Wildlife Circus

'Share your adventure' says the board. So, I thought I would share mine. When I visited today, I noticed that the Public Rights of Way (PROW) signs were missing/destroyed/smashed/pointing in the wrong direction. If you look carefully, there is a small blue faded sticker, which might actually say, ' Chessington Countryside Walk '. If you look on the ground, the waymarker stating 'Public Footpath', is long dead. In the Summer months, its quite intimidating gauntlet to run, as streaming hoards cross the path from the Goliath or Macaw car parks, and you are summoned to produce tickets.   Small blue sticker on the post, might attest to 'Chessington Countryside Walk', and a long  dead waymarker on the ground perpendicular to the broken style For this reason, it is a little difficult to find your way without a map. Not surprisingly therefore, you might find yourself completely lost and looking into a construction site.           ...

Hericium coralloides, Chessington Surrey. A species on the S41 list and protected under the NERC ACT Fungi identification is difficult, I know, and I only move half - a - rung up the I.D. ladder each year. A tip for now is, don't be too-overly concerned with naming. Names are constantly changing with DNA analysis anyway. Follow your interests, slaving through the keys only works if you have a photographic - memory. The  fungi season is short, so there are only two/three months in which to hone your skills. Of course, wild foodies are existentially incentivised, and climb a different recognition ladder. Personally, I learn best, when I have an understanding of  the context:- the habitat (age and quality); fungal tree partners and close relatives (e.g. russulas and milk caps); and what it is their presence might be indicating. Understanding where an old landscape exists, is like 'protecting the tiger', ( M. Spencer ) created landscapes are not  biodiverse and won't be, e...

    Natural Capital accounting is based on what biodiversity does for us. It is a keystone tenet of the forthcoming Environment Bill. "Self - serving nonsense cooked up by governments and their advisors, such as "natural capital accounting and biodiversity net gain," treat one habitat or feature as exchangeable for another. Don't lament the twisted old oak we are felling, we'll plant 10 more in plastic tubes and call it a net gain", writes George Monbiot in  Noble Rot (August, 21). Biodiversity net gain As the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) metric meets its third iteration, it's time for greater public scrutiny and the  Community Planning Alliance which has 500 member groups, hosted a webinar last week. Among the speakers were Sophus zu Ermgassen from Kent University, and Max Heaver from DEFRA, who is on the BNG design team. Their YouTube channel with the talk is here: CPA Webinars Sophus expounded the research undertaken by Kent University and concluded...