and I’ve never known a year where so much has happened! The current situation with the Rhododendrons and fungi is a suitable end to an unusual year of discovery for us. And it’s brilliant for our visitors who are really enjoying the early colour. Christmas Cheer is one of our 60 varieties of rhododendron and it normally flowers in March, but here at Sheringham the mild autumn this year has brought them into flower very early.”

And they’re not the only ones, there are at least two other species of rhododendron also in flower in the Park at present, giving a lovely winter show for visitors.

“And then there’s the fungi” Says Graham. “October is normally the best time to see the fungi here, but with dry weather at that time there was far less around than normal. However with the recent wet weather the fungi have finally thrived providing a nice late display.”

These events join a growing list of unusual and extraordinary events at Sheringham Park. In 2009 staff and visitors have enjoyed the following firsts:

New tumulus (ancient burial ground) found on Weybourne Heath, still being investigated and researched.

First recording of a Serotine bat by Head Warden Keith Zealand, making it the 8th species of bat to live in the park.

Glow worms seen for the first time on Weybourne Heath by staff surveying nightjars at dusk.

Rowan with the fattest recorded trunk in England discovered, measuring 85cm across, not a massive girth, but the largest in England of this species.

Rare fungus (Mycosphaeretta podagrariae) found on fungi foray, only the second record of the species since 1940, the first being at Oxburgh Hall.

Siskins seen breeding and raising chicks for the first time on the estate, near the visitor centre.

So what do Graham and the team think the following year will hold? “Oh I don’t know, you never do. It’s one of the reasons we work outside, with plants, animals and landscapes that can’t really be predicted, it certainly keeps life interesting!” Says Graham.