A wildlife diary
Mary Smith 33 Gaynes Park Road, Upminster, Essex RM14 2HJ
August started dry and warm, after a day or two at the very end of July when we had a bit
of rain. In Belhus Woods Country Park in the second week of August we noticed all the
ponds and lakes were at least half a metre lower than usual. The Running Water Brook had
dried up completely. It meant that some water plants could be found growing on dry land,
albeit rather floppy and unhappy. It was also the season for fires; one assumes most of
them deliberate by a few youngsters bored with long hot school holidays, parents out at
work, matches in their pockets, and setting fire to a hay field is such fun to watch. From a
botanist's point of view, sometimes fire is useful as a quick way of keeping down scrub, but
when valuable good hay, or an old wildlife-full hedge, is lost, then that is not good at all.
Forty years ago in our 'new' garden we were surprised to see several plants of the annual
Scarlet Pimpernel, but in the blue form, which is not the same as the true Blue Pimpernel.
The blue form of the Scarlet Pimpernel is common on mainland Europe, but not in
Britain. We had no idea who had brought it in, but it was unlikely to be here naturally.
As the years went by this plant came and went around the garden, as annuals often do,
but never again after the first few years where it had first been, in the rose bed.
However, in March, we cleared out some overgrown shrubs by the rose bed in order to
have a new length offence put in. The cleared area was left 'empty', i.e. we did not plant
anything. Now, in August, the area is full of a tangled growth of the blue Scarlet Pimpernel
again (see plate 4). Clearly the seeds had been in the soil all that time, around 35 years or
so, and suddenly the bright light and open soil allowed them to germinate. It is very
encouraging with plants that are rare: there are usually still seeds in the soil. This knowledge
is what gives hope to botanical conservationists; we might lose in the short term, but in the
longer term much of the damage can still be undone by rejuvenating the habitat.
Out in Cranham one day, with a friend who knows about birds, we spotted a huge predator
circling around. Then there was another; they were a pair of Buzzards. Then there was
a third bird, much smaller this time, with a longer tail, which I was told was a
Sparrowhawk. These birds were over public open space very close to the urban area of
Cranham, almost the easternmost part of the great conurbation of Greater London. I
presume this area of open space provided plenty of food; it certainly has Slow-worms
and rats (see previous article in September 04 Newsletter), and probably lots of small
voles, mice and lots of other small creatures.
Some of you may remember that I have been collecting spiders in my home to pickle
and send to Peter Harvey for identification. We are now in a height of the season (early
September) for such creatures, at least in our house. We keep on finding the huge, black,
hairy ones, and they all turn out to be House Spider males. Strangely, I thought, why all
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 49, January 2006
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