November 2023

In the midst of autumn you can spot things that are lost in a sea of green in the spring and summer. When I did my monthly survey on the 24th the stands of young Elm in Horse Close Wood stood out as pale yellow-green and the Sycamores and Norway Maples also stood out, each with its own colour. But, the big find was on the northern edge of the Horse Close Wood car park as I was checking whether the Dog's Mercury was still there anongst the autumn leaves, I spotted two clumps of a Wood-sorrel, almost certainly the native species. I didn't want to dig around the base of the plant to look for diagnostic details with so little of it there and it just might be one of a bunch of introduced, weedy wood-sorrels, but given the location right by the mercury that seems unlikely. When it flowers next spring the identification can be confirmed. Wood-sorrel is an ancient woodland indicator species, adding to the existing list of ten such species for the wood: Small-leaved Lime, Guelder Rose, Field Maple, Pendulous Sedge, Hybrid Hawthorn, native Bluebell, Holly, Stinking Iris, Crab Apple and Wild Cherry. Indicators don't prove ancient status and the woody species can be of recent, planted, origin and so not indicative. Of course, in this case, we have evidence suggesting that the wood is old planted. Its straight-edged shape and size match those of other

plots enclosed from Wandsworth's South Field. This shape has not changed from first record of it from the old estate map found by Rita Ensing of around 1740, when it was at the southern edge of Downe and Dunsford Manor, Wandsworth. I have speculated that the wood dates back at least as far as the enclosure of these open fields, perhaps in the 17th century. Ancient or not, Wood-sorrel is a nice find and not unexpeced in an old woodland. It is found across a range of woodland types and so expected in this Oak-Ash-Elm wood. The Wood-sorrel is above and Dog's Mercury below in the photograph.

 

The cornfield annual flower mix on the bund by the Revelstoke Road car park had been half cut back, for no apparent reason because it's still in flower. Perhaps to make way for the fireworks? The plots near the edges of the Great Field had been mown, after a quite unsuccessful year. These had been dominated by genuine, perennial native wildflowers: docks, Mugwort, Creeping Thistle, Dandelions, Ribwort Plantain and such. Not so pretty and with a shorter flowering period, but natural. I put down the failure to the dominance of these native species on the fertile, damp soils, species better adapted to the local situation. Sadly, the success of the mix on the bund was at least in part because of a pre-treatment with glyphosate. I suggest planting this bund with woodland to screen the ugly car park from view. 

The 80-year-old northern hedgerow (on the boundary between the public park and the golf course) had been cut back drastically, with much ugly damage to the mature Hawthorns. This will recover come spring, but it does seem to be management on the cheap and with little regard to amenity. As in previous years, autumn leaves are being tidied away unnecessarily. There is no need to clear more than two metres back from the path edge in Ashen Grove Wood. This year the leaves are being barrowed and dumped behind the Elizabeth pool building. If left on the ground they will be rapidly incorporated into the woodland soil by earthworms. Conversely, heaps like this smother the woodland ground flora, setting back the natural regeneration. And, again, the natural hedge extending north from the Revelstoke Road car park has been treated as a topiary project. It needs trimming to stop it obstructing the perimeter path, but lollipop shrubs are out of place.

This year, Pines and Needles have moved to the Horse Close Wood car park, occupying most of the middle and displacing the parked cars to the westernmost 1/3rd.

October 2023

In the bird count on the 19th there were still 19 Great-crested Grebes enjoying the fish fingerlings in the lake and these had been joined by 13 Cormorants and 6 Grey Herons. So there seemed to be plenty of fish to feed upon. The unprecedentally high count of herons suggests that there is an established heronry on the island. There were 50 Feral Pigeons on the grass seed on the repairs to the Great Field. The 10 Pied Wagtails there, however, reflected the usual autumn influx.

September 2023

The bird count on the 29th confirmed the great number of Great-crested Grebes, reported by Tony. Some 25 birds were the product of a successful nesting season. Tony also reported the loss of the adult Mute Swan pen, leaving the cygnets accompanied by just the old cob. Whilst this may have been from bird 'flu, there's no confirmation of that. Doubtless the old cob will find a new mate for next year. The "mating for life" label applies to pairs where both survive.

