Autumn Wildlife Walk

A walk from home to Wanstead Park on 13th October on a lovely early Autumn day.

On the way - on Wanstead Flats - a Small Copper sunning itself, and two pairs of Little Grebes on Alexandra Lake. In Wanstead Park Avenue in the Aldersbrook Estate, the stunning purple leaves of what I believe is Claret Ash Fraxinus angustifolia ssp. oxycarpa 'Raywood'.

In the Park - on Heronry Pond - the usual motley supply of Coots, Mallards, a couple of Little Grebes and assorted Gulls. At the east end of the Perch Pond, Common Hawker dragonflies were annoying each other whilst trying to find a convenient leaf to alight on, whilst a Heron stood motionless just a few metres away checking out the fish. A couple of strikes while I watched proved that it didn't go hungry. Meanwhile, one of the monsters of the Perch Pond (a Red-eared Terrapin) came slowly closer to the bank and extricated itself somewhere in the vegetation, picking up a good covering of duckweed on the way. Also on the lake were a handful of Shoveler and a single male Pochard.

Then in to the Sewage Works Site - now preferred to be called the Exchange Lands by the Conservators - to check out what the effects of the last few months acccesibility to horse-riders has been. This had been allowed because of the restrictions imposed on the riders from Aldersbrook Riding School due to the pipe-works across Wanstead and Leyton Flats.

Walking the routes that had been taken by the horses - which ceased a few weeks ago - it was hard to find any significant damage done to the soil. No foot-wrenching hoof-holes or mud-encasing slurries. About all that was visible was the remnants of some occasional horse droppings. I didn't go down on to the lower bank of the Roding - where horses have been taken; I suspect there may have been slightly more poaching (becoming sodden due to trampling) there because of the softness of the soil. Indeed, the overall very dry weather conditions up until recently may have helped a lot in reducing the impact of horses hooves elsewhere.

Walking back across what I used to call Redbridge Field, but has now become Thames Water Waste, there was a Common Blue butterfly and another specimen of my newly-identified Narrow-leaved Ragwort to interest me. As well, in adjacent trees, a Chiffchaff was singing.

Back by Alexandra Lake, two male and two female Teal had appeared, but at the lake's edge what I first took to be for Pied Wagtails were in fact three and a female Wheatear. The amusing aspect of this was that everywhere the Wheatear went, one Wagtail seemed bound to follow!

Paul Ferris