ED Nature Watch

[fl0wer]

A reminder to everyone to be conscious of bonfires and bonfire parties' impact on the domestic animals and on the wildlife, and to encourage your neighbours the same.

If you plan to torch that heap of branches & garden scraps you accumulated during the summer, it probably already contains some creatures.

The best thing is to light a small new amount of kindling elsewhere, and collect branches from the heap, rather than inserting your firelighters into the existing pile which will just turn it into a biodiversity funeral pyre.

On which topic, what's mankind's fascination with fire? No sooner do the designers sanitise our indoor environments for the minimalist look, than we're outside scrabbling around with charcoals and barbecues, or warming the mood of those bare interiors with rows of little flames a.k.a. tea lights.

The skill of fire-making gave Homo Sapiens power. People need to understand their craving and learn to handle it wisely if we're going to leave an Earth fit for the grandchildren.

[fl0wer]

Today George Monbiot is writing in the Guardian about what happens when the wrong materials get thrown on bonfires,

" Plastics, paints, timber treatments and other manmade chemicals contain chlorine. The best way of manufacturing dioxin is to stack up your junk outdoors well in advance, make sure that it gets nice and damp, so that it burns at low temperatures, and then roast it in an uncontained fire. Which is just what we do on 5 November."

A bonfire made of untreated wood wouldn't be as damaging, according to him, so he isn't writing a killjoy piece.

Still folks please bear this chemical waste problem in mind, for the sake of the Earth.

[fl0wer]

.

[Sue]

Something has been digging in my pots and windowboxes and uprooting plants.

I thought it was after bulbs, but some bulbs have been left lying on the surface.

Fox? Cat? Squirrel? They were daffodil bulbs and in my experience squirrels go for crocuses.

Any ideas? I've belatedly protected them with a Heath Robinson contraption of canes and string :))

[fl0wer]

Strornery.

Almost Christmas and the Autumn Raspberries still look fresh and edible, growing in the little gardens at junction of Underhill and Friern.

Quite a few to pick, if they are yours?

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Catkins are already out on the hazels.

[Sue]

Peckhamgatecrasher Wrote:

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> Catkins are already out on the hazels.

xxxxxxxx

:(

[fl0wer]

Wanted: your sightings of bees on winter flowering shrubs.

See paragraph at end of linked article here http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/dec/28/alys-fowler-winter-scents.

Easy data collection made possible through the internet, brilliant.

[louisemurray]

Long tailed tits in Peckham rye park Xmas day in big trees near the outdoor exercise machines, going back today to look for them. Someone else also saw goldfiches there too

[Sue]

louisemurray Wrote:

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> Long tailed tits in Peckham rye park Xmas day in

> big trees near the outdoor exercise machines,

> going back today to look for them.

xxxxxx

Hooray, they are my favourite birds!

Never seen them round here, but when I lived in Oundle they came down to my bird feeder.

[fl0wer]

ED has at least one good flock of LTTs. About 1 doz strong at the end of last winter. They enjoy the treetops around Peckham Park, flit along via Dunstans Road to the Cemetery on Underhill Rd, cross to the shrubs and insects at Dawson Hill.

A lovely territory for them and they are always on the move.

They are dependent on spiderweb and moss to make nests, so garden gently and leave these materials to help them.

[Spyragyra]

Lttits are about the area a lot. They will come into gardens and like fat balls. Take the netting off so their tiny feet don't get caught. Goldfinches are the most common birds in our garden, they love sunflowers hearts. As do nuthatches, parakeets and the black and white woodpeckers.

[lizbells6]

I love this thread. Thanks to everyone who posts all this fascinating info, especially flower.

[Sue]

Spyragyra Wrote:

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> Goldfinches are the most common birds in our

> garden, they love sunflowers hearts. As do

> nuthatches, parakeets and the black and white

> woodpeckers.

xxxxxx

You are very lucky, where do you live?

The most common birds in my garden are sparrows :))

ETA: Despite hopefully putting out niger/nigella seed, I have never seen a goldfinch in my garden .... where there is lots of cover for the birds .....

I recently hung up some ham rind/fat for the birds from a joint my sister brought over, and it has been quite amusing to watch cats looking at it longingly from below and making ill-advised (and unsuccessful) attempts to reach it :))

[fl0wer]

[Article refers to USA.]

Urban planners are increasingly expected now to show awareness of biodiversity.

Adequate research into trees' friendliness to wildlife is crucial, for townscapes to remain healthy and vibrant for a broad range of species.

Here in the UK it means that Councils mustn't make arrangements with industrial-scale horticultural tree nurseries who often supply street 'Ornamentals' which support only one or two 'pests'.

It means we must insist on consultation and collaboration with organisations whose extra knowledge, eg of birds and invertebrates can help local Tree Officers.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/06/us-cities-urban-wildlife#comment-30572080

[mynamehere]

I here-by "like" all of flower's postings (until otherwise noted!)

[Twirly]

mynamehere Wrote:

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> I here-by "like" all of flower's postings (until

> otherwise noted!)

Me too!

[BrandNewGuy]

fl0wer Wrote:

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

> >

> Urban planners are increasingly expected now to

> show awareness of biodiversity.

> Adequate research into trees' friendliness to

> wildlife is crucial, for townscapes to remain

> healthy and vibrant for a broad range of species.

> Here in the UK it means that Councils mustn't make

> arrangements with industrial-scale horticultural

> tree nurseries who often supply street

> 'Ornamentals' which support only one or two

> 'pests'.

> It means we must insist on consultation and

> collaboration with organisations whose extra

> knowledge, eg of birds and invertebrates can help

> local Tree Officers.

>

> http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/06

> /us-cities-urban-wildlife#comment-30572080

Hear, hear. I'll be watching Southwark's - and the Wildlife Trust's - response with interest.

