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Little Wormwood Scrubs Nature Diary October 2022

1) The document provides observations from the Little Wormwood Scrubs Nature Diary for October 2022. It describes the state of various trees that needed pruning or cutting back due to fast growth. 2) It discusses the drought conditions in the area during early October and the extension of a hosepipe ban. Leaves began changing color in mid-month, producing warm browns and yellows. 3) Later in October, goldfinches and chaffinches returned to the area as usual. However, noise from parakeets disturbed the smaller birds and disrupted the natural wildlife. Fungi also grew well due to the warm, moist conditions.

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171 views3 pages

Little Wormwood Scrubs Nature Diary October 2022

1) The document provides observations from the Little Wormwood Scrubs Nature Diary for October 2022. It describes the state of various trees that needed pruning or cutting back due to fast growth. 2) It discusses the drought conditions in the area during early October and the extension of a hosepipe ban. Leaves began changing color in mid-month, producing warm browns and yellows. 3) Later in October, goldfinches and chaffinches returned to the area as usual. However, noise from parakeets disturbed the smaller birds and disrupted the natural wildlife. Fungi also grew well due to the warm, moist conditions.

Uploaded by

api-244961878
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Little Wormwood Scrubs Nature Diary October 2022

The weeping Willows probably needed their fringes cut and the
Lombardy poplars and native Willows required some unsparing
lopping, because they grow so quickly. Other trees need more
attention from the loppers and pruners though. These include that
invasive legume, the Robinia pseudoacacia, which regenerates so
quickly after pruning and produces ‘beans’ that soon develop into
thorny new shoots. They deter visitors from using some patches of
grass, in spite of the fragrance of their yellow, summertime
blossoms.
Erratic rainfall until early October moved the Environment Agency
to accord ‘drought status’ to this and other parts of the country.
Thames Water followed this with the extension of their hosepipe
ban. Relief from all these reminders of unseasonal weather came
on a cold day, early in the third week, coupled with dwindling hours
of daylight. This was when the change of colour in leaves
accelerated. Carotenoids produced the same warm brownish
yellows in the Hornbeams and Silver Birches. Their attractiveness
made up for the early loss of colour on the large Limes and the late
activity of anthocyanins in the Field Maple that later led to some
strong reds.

Days later there was a seasonal surge of another kind. Charms of


Goldfinches and tremblings of Chaffinches landed in customary,
dainty style. They visit the Little Scrubs throughout the year,
including at the start of autumn. Watching these seedeaters in their
harvesting mode was a pleasure that the Parakeets managed to
sabotage with their calls, which alerted all the flitting fringillidae 1 to
a human presence. These birds may be part of nature, but like
other alien species such as the Canada geese, Grey squirrels and
Robinias, they mess things up on this ‘dear, dear land’ and elbow
out native wildlife.
There was both moisture and warmth in abundance during the
month of October and together these made good growing
conditions for fungi. On a day when the temperature reached
19.4ºC it enticed a rabbit to make its first appearance in eighteen
months. Untimely warmth also brought out the dragonflies and
when the temperature reached 21.5ºC in the shade, a Ringlet
butterfly and white-tailed bumblebee were in flight.
Later, on misty mornings the smell of wet
leaves and petrichor got into the nose. This
natural smell of autumn was overpowered
one night by the acrid smoke from the burnt-
out, tangled mass of a moped, which hinted
at the return of open season on taking-and-
driving.

A heat seeker
draws attention to
a sustainable
source of energy

The dry summer teased out some the park’s recent history. An
uneven settling of the soil during the drought, along with the fast
recovery of grasses on comparatively, recently disturbed ground

1 Members of the finch family


uncovered a network of old trenches for conduits, cables and land
drains and the ‘footprint’ of the demolished Victorian bandstand - a
good seventeen paces in diameter.
Environmental history surfaced too. Records indicate that in1820
Linnets, Nightingales and summer Skylarks were part of the park’s
bird life. A local mammal survey listed eight mammals in the area,
including the Fox, Hedgehog, Grey Squirrel, Rat, House Mouse,
Common Pipistrelle, Soprano Pipistrelle and Serotine bats, but not
the rabbit, which was introduced and does not feature as a native
species of mammal.

Nicolas Holliman
Corner Nine Arts Project

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