Wildlife Circus

According to Blogger statistics, one of the most-read posts of 2016 to date has been The Hogsmill Sewage Spill (8.2.16). It therefore seems appropriate to provide an update here, rather than respond individually to the many enquiries received. This also serves as a useful way of maintaining a chronological record of events, while keeping ward councillors informed, particularly as they are already dealing with other sewage-related issues, such as persistent odour problems.   The previous post detailed the amount of 'rag' that appears downstream of the outfall on an almost weekly basis. During the flood of 25 June 2016, however, a substantial quantity of this material—including nappy liners, sanitary towels, condoms and their wrappers, cotton buds and, despite assurances that it does not survive passage through the Hogsmill Storm Relief (HSR) outfall, toilet paper—was deposited across the adjacent Public Open Space (POS).   Rag at the outfall So, here's what happened on...

Clattern Bridge View west from Blue Bridge    Today the Hogsmill reached 1.1m at the Grange Road/Watersplash Close gauging station. This is the highest level since 2000. There is a good website to view this data relayed from gauging stations here https://flood-warning-information.service   An amount of this water is from road  or pluvial run-off; but unfortunately a component-apparent from the smell- is sewage. Assorted gross litter hanging from trees Rag at the Hogsmill Sewage works Every part of the already hard-pressed sewage infrastructure is overtopped: leaching and  leaking; pouring and pooping - a soup of raw sewage. The bankside vegetation captures that which is generally known as 'rag'. This includes the nappy liners, the wet wipes, condoms, tampons, dental floss etc.  This is additional to the daily dosage from the many misconnections polluting every outfall along it's nine mile course. see previous posts on sewage spills an...

Dead hedge   The Environment Trust has been undertaking habitat management at Tolworth Court Farm Moated Manor with a number of participants from two Challenge group events.  They have cleared large amounts of debris left last year after the willows were pollarded. The initial clearance  was undertaken by the company employed by the electricity generator, to keep the area under the pylons clear of tall vegetation. Some of the brush has been used to make a dead hedge (above) that will create habitat as well as secure the site,  preventing access from the road.   Dismantling the compost toilet Fingers crossed we will soon  have our own compost toilet. This has been donated from a site in Twickenham. It was  carefully dismantled last week and hopefully we will be able to put the pieces back together again! A reptile survey has commenced with 30 x felt squares -1 x 50cm- placed at three transects around the site. A student ha...

Friends...  The Friends of Kingston cemetery had its second task day yesterday: litter was collected, brambles tamed and a flower walk was undertaken. An area around the  Japanese knotweed was cleared so that it can be sprayed to prevent its spread. The conservation areas have been extended, giving the wild flowers in the old turf a chance to thrive. It is hoped the group will convene once monthly, so watch for a notice on the gates for the next one-all welcome. Ashes to ash, dust to dusk mask! Ashes to ash Field madder, ox-eye daisy, birds foot-trefoil and meadow vetchling are attractive to pollinating insects. rumbled!

Photos taken by S. Sivanesan at feeding time. Diet of mealworms Lovely as they are, I pretty much dread getting brown long-eared bats to look after; as they do not like being captive and often fail to thrive. Mr Biscuit (named by the family that found him) was an exceptional bat, that was able to increase his weight from 6gs to 8.5gs in only ten days. He quickly learnt how to feed himself on mealworms, a diet these animals would never encounter in the wild; and then he soon learnt how not to feed, in order to get me to feed him, so he could fall asleep in the warmth of my hand! Taking liquid Brown long-eared bats rarely leave the canopy of woodland and so they are usually found  at  few local sites in our urban landscape, including the greenbelt and the larger parks. The only known local maternity colony was lost a few years ago due to the development of Normansfield hospital and now all local records pertain to solitary animals (rather than a colony).  T...

Nice feature on  my work in the current Earth Island, http://www.earthisland.org includes: Citizen Science, public education as well as consultancy. Good understanding of   factors affecting bats such as light pollution and increased urbanisation. 'Light pollution is also a major concern, as it disrupts bats’ nocturnal rhythms and thus behaviors such as feeding and commuting'...... Effects of urbanization vary by species. Overall, however, the impact of urban development on bats has been harmful — and dramatic. According to Jo Ferguson, built environment officer for the Bat Conservation Trust , some of the United Kingdom’s bat populations declined by more than 90 percent over the twentieth century. This was largely due to such factors as the loss of natural roosting, commuting, and foraging habitat. (Climate change and weather variability also played a part.) '

