Kingfisher Country Park

Address

Packington Avenue, Shard End, Birmingham B34 7RD

Plan your journey.

About the park

Kingfisher Country Park was opened in July 2004. The park was created to care for an 11km stretch of the River Cole valley, improving it both for people and wildlife.

The valley contains many different types of landscape and wildlife habitats. Alongside the river there are areas of formal public open space, tall herbs and scrub, coarse grassland, wetland with several small ponds and ancient woodland.

The park includes man-made lakes, including Shard End and Babbs Mill Lake. Shard End's lake was created in an old gravel quarry, while Babbs Mill Lake in Kingshurst serves as a flood control feature.

A variety of wildlife can be observed along the river, including kingfishers, herons, water voles, minks, and otters. Shard End features ponds that have become havens for pond invertebrates, amphibians, and winter visitors like teals and widgeons. Nearby coarse grassland provides a breeding ground for skylarks.

Yorks Wood in Kingshurst, an 11 hectare ancient woodland, is home to a variety of birds, such as sparrow hawks and greater spotted woodpeckers. In spring, the woodland floor is carpeted with bluebells, wood anemone, and celandine. Late autumn brings the discovery of various fungi, contributing to the woodland's year-round appeal.

Awards and status

• Country Park
• Local Nature Reserve

Points of interest

• Lakes

Other features

• Wildlife:
  • amphibians: frogs, newts and toads
  • birds: herons, kingfishers, skylarks, sparrowhawks, teals, wigeons and woodpeckers
  • insects including dragonflies and water boatmen
  • mammals: mink, otters and watervoles
• Woodland:
  • Yorks Wood at Kingshurst is an 11 hectare ancient woodland, made up mainly of oak trees.
    There are records of a woodland on this site that go back over hundreds of years.
    The wood was declared a Local Nature Reserve in the 1990s.