Wildlife Circus

 'A good Anthropocene demands that humans use their growing social, economic and technological powers, to make life better for people, stabilise the climate and protect nature.'  The Ecomodernist Manifesto.   Today  at the South Bank Purcell Room, the inspirational Daniel Raven Ellis, asked of a large and positive audience "What if we made Greater London a National Park City"?  This was the 'Welcome to Reimagine London', a day to explore the idea of London becoming the world’s first National Park City. Last year when he came to talk to the Kingston Biodiversity Network, he found himself sharing a platform with Kevin Davis, the Leader of Kingston Council and discovered a fortuitous synergy in goals. Kingston became the first council to sign up to Daniel's vision, which he told us  is now 'our' vision.           Mr Davis was invited as a speaker, at the conference finale, where he shared a platform with distinguished London poli...

   The South East Rivers Trust have been knocking out the weirs along the Hogsmill. Last year they undertook improvements at Knights Park near Kingston Town Centre see previous posts on the  Hogsmill-valley .  At the start of the project there were  fifteen obstructions on the river preventing fish from passing. These included weirs, culverts, concrete bridge footings and the gauging station near Watersplash Close. This results in the available habitat being highly fragmented causing bottlenecks at various life stages, making some fish species very vulnerable.  The concrete bridge footings at the A240 Kingston Bypass formed a complete barrier to fish passage. A rock ramp has now been built to drown out the weir and increase the depth of water under the bridge. To facilitate vehicular access, some of the vegetation has been removed, which will allow light into the dingy floor and breathe new life into the linear  copse, where ivy has s...

    Does this building look familiar? Would it surprise you to know that, not only is it in the borough, but it is in public ownership. This does not mean there is public access, as it is located on a site that is leased to an organisation that has no use for it.  Damaged brick work Missing roof tiles             The building was probably used for apple storage when the surrounding area was an orchard. It is currently in a poor state of repair, with damaged brickwork, missing roof tiles, and boarded-up windows on the northern elevation. Despite its condition, the structure has strong potential as a bat roost. Its location within a treeline and other structural features make it attractive to bats, and evidence of use has already been found in the form of characteristic droppings on one of the windows. With appropriate agreement in place, the building could be weatherproofed and enhanced through the installation of access bricks a...

Surveyors from Kingston Biodiversity Network During the final hedgerow survey at TCF, we  began along this ancient drovers road, which is the only area to exhibit the characteristic double hedgerow. With a track the width of two horse and carts, it would have once run from Malden Manor to Tolworth Manor and through to Cox Lane (see previous posts). The survey method is quite complex and follows the DEFRA guidelines. It requires an assessment of both sides of the hedge, topographical descriptions, width measurements, height of perennial vegetation, species breakdown, management observations, whether or not invasive or introduced species are present and nutrient loading assessments, phew! An 'orse Scalloped edges There is also a section that includes management of land adjacent to the hedge and in this case it is grazed!  The edges are scalloped, which increases the value of the habitat, creating sunny patches. Once a 'node' is reached, this is d...

  Kingston Riverside is changing fast and it's latest residents will make more demands on the riverside environment. This will mean an increase in light pollution, whether it is due to light spillage from these windows or by an increase in lighting specification brought about by the inevitable health and safety requirements. Trees are always casualties of the latter and some are exhibiting the painted spots identifying their future execution. There is a new pathway onto Canbury Gardens and wear and tear suggests that here will be the next tarmacadam or bonded gravel pathway. And so more of the natural environment is eroded as the urban gradient increases. 4lb bream caught today       Part of the challenge is to enlist residents in support of local environmental protection. Some wildlife is obvious, such as the large bream regularly caught by fishermen and the small fish sought by kingfishers, as well as the cormorants and Egyptian Geese that  turn Ste...

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...

Golden spindles Clavulinopsis fusiformis Many of the species found in Kingston cemetery are typical of unimproved grassland and reflect a management regime sympathetic to both flora and fauna. Golden spindles have a pointed end not to be confused with blunt-ended grassland species known as clubs. These horse mushrooms were enormous! animal digging fly on the cap  Fungi provides animals with food and flies lay their eggs in the flesh which provide a source of food for bats and birds. Can you see the fly on the left. yellow stainer yellow wax cap One of unimproved grassland species and the other is a confusion species of field mushroom and definitely not edible! The orange peel fungus at the Dawson Road  entrance is even more spectacular than 2 weeks ago. Birds had left the remains of the poisonous yew seeds on one of the graves after consuming the red arils. We are trying to compile a list fo...

During a wet Sunday morning seven of us met at Tolworth Court Farm to survey the hedgerows. We used a standard methodology, as well as recording sheets provided to us during a training session at the Lower Moles office (Horton Country Park) earlier this Autumn. This required a qualitative analysis of the hedgerow from 'soup to nuts' i.e.: measurements of height, length, depth, canopy cover, species, evidence of nutrient enrichment, management, presence or absence of features including banks, fencing or 'nodes'. We found that the hedgerows were: species rich (ash, oak, willow, birch, alder, hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, dogwood and field maple) absent in invasive species; surprisingly absent in sycamore; recently managed, evidenced by the brush cutting of brambles; recently planted or 'gapped' (by field maples and dogwood); exhibiting some coppicing of willows; and as we reached the end of the first field, increasingly 'unimproved' with a marked abs...

An outstanding year with a large number of species (see below). We found at least two species, which are indicative of unimproved grassland.  At the Dawson Road entrance was the remains of a copper beech. The tree was infected by Giant Polypore (Meripilus giganteus) seen at the right hand of the stump in its advanced stages, this is a form of butt rot fungus common on Beech. Due to its location, action was taken in the interest of public health and safety. It will be replaced with Black Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica). Beautiful range peel fungus arises from the remaining stump. Under a very old birch are three species of bolete, the Brown Birch Bolete is shown here and on the right is shown with two flies laying their eggs. In November the flies arising from the eggs will be important for birds and any bat species. Both red and yellow cracked boletes are around the tree. They have pores instead of the usual gills.  On the left is a Brown Roll Rim, which can take ...

Last night the London Wildlife Trust hosted a talk by the  urban explorer, researcher and walker (in conjunction with the Friends of Belair Park) at the Belair Park recreation rooms, just off Gallery Road. This is particularly germane for the Friends as the River Effra is currently being released from it's concrete captivity this week as part of the  Lost Effra Project The Lost Effra Project was launched by London Wildlife Trust in January 2013, commissioned by Defra and the Carnegie UK Trust, to develop a community-based water management strategy aiming to inspire people to create new ways to manage the water environment in their area. Community groups are working to improve local green infrastructure to make Herne Hill and its surrounding areas more resilient to flooding and improve the natural environment for wildlife. (There are striking parallels here for us in Kingston as we too have been rethinking the Hogsmill river and South East Rivers Trust have been under...

During the presentation we were informed that  the 706 ha of open space managed by Kingston Council includes: 350 ha of publicly owned open space; and  356 ha of privately owned open space in the borough (such as Six-Acre Meadow or Millais' meadow owned by Merton College).  Since 2008, there has been efficiency savings of £400,000.The budget is currently £2.2 million compared with: Wandsworth 607 ha £2.4 million Richmond 500 ha £3.5 million Ealing 947 ha £2.8 million Contracts are coming up for renewal and further savings must be made. In this context it has made us appreciate some of progress made in the borough and we are anxious not to lose these gains. We were able to make comments in notebooks  under various headings such as Biodiversity; Trees; Community Engagement etc.Under Biodiversity the list seem to be growing rapidly and  some of the comments included concern over: Dogs ring-barking trees around the borough; The unofficial landf...