The flow of the brook has been diverted down the old pipes, both that underground between the stilling pond and the toilet block and that by-passing the cafe. This has stopped too much extra erosion of the sides of the new course past the new bridge and diverted the flow away from the clogged grilles near the beach volleyball. So, the design faults of the brook works are still not overcome. The lack of a grille on the entrance of the old pipe by the stilling pool risks blocking the drainage from Home Park Road and the clogging downstream results in the brook flowing over the landscaping by the beach volleyball when there is a rainfall event. And none of this is anywhere near to the design flood for the works. An unusually large rainfall event will flood the area around the cafe.

A youngsters' den in Horse Close Wood had much debris, including now an M&S trolly.

August 2023

The Little Egret was still at the lake on 28th, when I did the bird count. There was also a lone Gadwall here.

The clean and tidy brigade had cleared the self-established plants below the Leylandii hedge around the athletics stadium, so taking away species that would provide a replacement once the conifers are removed and leaving the gaunt lower parts of the Leylandii in full view of those using the paths. At the same time the "wildflower" plots around the eastern sides of the Great Field were rich in perennial native plants: docks, thistles, Mugwort, Wild Carrot, Bristly Ox-tongue and Red Clover. These species flower somewhat earlier than the tall, exotic annuals that comprise the seed mix and compete with them to deplete their display. Whilst this might reflect a poor seed mix, I think it's just natural ecology. It would be interesting to rotovate new plots to see if a newly rotovated area allows the exotics to do better. In contrast with this, the northern mound by the Revelstoke Road car park was looking much as it should, with a good variety of exotics (and a few natives) beginning to flower well. The untidy flower plots around the Hornbeam whips beside the perimeter path were showing some of the seeds from the "meadow mix" there, in fact native cornfield annuals: Corn Marigold, Cornflower, Corn Chamomile, Corncockle, Poppy, and the odd one out: Verbena bonariensis. The Railway Poplars north of the Revelstoke Road car park were being trimmed, as is necessary to keep them safe. There were few native wildflowers showing. The ubiquitous Black Horehound was in flower, as were seveal other species in the veteran oak enclosure.

The gates of the park were opened at 06:50, allowing much recreational activity before the working day began. A welcome move.

July 2023

The extensive damage to the grass of the Great Field must have some benefit. Indeed, there were 50 Feral Pigeons there when I did the monthly bird count on the 16th, enjoying the nutritious grass seeds. Five Common Terns, a Cormorant, three Grey Herons and a Little Egret were fishing at the lake, so clearly there's something to be got there. A Reed Warbler was singing in the reedbeds close to the southern end of the Athletics Stadium.

Viewing the golf course through the hedgerows on the boundary of the public park showed a good variety of grasses in flower and a few weeds on disturbed patches, including Ragwort.

The long grass triangle by the steps at the SW corner of the tennis courts had been mown. This allowed the Cuckoo-flowers to set seed but was premature for the Germander Speedwell. It would be good were the mowing regime of the long grass in the park to follow a meadow manageent regime. That would allow the wildflowers to increase naturally.

June 2023

Last month we had a comment on the blog, wondering whether the decline of the waterweed could account for the decline of Coots and Tufted Ducks. I did my lake water sampling on the 14th, when I found some scraps of Small Pondweed and Fennel Pondweed struggling to grow, despite the blue-green bacterial bloom. By the 22nd, however, the watersports people were dragging pondweed out of the lake and disposing of in in rotting heaps on the boundary between the stadium and the golf course. The good news is that the pondweeds have begun to grow, and the bad news is that dragging the weed out disturbs the sediment on the lake bottom, releasing pollutants into the lake water. As for those two wetland birds, there is a link between Coot numbers and pondweed. The numbers of Coots had increased gradually, doubling between 1986 and 2013. Then in 2014, in response to a great growth of Rigid Hornwort which is a floating waterweed, numbers doubled immediately (see the first graph). As the waterweeds decreased again over the subsequent years Coots declined back to the numbers seen before the waterweed flourished. The trend is not so obvious for the Tufted Duck, which had peak numbers in 2006 before the waterweed recovery. It was declining before 2014 and its increase then was not so pronounced, but it too has been declining since 2014 (see the second graph). According to the British Trust for Ornithology, the Coot is largely herbivorous in its diet, and a bottom feeder, seizing plant material and returning to the surface to eat it, whereas the Tufted Duck prefers aquatic invertebrates and bivalve molluscs. The difference in diet seems to explain the much bigger response of the Coot to waterweed abundance. On the 22nd several Coots were incubating eggs on nests readily visible from the lakeside promenade

