28/7/10: Sevenoaks and KWT urban greenspaces day

Down to Sevenoaks today for a Kent Wildlife Trust teach-in on the 'Living Landscapes' project, creating green corridors and enhancing urban greenspaces for people and wildlife. To be honest it turned out to be a little too basic for me in most respects. I was really after more depth on management for various species, more detail on dealing with various conflicting demands and how to resolve these, especially 'excuses' involving inertia, inflexibility and claims that we 'can't afford it' from Councils and various utilities.

Nevertheless, some useful stuff was picked up as a result, including an actual site-specific management plan for allotment wildlife, which I've not had a chance to read yet, but may be a help 'back home' in trying the establish the principle. My own Council hasn't even started the species recording process on its wildlife sites - 6 years after the target completion date - yet fills LDFs and BAPs with worthy pronouncements about protecting and increasing biodiversity in open spaces, including allotments, that it seems disinclined to act upon, data or otherwise.

The afternoon included a visit to a very large allotment site off Kennedy Gardens, with fine views northwards (below):


I only looked at a few plots, but there were some interesting 'weed' species, including Papaver rhoeas, 4 Fool's Parsley, Galinsoga (possibly Gallant Soldier), several Bugloss and Common Fumitory.

The streets I traversed in the area had a similar 'weed' flora to that in my part of Bexley, though Ivy-leaved Toadflax seemed more prevalant here.

Highlights were a couple of Hare's-foot Clover in the line of a recently planted hedge in Hollybush Lane Sports Ground, 5 Pyramidal Orchids in a front garden lawn on Vine Court Rd (next to, rather inevitably, a garden covered in a skip and gravel ....) and 15 or more Papaver (probably) rupifragum along the roadside boundary of The Vine cricket ground on Dartford Rd.

Time was then spent over a couple of pints in a local hostelry discussing ways to bring about a more radical approach to enhancing biodiversity, and maximising the amount of wildlife in Bexley, with a recent contact who has long been pushing for such improvements in the Borough.

4/10/09: Thamesmead transients

Patches of relatively bare ground always attract my attention, in case soil disturbance has resulted in something out of the ordinary coming up - either from imported soil, or dormant seeds. There was one such area below the walkway from the Lesnes Abbey site into Thamesmead around the east end of Fendyke Rd and immediatly south of the railway line through Abbey Wood.

Patches of bare ground like this one in Thamesmead can turn up relatively unusual plants.

Amongst the flora of this site were Spotted Medick, a Common Stork's-bill, several Ox-eye Daisies, a couple of Weld, Lesser Swine Cress, three Feverfew, a few clumps of Horseradish, a Hemlock seedling, a white-flowered crucifer with a rather long, hooked end to the seed pod - probably descended from a cultivated variety of Radish - and a couple of rather succulent orache-type plants which I've yet to identify.

Who says 'weeds' aren't worth looking at? A Mayweed puts on a fine show doing a passable impression of a cushion chrysanthemum - which is exactly what it is, of course.

I also took another look at the disturbed area to the west side of the walkway by Wolvercote Rd. This time I secured my first record of Bugloss (Anchusa arvensis) in Bexley Borough - bulbous bases to the bristles, and white-eyed blue flowers with doubly bent corolla tubes.

Bugloss (Anchusa arvensis) by Wolvercote Rd, Thamesmead

In paving in a locked 'garden' area on Maran Way were several Galinsoga sp.

On Alsike Rd there were two female Hop plants on the railway fence, a Hemlock, Phragmites in a ditch by the railway line, Spotted Medick and Self Heal by some flats, a few Sun Spurge and more than ten Barbarea sp.

At the junction of Waldrist Way and Yarnton Way were several Ox-eye Daisies, Common Toadflax in flower and Buck's-horn Plantain.