I did the monthly bird count on the 28th. August is a quiet month, with only Robins, Wrens and Stock Doves singing. The single dove was in Ashen Grove Wood, but surely others would have been present but silent. The geese were mostly out on the Great Field in the early morining and the Greylags continue to outnumber the Canada Geese (75 to 30). Some of the summer wildflowers were still showing, with Yarrow showing in several places. There was a single white-flowered Cyclamen in Horse Close Wood. This year's acorn crop looks quite light and is heavily infected with Knopper gall.
At the end of a wet summer, the bowls court and the restoration work following the tennis queue were being watered at 06:30. One wonders about the sustainability of this? The park gates were opened at 06:45. The Crazy Golf area and the strip of meadow between the tennis courts and the tube line hedge had been mown short recently with the arisings left as a thatch, preventing users from enjoying the wildflowers there. It seems that the desire for meadow management hasn't got through.