This month there was mixed news on wetland birds. Although two or three Grey Herons remain at the lake, there was no longer one of them at the nest on the island. I fear that a predator has got to the nest. The risk of this may be great, as these herons are likely to be youngsters without much breeding experience. One item of good news, however, was a good number of Swifts, some 30 or 40 of which were hawking over the lake on the 22nd and others were seen on their commuting flights between this feeding area and their distant nests. Clearly the lake remains a vital food source for Swifts. Swift counts are very variable, but this tally is amongst the top four in the 36-year study. The other bit of good news was a Reed Warbler singing in the reedbed near the south-west corner of the athletics stadium. This species was last heard on my standard walk in 2018, so it's good to know that they are still breeding here. Sadly, the place where they were singing is schedluled to be trashed when AELTC's boardwalk is constructed here, should they get planning permission for their intensive lawn tennis development.

Summer flowers were beginning to show: Watercress in the brook, Black Horehound around the edges, Yellow Flag Iris around the Lake (another attraction threatened by the AELTC development proposals),

The 45 Canada Geese was a low number, but these were beyond the island and some may have remained out of sight there. In contrast, the 115 Greylags were mainly just south of the athletics stadium and readily counted, there were several goslings intermingled with the adults. Both species are flightless for around a month in late June and early July when they are susceptible to predation, so they undertake a moult migration to safe places. Sadly, they see our lake as a safe place, which was not so when the Golf Club used them for target practice in July 2010, and AELTC also don't want them because they may enjoy the planned grass courts. These two species can be killed under licence, but only if they are a health and safety risk. They are easily culled when flightless, as they can be driven into an enclosure and dispatched humanely by a vet. As licence applications don't have to be advertised, there's a continued risk that these birds will be killed for no good reason and the many people who feed the birds from the lakeside will not be too happy.

The bund by the Revelstoke Road car park has been spreyed with "roundup" and seeded with a cornfield annual seed mix. The seems to be doing much better than the long-standing "wildflower" patches beside the perimeder of the Great Field. It's notable, however, that the roundup did not eliminate pre-existing plants of Hedge Mustard, Perennial Ryegrass, Ragwort, Hybrid Dock, Ox-eye Daisy and Yarrow.

A native plant has been increasing in the park in recent years. This plant has the unfortunate common name "Stinking Iris", because some people find the smell of its leaves unpleasant when crushed or bruised, an odour that has been described as "beefy". It favours dry soils in woodland and has colonised naturally in tree planting areas beside Horse Close Wood and the nearby car park. There are also a few beside the path leading to the Lofthouse Glade from the perimeter path. I spotted a new plant in the depths of the Wood this month as well. Thinking it would be suitable for the growing conditions under the veteran oak, I scattered some seed in the enclosure two years ago, where it has established and was flowering for the first time this month.

The vegetation of the veteran tree enclosure is under discussion and ideas are welcome. The main purpose of the enclosure is to deter access to the veteran oak, which was threatened by careless actions, such as BBQ disposal. It's remarkable that some 130 species of plant have colonised the enclosure over the last four years. The vegetation has developed by natural colonisation and serves as a barrier to encroachment. We don't want too much woody vegetation, which would compete with the veteran. It also provides colour and valuable habitat and nectaring for insects, but it appears that some regard it as untidy, or in the way. This led to the removal of several Buddleia bushes that were growing beside the pathways, a loss of colour, wildlife habitat and a barrier to encroachment. Leave a comment with your views on this matter. Have we got enough protection from encroachment? What management does it need? 

The park gates were opened at 06:20 on the 22nd, a welcome move for all those who want to run or walk the dog early in the day. Less welcome was a pile of rubble on top of the tree planting beside the tennis courts, some garden waste tipped over the Dog's Mercury at the edge of Horse Close Wood car park and a set of Christmas lights in the same area. Work was under way spreading topsoil into the deep ruts caused by the pub in the park. Without any sign of decompressing the compacted soil, this treatment is expensive cosmetic work, covering fundamental problems and it was being done too late for the AELTC car parking.

The golf course is now wholly closed and can be viewed from the sourrounding land only. Even at this distance, however, a good variety of meadow grasses can be seen, most of which were missed in the "expert" surveys that underpin the greening proposals in the planning application. Failure to look properly has allowed the place to be undervalued.