Knots of Toads

Visiting Heronry Pond on 31st May, at the west end next to the culvert which carries overflow from the Shoulder of Mutton, I saw that there were hundreds - possibly thousands - of small toads clusterd together into two heaps amongst vegetation on the pond's concrete surrounds.

Some were making their way into the pond, and some - it seemed - were coming out of the culvert. This, though may have just been that some had inadvertantly gone in there. In the water there were hundreds more visible on the surface of the water and amongst the vegetation that makes this part of the Heronry Pond so good for wildlife.

This was evidently a natural occurence - that is to say they hadn't been dumped there - but I'm uncertain whether this was for mutual protection, warmth, to stay moist or for some other reason. I have never seen anything like it, although it reminded me of Seamus Heaney's poem "Death of a Naturalist". My experience wasn't quite as awful as the poem recounts, and I've decided to stay a naturalist, but it was certainly mildly disconcerting. Jennifer Charter - whom I called to tell her of this spectacle - had never seen anything like it either, but called me a day or two later to say that the same phenomena had been mentioned at the "Springwatch" base in Wales.

I still haven't heard an explanation of this wildlife-happening, but have managed to discover that a group of toads is called a knot or a lump; images from the video below may show that these collective terms are well-deserved!

Paul Ferris, 8th June 2011

A  Large Red Damselfly emerges...

On May 9th I was watching Large Red Damselflies (Pyrrhosma nymphula) egg laying in my garden pond, when I became aware that a larva had climbed out of the pond onto the surround. The pond isn't very large, and is simply a fibre-glass construction with a mix of vegetation surrounding it. There isn't any emergent vegetation, in the form of reeds or the like, so the creature had resorted to climbing the sides.

It looked to be a damselfly larva, and with the expectation that it might hatch I started filming it with my usual still-camera - a Panasonic DMC-FZ38.

Perhaps after the effort of climbing out of the pond, it had difficulty in finding a suitable high-stem and used an inappropriate-seeming stalk with a few leaves that had broken off a geranium. The process began at about 10.30 and lasted through to about 1.15, during which time I managed to get a tripod set up as hand-held in this sort of situation and time-span is a bit difficult!

Once the larva had settled, the actual emergence was very slow and almost imperceptible. Only when it finally broke free of the exuvia was there any real movement, and this was to find a slightly higher position on its tiny geranium stalk to pump up its abdomen and wings. Even this was almost imperceptible; apart from the pumping motion of the abdomen, the lengthening of the wings was a bit like looking at the movement of the hands of a clock.

There was a distinct change in colouring during this process, too - until eventually there was a recognisable Large Red Damselfly sitting on a leaf onto which it had fluttered, and suddenly it had taken off in its first real flight and was gone.

Paul Ferris, 8th June 2011

The new Park Road to Warren Road "cycle path"

I walked by the north side of the Heronry Pond yesterday, where a new surface to the joint cycle/pedestrian track was laid in recent months. But I didn't walk much on the new surface - I did what most other people were doing, that is walking on the grass either side. And most other people included not only walkers, but cyclists as well, because I haven't spoken to anybody that likes the rough surface.

The old one was actually not a problem at all - certainly not compared to this. I've written before (here) about the damage that was done - presumably in preparation for the surfacing work - to the grassland that I was now walking on,  and now I and others are being encouraged to add to the damage thus inhibiting any possibility of recovery of what was one of the Park's nicer habitat. It's interesting that before the new surface, people used the old track and didn't need to walk on the grass!

I am afraid that the debacle with this path has just confirmed my long-term conviction that the Conservators are not doing their job properly. In this case a lot of time and money has been spent which has resulted not only in the destruction of a good wildlife habitat, but has restricted access rather than improved it and in addition has created a visually less attractive scene than was before. If I ask myself what positive aspects the track has, I can't find any!

What does that say?

Paul Ferris, 31st May 2011

Objection to Police Mustering, Briefing and Deployment Centre turned down.

Just after the report that the Epping Forest and Commons Committee of the City of London will NOT be considering the application for a Lottery Funding (see here), we now have received the news that the House of Lords will not be considering our application against the Legislative Reform (Epping Forest) Order that will allow a police "muster station" be erected on Wanstead Flats for the 2012 Olympic.

Ms. Chris Bolton at the Private Bill Office of the House of Lords has sent correspondence which includes the following statement :  "As you will see the Committee decided not to recommend that a select committee be appointed to consider the Order.  That means that the hybrid instrument process has now come to an end.  As the Committee did not recommend a select committee be appointed the report does not need to be agreed by the House."

So - in both cases the big guns of the City of London and the House of Lords have decided that the  wishes of local people and their regard for Epping Forest be overwhelmed by outside interests. I'm not much of a political person, so I shall leave it to more vociferous others to make statements expressing at the very least - I suspect - their disappointment. In the meantime Epping Forest as a whole, Wanstead Park in particular and Wanstead Flats now and certainly in 2012 will continue to suffer, and will be under increasing threat in the future.

Paul Ferris, 24th May 2011