Sutton Park NNR

26/05/2026

We are, in the park, so very lucky to have so many wonderful people who are willing to come together to dedicate spare time to projects across the park. We have both informal and formal volunteers who work away, often unseen by the public, and without which the work of those employed within the park would be that much harder. Today we thought we would highlight and thank the FoSPA conservation team who carry out a number of practical tasks across the park throughout the year in all weathers and who’s work is vital in the sensitive management of habitats and has for decades supported the larger scale projects carried out by parks staff.

22/05/2026

22/05/2026

As many of you will be aware our rangers cover parks and green spaces across not only Sutton Coldfield but also Erdington and Perry Barr. As a consequence of this they come across all sorts of things in all sorts of places. One such example is a small colony of bee orchids growing next to an incredibly busy car park right in the middle of the Royal Town. Bee orchids are a fairly rare site in urban areas but can appear on freshly disturbed brown field sites in large numbers. Bee orchids have a rosette growth habit which means, like dandelion and hawkweeds, they can grow well even in areas that are mown on a regular basis. This particular colony is spread between two neighbouring patches of grass. One patch gets cut occasionally a little too early though in most years not before the plants have had a chance to set seed, the other patch is kept free of competing plant growth due to its slope and exposed dry conditions; and is never cut. We will return next week and photograph the flowers once they have emerged from their buds!

10/05/2026

***** Marking the 900th Summer Grazing Season *****

The summer grazing period will begin next week on Wednesday 13th May 2026. The grazing of cattle within the park stretches back to at least 1126 and together with the medieval deer herd helped create and shape the landscape we enjoy today. The continuation of grazing on site maintains the diversity of habitats and plant communities that ensure the survival of many plant and animal species so commonly lost elsewhere. This diversity is what makes Sutton Park so special and so very important at both a regional and national level! As always we ask park users to behave responsibly around our grazing animals, please give them the space they require to move about freely, please ensure dogs are kept under appropriate control, and to kindly never offer food to either cattle or pony!

09/05/2026

The park is currently full of the wondrous sights, sounds, and smells of late spring and so to celebrate, and before the heat of summer burns away the freshness, we thought we might share an image of something so common in the park that it is so very often overlooked; male holly flowers in glorious frothy bloom!

09/05/2026

Lovely to see our Blackroot female introducing her cygnets to the world. Interesting to see that this year her brood of 7 includes not one, as last year, but two white “Polish” morph cygnets; nicely illuminated side by side in the pictured!

30/04/2026

Many birds nest on or near the ground at this time of year—disturbance can cause them to abandon nests, putting eggs and chicks at real risk. This is especially important on open access land, which supports some of our most vulnerable and scarce species.

Open access land is countryside where you have the legal right to walk freely, even if it’s privately owned—set out in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

If you’re visiting with a dog, please take extra care. Dogs must be on a short lead (no more than 2 metres) on open access land between 1 March and 31 July, and at any time near livestock. At all other times, keep them under close control so they don’t disturb wildlife or other visitors.

In Birmingham, areas like Sutton Park and Lickey Hills Country Park include heathland covered by these rights—please help us protect these special places.

23/04/2026

As some of you will know 2026 marks the 900th anniversary of the first recorded mention of Sutton Park and a number of activities to mark this milestone are taking place. Locally however we have also, for many years, been looking forwards, towards the quincentennial celebrations of the signing of the towns first Royal Charter in 1528. As part of the celebrations the park is hoping to make available 500 sessile oaks to the community. To achieve this our rangers and volunteers have been, in collaboration with Kings Heath Park, collecting and growing on acorns from the Gumslade. Fortunately acorns need little help but one important task is an occasional weeding of the pots. Whilst undertaking this task today with acorns gathered last winter one of our volunteers came across what appeared to be one plant pot accidentally planted up with two acorns. In order to give both the best chance it was decided to repot. Imagine then her surprise when she discovered not two shoots from two acorns but twinned shoots and roots coming from one single nut; a quick photograph later and the acorn was repotted for separation later!

08/04/2026

Officers of the mounted unit of West Midlands Police leaving through town gate after an afternoon of patrolling the local area!

22/03/2026

Another danger that comes with BBQ's and other open flames. Many of you will remember the dramatic fire that took place last year above Boldmere Gate. What many won’t have noticed was the secondary fire ignited by wind driven embers within adjacent woodland. This fire smouldered for three full weeks, reigniting repeatedly, and required multiple attendances from West Midlands Fire Service . This slow burning fire was far harder to work, damaged a much larger area than the more dramatic primary fire, and posed a very serious risk to the entirety of Holly Hurst!

21/03/2026

Many of our long term followers will be aware that several years ago one of our Rangers rediscovered native daffodils growing in the park; a species thought to have been lost from the park as a result of the unintended consequence of management decisions made long ago. At the time of rediscovery only 40 mature plants had survived with all clearly struggling to successfully set seed. Several years later, and with a little work every year by our rangers and volunteers to improve conditions, we now have 4 times as many mature plants covering a much larger area with many more seedlings coming through every year. Not quite a host but certainly something to celebrate!