[fl0wer]

Thanks Forumites.

The passive approach, awaiting for instance the Wildlife Trust & Southwark Council's responses, definitely requires supplementing - eg by circulating information. The internet's ideal for this purpose.

One of the nicest ways readers could express their liking for my posts, is by widening the number of people who start taking direct care of the environment, wherever we live. Whether by joining in EDF discussions & working out what small housekeeping or gardening changes we can make, or by starting greener-street improvement groups, or by deepening natural history knowledge and making sure children acquire outdoor play and observation skills, I'm not fussy. This marks a turn away from hierarchical, evidently dysfunctional ways power gets tiered in Council Chambers which always tends towards another round of "Ain't It Awful".

This more active approach has massive potential for problem solving. I do believe the best biodiversity changes are brought about with a minumum of regulation. They rely upon individuals resolving to belong in their locales and to walk, vote, and restore, wisely wherever the Earth presents opportunities. In the context of Council spending cuts, we can expect staff such as Tree Officers to need all the help they can get, even to have their numbers drastically cut.

[Sue]

Everywhere round here, it seems, people are concreting their gardens.

It feels like I'm one of a dwindling few making a stand for wildlife with an "overgrown" (and much loved) garden which is planted for wildlife. And for my being able to have a leafy/flowery environment to sit in and enjoy.

An estate agent recently told me that when someone bought my house they would "landscape" the garden. He didn't mean what I would mean by "landscape". He meant - concrete or pave it. All of it. Except maybe retaining a narrow strip of soil with a few "low maintenance" shrubs.

Shouldn't the government be looking into this as well? Quite apart from the implications for biodiversity, it also has implications for flooding because it reduces the surface area where rainwater can drain away.

On a completely separate issue:

I hung up for the birds a large lump of fat from a ham my sister had cooked and brought. It was hung securely (I thought!) from a string high up on a pole away from anywhere cats etc could reach it. In fact I saw several cats attempting and failing to get anywhere near it.

Then one morning the ham had completely disappeared - nowhere in the garden. Must have been a fox, but how ON EARTH could it have reached it? Can they jump that high?

[fl0wer]

Dear Sue

useful info here =>http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=738

this is the sort of thing to coax garden concreters towards. When there is car crime I can understand people wanting to park within the household boundaries.

Landlords and their agents need persuading as the drabbest front yards are designed for "low maintenance" for "the tenants".

A grant was made available in one London district if paved areas were converted to permeable surfaces, I think that project has finished now. But it did help, a lot.

[Sue]

fl0wer Wrote:

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

>>

> A grant was made available in one London district

> if paved areas were converted to permeable

> surfaces, I think that project has finished now.

> But it did help, a lot.

xxxxxx

Yes, I think it may have been Islington. I used to work for Islington Council and was indirectly involved with that project, or something very like it.

ETA: But I believe it was only front gardens, whereas I am talking about people round here increasingly paving or concreting their back gardens.

[fl0wer]

When you say "people" Sue I have not actually got an image of what percentage.

The fashion for decking has faded a bit now as many homeowners don't want to risk sheltering urban foxes.

Garden design DOES allow people eco-friendly surfaces other than lawns. Mowers & strimmers guzzle fuel & create noise pollution & in London especially it's a problem that lawns waste water with sprinklers.

A couple of alternatives, apart from the surfaces mentioned on that RHS website:

low-growing grasses + wildflowers, only snipped once per season (usually end of August to allow seedheads to distribute)

- these are fantastic for biodiversity, take 2 or 3 years to grow into true beauty, don't need watering either.

gravel

- dry-garden plants will grow in this; troublefree. Rounded not sharp edged stones for walking bare foot -

- gravel is often spread on permeable fabric to obviate weedkiller sprays. Good.

[LadyNorwood]

Sue Wrote:

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

> Everywhere round here, it seems, people are

> concreting their gardens.

>

> It feels like I'm one of a dwindling few making a

> stand for wildlife with an "overgrown" (and much

> loved) garden which is planted for wildlife. And

> for my being able to have a leafy/flowery

> environment to sit in and enjoy.

>

> An estate agent recently told me that when someone

> bought my house they would "landscape" the garden.

> He didn't mean what I would mean by "landscape".

> He meant - concrete or pave it. All of it. Except

> maybe retaining a narrow strip of soil with a few

> "low maintenance" shrubs.

>

> Shouldn't the government be looking into this as

> well? Quite apart from the implications for

> biodiversity, it also has implications for

> flooding because it reduces the surface area

> where rainwater can drain away.

>

> On a completely separate issue:

>

> I hung up for the birds a large lump of fat from a

> ham my sister had cooked and brought. It was hung

> securely (I thought!) from a string high up on a

> pole away from anywhere cats etc could reach it.

> In fact I saw several cats attempting and failing

> to get anywhere near it.

>

> Then one morning the ham had completely

> disappeared - nowhere in the garden. Must have

> been a fox, but how ON EARTH could it have reached

> it? Can they jump that high?

Probably squirrels.....

[Sue]

LadyNorwood Wrote:

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

> Sue Wrote:

>

> > On a completely separate issue:

> >

> > I hung up for the birds a large lump of fat from

> a

> > ham my sister had cooked and brought. It was

> hung

> > securely (I thought!) from a string high up on

> a

> > pole away from anywhere cats etc could reach

> it.

> > In fact I saw several cats attempting and

> failing

> > to get anywhere near it.

> >

> > Then one morning the ham had completely

> > disappeared - nowhere in the garden. Must have

> > been a fox, but how ON EARTH could it have

> reached

> > it? Can they jump that high?

>

xxxxxxx

> Probably squirrels.....

xxxxxxx

They must have been extremely strong squirrels :))

It was all the fat from a whole joint of ham!