Trees Around the Park
A monthly series
Silver Birch and see A Birch through the year
Sparrows Meadows
Find out about how planting wild flower areas in Waterlow Park is encouraging wildlife and about the once common sparrow.
Spring in Waterlow Park
Spring is in the air and Waterlow Park is proving to be an oasis for all sorts of birds beginning their nesting rituals.
Missle and song thrushes, greenfinch and chaffinch, great tits and bue tits, nuthatches, blackbirds and robins are all beginning to buld nests. So are wrens, crows, Canada geese, coots and moorhens. I nearly forgot the jays, blackcaps and woodpigeons and a tawny owl roosts in a hollow tree by the top pond - it might have a family too.
Last year early morning visitors might catch site of a kingfisher - the middle pond in particular is full of small fish. If they were ever to nest they would need a secluded bank of soil built up, that they could burrow into.
There are more pairs of Cananda geese than the area can support and territorial battles of honking rivals break out throughout the day. Coots too can be extremely aggressive in defence of their territory, banishing rivals to the pond margins and seeing off any bird that gets too close to their nest.
A lot of bramble cover was removed in a winter tidy-up that might prove challenging for the mallard and tufted ducks who will now be seeking out sheltered spots to make their nests. A couple of wood piles we made by the lower pond will hopefully provide a few secure niches for them.
So far no house sparrows, though there have been unconfirmed sightings of these birds that used to be synonymous with London. But for reasons no one understands, they have all but disappeared from the capital. Meadows will again be planted to provide the seeds and insects that hopefully might help bring them back. It's an RSPB funded initiative that seems optimistic, but nothing ventured . . .
Feeding the ducks is a ritual beloved by many people but seeing the ponds, brown and polluted and full of white bread is a depressing site. Hopefully notices will be erected advising people who want to feed them what is the right sort of food. This is seeds or plant matter like lettuce - white bread in large quantities is a disaster for the pond ecosystem.
Maurice Melzak.
Read more about the Plants and Animals of the park