My monthly standard walk bird count was on the 14th. The park was very wet following recent heavy rains. Unfortunately the chestnut paling fences protecting re-sown grass had been left up too long and were funneling pedestrians making their way through a pinch-point by the NE corner of the stadium. So, the grass cover here had been damaged. There were many places where water had been flowing in recent rainfall.
The Glade in Horse Close Wood was very damp and, despite the wood chippings, the path was muddy going. Some logs have been added in the middle of the Glade to make a cycle jump.
Maintenance staff were still spending fruitless time blowing the autumn leaves in Ashen Grove Wood back to the golf course fence. I speculate that this is to encourage grass below the trees, but the tree canopy is complete and all but woodland specialist grasses will not thrive with or without the autumn leaves. The children enjoy wild play in the parts of the wood where there is a natural woodland ground cover and the wood is recognised for its biodiversity value in the local plan. Grassland is simply not appropriate there.
Hazels in Horse Close Wood and on the Tube line embankment had young catkins alongside leaves not yet fallen to the ground; a real overlap of seasons.
There was not much notable in the bird count, although there was a record number of Black-headed gulls for December, 530, only surpassed in November last year with 545. Our gull counts are variable as the gulls are very mobile in the winter, but we have bucked the national downward trend in the last six or seven years. I really have no idea why our park is now more attractive to wintering gulls.
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