ED Nature Watch

[Sue]

Peckhamgatecrasher Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> > Does anyone know what the strange looking

> flowers/weeds are in Brenchley Gardens - near the

> bench overlooking the golf course? Nearest thing I

> can think of is a red hot poker except they are

> not red!

>

>xxxxxxx

Do you have pic of them? Or more detailed description?

[The Minkey]

5 babies! Wow, that's a lot. I thought they tended towards 2, upping to 3 when food supplies are good. I will have to check my facts. How lucky you were there when she decided to move them :-)

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Sue I don't. They like a lot of snakes standing on end (that's from a distance and with my eyesight).

Between 2 and 10 inches, thick stem like asparagus and ending in a closed-tulip-shaped head with lots of white bobbles on them.

[i hope I never have to do an identity parade.]

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

P.Rose, it's going to get noisy when mum and babies separate - they scream a lot.

[Sue]

Peckhamgatecrasher Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Sue I don't. They like a lot of snakes standing on

> end (that's from a distance and with my

> eyesight).

>

> Between 2 and 10 inches, thick stem like asparagus

> and ending in a closed-tulip-shaped head with lots

> of white bobbles on them.

>

xxxxxxx

Could they be either ferns before they've unfurled, or narcissus in bud?

>

[The Minkey]

Is it the bench furthest away from Forest Hill Rd, i.e nearest Kelvington Rd? If so, I'll have to take a look..

[PeckhamRose]

Mother and 5 baby squirrels moved two trees away. I discovered their new hole in the tree when I went out this evening to meet Chick. I can't see the hole from my flat as it faces the other way. As far as I am concerned it's five more potential plant trashers, so I shall regrease the drain pipe with motorcycle chain spray - as that seems to have worked so far!

[The Minkey]

I don't blame you - they do love to bury things in pots and they don't care what's already in them. I'm still amazed she had so many, that's a lot of squirrels - keep that drainpipe well greased!

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Minkey, it's the 'modern' bench in light wood. Don't think they're ferns or narcissi.

[civilservant]

Enjoy your squirrels while you can - we used to have a thriving population in our garden. Of course we didn't appreciate them and moaned about how they trashed our bulbs etc.

Then someone nearby got a cat, who proceeded to eliminate the baby squirrels with extreme prejudice. The crying of the wounded babies was heart-rending - I expect they crawled away somewhere and died of their wounds.

This was a couple of years ago. Only the bravest of squirrels ventures into our garden now because those bloody cats have made it their own.

So no hedgehogs, and no squirrels, but no end of cats... is this the green and pleasant East Dulwich everyone else is blathering on about?

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

C'est la vie, civilservant:

Who trusted God was love indeed

And love Creation's final law

Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw

With ravine, shriek'd against his creed

[PeckhamRose]

I live in a third floor flat with a cat too afraid of its own tail. You know when you see cats and dogs running round chasing their own tail? Mine runs backwards away from it.

Don't tar all cats with the same brush. She saw a squirrel on our balcony and ran AWAY. We heard the squirrels laughing at her from the rest of the flat.

[SteveT]

You must have offspring of the cowardly lion PR.

[The Minkey]

Peckhamgatecrasher: I haven't had time to go see yet but thinking about things that look very unlike their adult selves when first popping up, could it be horsetail: http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/H-Flowers/Horsetail,%20Field.htm

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Oh well done. It's that or something very similar. Quite repulsive and creepy plants.

[PeckhamRose]

How I miss seeing Mrs Squirrel at her tree hole, but happy she has a bigger place for the five liluns a few trees along and not facing me. I await the new leaseholders and will report accordingly!

[BrandNewGuy]

More nature notes... I heard a chiffchaff in the trees by Dulwich Hospital yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure I've heard one here before, though there are plenty up in the woods.

And there's a toad in our garden. Let's hope s/he's hungry for slugs this summer...

[The Minkey]

I thought I saw a chiffchaff in my garden a couple of weeks or so ago, then looked it up to find it could have been a willow warbler. Next time I spot it, I'll keep my eyes peeled for the eye ring.

I envy you your toad - I want one in my garden. Newts are supposed to be good at eating slugs too.

[Sue]

Peckhamgatecrasher Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Oh well done. It's that or something very similar.

> Quite repulsive and creepy plants.

xxxxxxxxx

Really weird, they look like fungi!

[PeckhamRose]

Mr PR saw a Goldcrest in Peckham Rye Park. Tiny tiny tiny thing!

[ianr]

A pied wagtail on Tulse Hill station this morning (platform 3). An amazingly precise and fast pecking action. I thought at first it was more like a nervous gesture, with the beak not actually reaching the ground, but then repeatedly saw it harvesting crumbs of food.

[BrandNewGuy]

More peregrine falcon action at Dulwich Hospital... At 8.45, one swooped down from the tall tower and landed on the roof of the house on East Dulwich Grove that's next to the 'building' site. A few small birds pestered it and it flew up to the spire of the United Reformed Church on the corner of Melbourne Grove. It then circled around for a minute or two before flying off.

A couple of pigeons on the church roof fluttered a bit but seemed unconcerned. Someone should tell them they're the staple food of urban peregrines...

I'll take a camera with me on my way to the station tomorrow :-)

[SteveT]

Someone should tell them they're the staple food of urban peregrines...

Country ones too BNG according to my bird book.

[civilservant]

I continue my quest for the elusive East Dulwich hedgehog.

The Royal Mail have just issued some lovely stamps showing threatened mammals - see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2010/apr/13/royal-mail-stamps-uk-mammals - and guess which animal features on the first stamp in the series!

In keepign with the threatened mammal theme, local hedgehog news is not good. This is what I got from Hugh Warwick, a hedgehog expert at the BHPS (British Hedgehog Preservation Society to the un-initiated - he's also got a great book on hedgehogs out for those who might be interested)

"By the 2000s hogs appeared to have been lost from around 45% of sites where they were present in 1960-80 - the map shows S and SE london to be badly lacking in hogs. The distance from St Pauls Cathedral was a very significant indicator of likelihood of hogs - closer you are the fewer.

Habitat fragmentation is likely to be the cause of your absence of hogs - great parks are fine as long as they are connected to a supply of hedgehogs! It is not just roads that are the problem but the loss of gardens and green space connecting up the landscape. So every extension, car park on front garden, decking, patio - all affect hedgehogs' chances of coping. Your garden sounds like it would be prime hog habitat, but if there are no hogs in the area, all I can suggest is to keep an eye out for signs of hedgehog - dead ones on the road are actually quite encouraging as they tell you that there are some around ..."

We're not doing so well - do keep any sightings coming!

[ceribee]

They have red squirrels in the lake district too. I stayed in a cottage nr Penrith which displayed a notice requesting IMMEDIATE notification upon seeing a grey squirrel following which a 'squirrel warden' would arrive to shoot it!! I have to say I didn't test this?

I regularly see a couple of Jays in the garden and have seen a greater spotted woodpecker twice a few times. Last yr there was also a green woodpecker, and I've seen one already this spring in crystal palace park.

Where have all the green parrots gone though? I have hardly seen any this yr? My friend emailed from India (!) to say he'd heard there was a council initiate to kill..cough..I mean 'cull' them. Is this true?