Wildlife Circus

                              Note bark strips with access hole retained at the top I recently attended a talk at Bruce Castle Museum, a short bus ride from Seven Sisters, where Russell Miller, of the Ancient Tree Forum, spoke about the conservation of an ancient Oak in the grounds. We also saw a video by wildlife film maker, Ian Phillips, showing how the team has cared for the tree over the years. One of the major challenges has been dealing with large voids inside the hollow trunk. These cavities have been used —three or four times—to light fires, which has seriously endangered the tree. After trying various solutions, the team decided to cover the voids to reduce the risk of further damage. They built a wooden framework, covered this in chicken wire and secured bark strips using special screws. If you look closely at the photo below, you can still see some of the underlying structure.      ...

Queen’s Wood, Highgate, annual fungus foray, London Natural History Society. The London Natural History Society’s annual Fungus Foray is one of its most popular autumn events, bringing together members, mycologists, and  newcomers to explore thediversity of fungi found in London’s parks, woodlands, and open spaces. Led by experienced field specialists, the foray offers participants the chance to learn how to identify mushrooms, brackets, and other fungi while gaining insight into their ecology, lifecycles, and importance in urban habitats. The walk typically includes hands-on examination of specimens, discussion of notable  finds, and guidance on responsible collecting and recording. Beyond discovery, the event contributes valuable observations to the Society’s longstanding biological recording efforts, helping build a richer picture of the city’s natural heritage.                                 ...

 GLA Assembly member former chair Dear Andrew, You may remember we corresponded & subsequently met with you in 2021, re: local environmental degradation, including green space provision in the plans for the  regeneration of the Cambridge Road Estate, loss of footpaths etc. in advance of the planning application. One of the issues was increasing the population in an Area of Deficiency of access to open space. The attached map of AoD, was drawn by Greenspace Information for Greater London and the purple is the Area of Deficiency.  Kingston Council had an Independent Assessment of Open Space provision in Norbiton Ward stating that it was below the qualitative standard of 1.11ha of public parkland per 1,000 population (Atkins). This was before the population was to rise considerably when  the number of residences > double. Knowing this, the developers consultants, Barton Wilmore, stated that Kingston Cemetery was to be the new Open Space, and was in fact a Park. F...

Yesterday was Internation Dawn Chorus day and I left the house at 4.40am to listen to the birds in the local cemetery. Starting almost exclusively with blackbirds (8), robins (19) followed by wrens (17) and  the odd woodpigeon (5).  Territory numbers are in brackets. Most of the territories were associated with the boundary features, especially along the Hogsmill river, where most of the wrens were located. The upper cemetery is always better for birds than the lower portion, although there are house sparrows near the Dawson Road Gate. Of the larger birds: jackdaws passed to- and- fro constantly, with crows largely being sedentary, three nests apparent from up-sticking tails. Two magpies did not appear to be breeding. No raptors were seen this year although buzzards are frequently seen overhead later in the day. Daisies were tightly shut. A watery dunnock song lisped from two sites with a third heard from the compost heap later in the day. Numbers of song thrush were down ...

Panther Cap (Amanita Pantherina) - good find for Kingston cemetery - as it is uncommon in Greater London. All species of Amanita are initially covered in what is known as a universal veil, this is tissue that covers the whole of the young fruitbody. As it emerges from the ground the mushroom breaks out leaving the veil at the base of the stem and as patches on the cap surface.I wonder who has been chomping on the cap as this is deadly poisonous!

    New developments around the Cambridge Road Estate have not only erased any pre-existing 'nature' but made it virtually impossible for any new colonisation, except perhaps by pigeons. There are borough policies to prevent this happening, but no one seems to know where to find them, yet alone understand them;  our officers seem too embarrassed to implement a 'no net loss of biodiversity' policy, let alone achieve the borough's aspiration of 'Net Gain'. When Natural England attempted to give our planning officers a lunchtime training session - which would have counted towards their continuing professional development (CPD) - no one actually turned up. Key: Ppip common pipistrelle Ppyg soprano pip.   This does not bode well for the redevelopment of the Cambridge Road Estate (CRE). The site is full of wildlife, demonstrated by the bird song in the early Spring mornings. Listen to these recordings on Soundcloud here: Sparrows of Willingham Way . Keep l...

Large skipper   burnet companion Now onwards is the best time to go out butterfly watching: Kingston Cemetery is one of the top local sites  for sheer diversity of species with lots of browns; including good numbers of ringlets, which have made a come back locally  as well as meadow browns (although they won't like the hot dry weather to come next week). Large and small skippers are showing well, now that the grass has been left to grow long. pupating caterpillar  Burnet companions are a dayflying moth - a confusion species for dingy skippers - especially when they are found on their food plant (birds-foot trefoil). A migratory painted lady butterfly was a random sighting in the old part of the cemetery last weekend. It was seen whilst admiring a caterpillar pupating on the branch of an elm, only  recently planted by members of the Cemetery Wildlife Group (see earlier post). Unfortunately, it is not thought to be a white-letter hairstreak where Lon...