Stunning dawn chorus video captures park life in Leeds

Released as a way for people to bring the outdoors indoors during lockdown, the sights and sounds of the estate’s sprawling woodland, wildlife, lakes, and fields all feature in the video put together by artist Paul Ratcliff as a celebration of the dawn chorus.

Recorded during springtime on the estate, attentive viewers will be able to the distinctive sounds of species including blackcaps, grey squirrels, red kites and a female tawny owl.

The video is also linked to the impressive collection of landscape paintings in the main gallery of Temple Newsam House.

Temple Newsam is one of the city’s best-known parks, and includes wood, nature trails and three lakes along with a magnificent mansion house. The grounds have been worked on by a number of designers over three centuries, and ‘Capability’ Brown himself made a plan for ‘intended alterations’ at Temple Newsam in 1762.

While some of his projects were finished, his full plan for Temple Newsam was never completed because of the death of Charles, the 9th Viscount in 1778.

Some work did continue, and the walled gardens, the rhododendron walks and shrubberies Brown designed can still be seen today.

To view the video visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGUCtHDi3WcFor a full list of all the online activities taking place at Temple Newsam during lockdown, visit: museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk/virtual-visit/online-activities/

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