Patrick the lobster
This 5kg giant could be 60 years old and was saved from the pot after a fish merchant donated him to Bristol’s new Blue Reef Aquarium
Sand martins
We have only the second known colony of sand martins in the Avon area living alongside the Feeder Canal
A robotic Peregrine Falcon that goes by the name of Brian May
He lives on the roof of At-Bristol to help control the pigeons and seagulls! Apparently the real Brian May is a keen astronomer and he played on the roof of Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Jubilee…
Cormorants
You can see around a dozen cormorants flying or swimming around the Harbourside at any time – most of them fly in from nearby Chew Valley lake and enjoy a day’s fishing before going home to bed. Cormorants can swim under water very well but their feathers get waterlogged so you’ll often see them perched around the harbour with their wings open to dry them
Father Christmas
On an almost daily basis, Father Christmas can be seen enjoying a chat and a bacon sandwich at the famous Brunel Buttery!
Fish!
You can catch roach, bream, perch, eel, dace and carp in the harbour and Feeder Canal (providing you have a valid rod licence!)
Sylvester the Chinese goose
The only one of his type in Bristol harbour, Sylvester has lived here for around 20 years. Word has it that he was once someone’s pet, but is now quite happy swimming around the harbour trying to make friends with the swans. He is genetically related to swans – many centuries ago they were domesticated and crossbred from wild swan geese and used in China and Russia for meat. They are also good as grazers in water meadows and paddy fields
Foxes
The number of foxes in central Bristol is increasing after a nasty disease wiped them out in the early 1990s. Now there are regular sightings of attractive, healthy looking foxes around the Hotwells and Redcliffe areas. The first ever film of urban foxes’ nocturnal habits was made by the BBC in Bristol in the 1970s
Fig trees
Growing out of the massive harbour walls, which used to form part of the fortifications at Castle Park, are two massive fig trees. Fig trees are native to all equatorial and sub-tropical regions so it’s likely that the Harbourside’s great fig trees originated in southern Europe and arrived on a ship (probably a bird or maybe the curious fig wasp transported the seeds to crack in the Castle Park wall where they flourished because of their sheltered location)
Cygnets
There’s a regular community of swans in Bristol harbour and has been for hundreds of years. Many pairs fly away from Bristol to breed because of a lack of nesting sites, but for the past few years a pair have made a nest near the ss Great Britain and have successfully hatched lots of babies