April 2021

The heavy winter rains came to an end in mid January, but the standing water took two months to go away: none was left by April. The park remained heavily used, which is a great social and health benefit in lockdown times. Sadly, however, the heavy use has wrought significant damage not only to the grassland of the great field, but also to the ground flora of Horse Close Wood. The excessive clearance of ground vegetation around the glade as part of the National Grid Works has allowed a broad trampled area to be created below the trees to the east of the glade, joining up with the bluebell path and trampling a good number of bluebells. Hopefully, brambles and cow parsley will re-establish there as usage reduces. Recovery of the glade itself will be slow on the dry clayey soils there. Children's play has seen many of the recently-planted young trees broken, compounding the losses from drought in recent years. The fairground attractions were set up on the ex-bowling green in mid April. Nextdoor, on the active green, the morning activity is spreading the overnight worm casts. There was an Easter programme of watersports and other activities on the great field, leading to the park opening at 07:30.

I did the monthly bird count on the 15th. There was a record April count of five goldfinches, continuing the progressive increase of this species. It's the only finch that has increased over the 35-year study. In contrast, there was a single greenfinch singing in Ashen Grove Wood, so this species is just hanging in. Following their decline over the last 30 years, only a few starlings now breed in the area. The few that did were in tree holes in Horse Close Wood, but there were none there on this visit. It's possible that the clearance of ash trees there has reduced the number of nest sites, but stock doves continue to breed in the wood, so they seem still to be able to find nest sites. A few grey herons visit to feed around the edges of the lake and I had presumed they returned to breeding areas when not feeding, but I have just realised that there is a regularly used roost high up in a tree on the island which is white from the guano of roosting birds. This could be an incipient heronry. As last year, there was a single cormorant. In recent years the odd cormorant has been seen in late spring and summer, perhaps visiting from a nearby breeding colony, or perhaps immature individuals. This one was in first-year plumage, so it would be immature. Greylag counts are low in April as birds are dispersed for breeding, so the 35 birds confirms that this species remains at record numbers. A mute swan was sitting on a nest on the Wimbledon Club lakeshore, so the resident pair is breeding again this year. The first house martins used to be seen in April in the past but not in the last 20 years, so it was no surprise there were none visiting the lake.

The early spring flowers, sweet violet, hazel catkins and snowdrop, were over but a bigger range comes in late spring. Lesser celandine was in flower in the damp parts of the park and the first flowers of cuckoo pint and cow parsley were showing. The blossom of blackthorns made the shrubs easy to locate and the wild cherry on the south-east edge of Horse Close Wood stood out from the surrounds. There was no sign yet of the cuckoo flowers near the White pavilion. The weeping willows of the dam had bright new leaves. Hawthorns were leafing up, as were the odd early oak and ash. But the main colour was from the abundant flowers on the Norway maple just south-east of the Horse Close Wood car park.

The effect of spraying herbicide to control weeds in the public park was obvious, with yellowing-off below fencelines and around trees. Odly, however, the spraying extended also to places where we would otherwise enjoy native wildflowers, such as at the edge of the hedgerow on the golf course boundary north of the stadium, on the steep banks of the brook downstream of the cafe and on the equally steep bank beside the path down from the Home Park Road entrance. In the latter two places it would be preferable to allow wildflowers to establish to help stabilise these shaded areas with native species. I have been trying to establish pendulous sedge and stinking iris beside the path with little success given how dry this bank is, so the spraying will not help! On the positive side, the decrepit fencing around the tree planting on the south edge of Horse Close Wood car park has finally been removed.

Maintenance of the self-closing gates on the large children's play area was still wanting. The black gate by the White pavilion hasn't worked for many years, despite repeated promises that something would be done, and the yellow gate at the other end was first locked whilst awaiting repair, then the repair lasted one day only.

Fertilizer was being spread on the golf course greens. This risks the water quality of the lake, so the final cessation of golf should have a benefit there.