Wildlife Circus

Kingston Cemetery is nowadays a splendid place for wildlife (see earlier posts for fungi, birds etc.). Over previous winters we have undertaken  winter bird surveys and last years results are posted on the window at the cemetery office. Both night roosts and pre-roost gatherings of several bird species are of interest: Jackdaw, Starlings, Ring-necked Parakeets as well as small passerines. These song birds are  using trees in the environs, including the Cambridge Road Estate, where last night we counted a tree roost of >32 Goldfinches. The birds could be attracted by the 'Cemetery effect ' as well as the warmth around the buildings on the estate. It demonstrates the importance for wildlife of large trees in the urban environment. Tree damage caused by dogs         Many large trees have been removed from the estate in recent years and some will die slowing as a result of trenching operations and vandalism. The council have belatedly placed tree gua...

An intrepid crew braved the 8 degree temperatures to record  heritage and other  features along the river wall of the Filter beds. There are many niches used by wildlife, which will be tidied away if the marina and moorings are developed. This includes the old barges, which provide multiple opportunities for nesting birds, as well as shelter, night roosts etc. The river wall is a solid mass of ivy berries, indicating the abundance of pollinating insects, which must have been busy during the autumn. In turn, this will provide food and shelter through the winter for thrushes, blackbirds, blackcaps and wood pigeons .  We saw wrens, robins and a foraging tit flock as we cruised along the wall. Spanish broom and ivy along the river wall Thames. It may look untidy to us, but this is what  ecology looks like, these are ecological niches. The structure, density and variety of vegetation is habitat for insect prey and pollinators and offers shelter during bad weather o...

The Filter Bed site at Seething Wells is facing a monster planning application Hydro Properties Planning Application . This is far more damaging than the Thames Water 2002 application, which sought only to develop the Wharf site, whilst leaving most of the heritage and wildlife areas  intact (and unaffected by water pollution, disturbance, lighting). Our council specnt £20,000 of our money at the Public Inquiry trying to defend its decision to reject the proposals. This is probably the best site in the borough for 'specialized' wildlife communities, because of the lack of disturbance. It is also an important heritage site. The main features include: The Industrial archaeology; Standing Water habitat (a UK, Regional and local Biodiversity Priority Habitat); Roost sites of European Protected Species; Birds on the Red List of Conservation Concern; 5% of Surrey's Little Grebe breeding population; Invertebrates of National, Regional and Local Importance; Chalk grassland...

December , 2010 Ecologists undertake what is called an evaluation of the habitats and species within a site. This means that they assess the rarity and fragility of it's ecological communities. This is often undertaken during an Environmental Impact Assessment. An EIA is performed when requested by a planning authority. During the EIA undertaken by Thames Water at Seething Wells, some of the ecological communities were assessed as of HIGH REGIONAL VALUE. This was part due to the invertebrate fauna in the standing water.  Four water beetles were described as Nationally Notable B species, two of which were described as 'rare inland'. The bird community is complex to describe, due to many factors including: the cyclical nature of bird populations. But reed bunting, a rare breeding species once found at Filter Bed 7, is even rarer now (sadly no longer recorded in urban areas, only at the fringes of the borough). The calcareous grassy banks (see post below) once...

Residents Planning Alliance Submission 2003 A riverside walk would be destructive and disruptive of wildlife features for very little gain. The top level of the wall is quite narrow. When measured in 1996 it was a little over 2.1m (7 feet). It is insufficient for a footway including access for the disabled. Sandwiched between the river and the Filter beds 4m (13 feet) above the Thames, the walk would require guard rails on both sides. The top of the 150 year old wall would have to be cleared of over 50 years growth of broom (see article on Spanish Broom) and trees, which form the main bird breeding habitat on the site. Engineering problems associated with constructing a path would be considerable and for what? There is no linking paths at either end of the Filter Beds.There is no reason why a walk cannot go around the site as proposed by the Residents Planning Alliance (Refer to plan, 2003).Their suggested route around the filter beds is marked in red and retains the tranquil...

Guild of Taxonomists

        Ecological communities take many years to evolve. Their structure is based on the habitat, which is virtually the only example of chalk grassland in the borough (reflecting the  flora of the north downs rather than the acid grassland of Kingston Hill). This gives rise to specific invertebrate fauna, which when investigated, was found to have elements of National and Regional interest.   This interest is compounded by  the lack of disturbance, lack of domestic animals and  faeces, low levels of light pollution and other chemical pollutants etc.The proposed change does not recognise the species of local provenance, interrelations of species with the historic features, believing that habitat can be re-provided 'off the shelf'.    Whilst current development proposals will attract certain common species, which we will all recognise from our garden, it will not provide the specialised nich...