Last night's harp trapping at Jubilee Wood was the final session until the end of July. This is to avoid the bat birthing period. We caught 6 bats in the first part of the evening -until 00.17- when the last bat  turned up on the string-pole rather than the catch-bag! Nathusius play dead When weighed it was obviously larger than the four soprano pipistrelles that had formed the bulk of our evenings catch up until that point. Although the -fifth  finger measurement divided into the  forearm length- did not produce the 1.25 ratio required to confirm the identification of a Nathusius pipistrelle; the split cell veination on the wings, rough mane around the neck, larger size as well as their propensity to 'play dead' was sufficient to validate the species ID. Just in case a dropping was taken for DNA purposes. The most exciting catch of the evening was a Whiskered/ Brandts bat. The only other record for this species in the borough was the prolonged surveys u...

This year the London Bat Group joined the Bat Conservation Trust's Nathusius Pipistrelle Survey. So far this project has collected some great information about the distribution and movements of Nathusius' pipistrelle in the UK, and will be continuing in 2016. Our involvement required the purchase of 4 harp traps, sonic lures and a range of ancillary equipment such as tripods and spring balances. The next step was to obtain some training. Although I had participated in harp trapping with the Surrey Bat Group at Teazle Wood and  Old Bury Lake in Dorking; putting together a harp trap requires  patience and skill. During March, Katherine Boughey from BCT along with her partner, kindly demonstrated the putting together of our new purchases. We were joined by members of the Bat Group, BCT, along with the conservation team from Chessington World of Adventures - on whose land we are hoping to trap in future. The next step was the in-field training with the project leader Dan...

April May: no water leaving  the sewage outfall  80% of the water in the Hogsmill above the site in the photographs - the Hogsmill Sewage Works outfall - is actually treated sewage effluent. The rate of discharge can be demonstrated on the left hand side. This is only the second time in twenty years I have ever seen a dry outfall. What are the consequences for the resident fish and invertebrates of a drying river channel ? (as per the May photograph).  What are the knock-on effects for kingfishers, who depend  on feeding their young on a diet of small fish and invertebrates (small crustaceans etc). One guaranteed consequence is that pollution from the many misconnected drains along the water course will have a much greater impact on both water quality and river ecology. More 'rag' apparent

Since the dawn chorus walk 17.4.16 - the migrants have arrived! Listen out for the cuckoo  heard by some local dogwalkers. Residents have seen common terns along the Thames close to  the lock. These are probably fishing in the lagoon at the Thames Young Mariners site.  The reedbed has been burnt and may not be suitable for visiting sedge and reed warblers this year, although the hawthorn scrub is alive with warblers ; with many whitethroat, 3 lesser whitethroat and one garden warbler heard last night. Swallows and swifts are in the air at last and hopefully we will see more of the sand and house martins. A pair of bullfinch along with two pairs of stock doves are the 'resident' specialities.

Some of the borough's trees  have been planted to recognise an event or passing of  a loved one. The three on the left, were planted by former Cllr., Julie Reay (and others) to commemorate the laundresses who worked in the Kingston laundries. The Surrey Comet 15.6.1872 stated that 'there was an open air demonstration of washerwomen on the Fairfield'. The women, known as tub-thumpers- earned an average of 2s 6d per day plus a free pint of beer for working an 11hour day. They worked calf deep in water and suffered many ailments, such as trench foot. In 1872 a number of laundresses went on strike and this has been documented in 'A dramatic account of the Kingston, Surbiton and Norbiton Washerwomen's strike of 1872' edited by John Pink of Grove Lane. In 1922 they attempted to unionise and rallies were held also on the Fairfield, leading to a number of arrests. Stables, starch tub Hilton, Sheraton hotels When the laundry in Bonner Hill Road clos...

Joe Pecorelli from ZSL The eel trap was reinstalled by Joe on 20 April 2016 to allow monitoring of this year’s eel passage. The first eel of the season was recorded during the second check of the year, and on 29 April 2016 three eels were found. The eels are transferred to a bucket, where they are measured before being carefully returned to the river. Most of today’s catch belonged to a similar age class, although a much larger eel was observed further upstream near the cemetery later that day. Look out for eel traps along other rivers such as this one at Teddington Lock Emptying the trap Kingston University is running another eel training event during May, so if you are interested in helping out at any point from April to September with the checks, please sign up for the training (see the Kingston University biodiversity blog). Some not so good news with the river monitoring (see March, 2015 posts) : three out of the four RMI monthly checks have found breaches in trigger...