11/12/09: Bursted Wood, Martens Grove and eastern Bexleyheath

There were 11 Carrion Crows on the former Pitch and Putt course next to Bursted Wood.

5 Grey Squirrels, two Blackbirds and a Robin were seen in Martens Grove.

There were still some fungal fruiting bodies about:

Bracket-type fungus on dead log, Martens Grove

Large fungal fruiting bodies by dead stumps, garden on Park Grove


More fungi by tree stump, grassy bank on Watling St, opposite end of Park Grove

There were a couple of Nipplewort in flower on this bank.

A little further up Watling St., towards the Broadway, there were a load of Three-cornered Leek (Allium triquetrum) in a fenced area just beyond the above-mentioned bank.

Several Starlings and House Sparrows were seen along Woolwich Rd.

10/12/09: Hackney nightlife

Met up with an old friend from Scotland who, until recently, I hadn't seen for years. She was off to Copenhagen - via London - with members of Scotland FoE. We all eat in a Vietnamese restaurant on Englefield Rd. I noted several adult Rosemary Beetles on a Rosemary bush outside the front door.

A Fox was later seen at the junction of Northchurch Terrace and Lawford Rd.

10/12/2009: Cortaderia colonisation

From a moving train window on 10/12/09, I managed to get this blurred picture of the Pampas Grass (Cortaderia - most probably selloana) growing by the railway, just east of Kidbrooke station, on the north side of the line.

'Wild' Pampas Grass near Kidbrooke railway station

There was - until recently - another flowering-sized specimen at the top of the incline from the defunct tracks to the Bricklayer's arms goods complex, just west of the point at which the London Bridge lines cross the East London Line. This appears to have died or been destroyed.

On 28/11/09 when travelling from Euston to Bolton, I spotted a flowering Pampas Grass on railway land under the Scrubs Lane overbridge, just east of Willesden station (and a second inside the railway fence just north of Levenshulme in Greater Manchester).

Elsewhere in London, I have also seen this grass between the railway lines at the west end of Acton Main Line station, Ealing (two plants, from memory) and another on 'waste' ground in the West Ham area.

I also recorded a couple of seedlings on a former garage site on Gloucester Rd., Bristol, the identification being supported by the opinion of a profesional botanist who lived nearby.

8/12/09: Finchley Geranium fest.

A Hop plant was noted in an overgrown 'garden' next to 227 Archway Rd.

At the foot of the tube line embankment, on the south side of the overbridge just south of East Finchley station, by some gabions, was a Geranium pyrenaicum in flower, and several Geranium lucidum. There was some Self Heal in the roadside grass verge.

In a long-grassed area in front of Park House, just north of the bridge, were Yarrow, Creeping Cinquefoil, Cow Parsley, Herb Bennett, and several Sorrel.

13/11/09: More material added to 'GardensNOTcarparks'

After a bit of a lapse, some updating work has been done on my

http://gardensnotcarparks.blogspot.com/

site, with pointers to some new resources and 'lines of argument'.

In particular, I have drawn attention to the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment's very good new booklet 'Grey to Green', which argues that green infrastructure does not receive anything like the investment or management that goes into grey infrastructure, and that this should change dramatically given the multiple benefits and climate change mitigation value that would result.

It is downloadable here:

http://www.cabe.org.uk/publications/grey-to-green

Much of it is applicable to local authorities, and should be of interest to current and aspiring green-minded Councillors.

9/11/09: Bexleyheath - further fungi

More unidentified fungi, this time from Bexleyheath. Pictures all taken 8th November.

Toadstool-producing species in woodchip, front garden on Erith Rd, south of Bursted Wood. This may not be native - there are an increasing number of reports in 'British Wildlife' magazine of exotics growing out of this sort of material.

Rather distant view of a mass of fruiting bodies in a lawn near the junction of Long Lane and Erith Rd

Another kind of toadstool, these rather large, also in a front garden near the Long Lane / Erith Rd junction

Fungus on a dead tree stump, Erith Rd south of Mayplace Rd East/West junction

9/11/09: Barnehurst fungal fruitfulness

Although I've got a couple of decent books on fungi, my few attempts at identifying any have not resulted in what I felt to be 'safe' determinations. Part of the problem is that I don't know what the key features are that define the various groups of fungi, so that I end up having to work through most of the pages in the book, usually more than once. Which is off-putting. So here are some pictures of 'un-named' fruiting bodies taken in the last few days to at least illustrate some of the diversity to be found in the area.

Small 'toadstools' in the short grass immediatly behind the 'up' platform, Barnehurst station, 4th November


Two species of fungi in the short grass immediatly behind the 'up' platform, Barnehurst station, 4th November

Fungus in former street tree site, Windermere Rd, 7th November

Bracket fungus on dead tree, former Pitch and Putt course, Barnehurst, by Bursted Wood, 7th November

Fungus on old coppice stump, Bursted Wood, 7th November

Fungus on old coppice stump, Bursted Wood, 8th November

Bracket fungus on cut tree trunk, Bursted Wood, 8th November