March has been a brilliant month for wildlife in
Rotherhithe. The highlight, early in the
month was the beautiful but tiny Firecrest in Stave Hill, showing well in the
copse at the end of Downtown Pond and unperturbed by passers-by. And in mid-March there were four birds, two
singles and a pair in Russia Dock Woodland and Stave Hill, probably passing
through on their way to breeding in the pine forests of eastern England. And what a great area Stave Hill and Russia
Dock Woodland is for wildlife. The
Kingfisher has looked beautiful flying along the stream and fishing in Downtown
Pond. There have been many Goldcrest,
small flocks of Siskin and Long Tailed Tits flitting in the tree tops and
Greater Spotted and Green Woodpeckers drumming and calling by the end of the
month. The Sparrowhawk often soared
above the woodland or perched in the copse by Downtown Pond, a pair of Jays
began noisily setting up home, and a Buzzard passed over on 26 March.
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| Kingfisher |
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| Green Woodpecker |
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| Firecrest |
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| Sparrowhawk |
Another highlight of Stave Hill was a lovely Stonechat that
dropped in on for the evening on 13 March.
It’s normally a heathland bird and looked really at home in the evening
sun in the chalk meadow. The first
summer visitor, the Chiffchaff returned from Africa on 15 March and they have
been a regular sight since singing in the treetops, and a small group of
wintering Redwing dropped into the newly created clearing on their way back to
Northern Europe for the summer.
Stave hill burst into blossom in the second half of the
month, Primrose and Cowslip on the ground and Gorse and Sloe in the hedgerows. The mild winter led to early frogspawn and
the tadpoles emerged on 20 March. Small
Tortoiseshell, Brimstone and Comma Butterflies flitted around on the sunny days
and the Buff tailed Bumble Bee enjoyed the early flowers.
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| Stonechat |
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| Small Tortoisehell |
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| Buff tailed Bumble Bee |
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| Sloe blossom |
Southwark Park too has some real highlights. It’s a great ornamental and recreational park
but also has wonderful wildlife. The Egyptian
Goose and goslings were much admired and the colourful Shoveller stood out
amongst the many Mallard, Canada Geese and Tufted Duck. There was also a group of three little Grebe amongst
the many Moorhen and Coot. But the star
of the show was the Common Scoter. This
duck normally spends winter at sea and heads to its breeding ground in Northern
Scotland and Scandinavia in the summer.
So it was incredibly unusual to see one in Southwark Park swimming
between the Pedalos and obviously enjoying its stay in Rotherhithe on Good
Friday. Southwark Park is also a good place for Greater Spotted Woodpecker and Mistle
Thrush and migrating Chiffchaff and Black Cap arrived here in late March.
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| Common Scoter |
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| Egyptian Goose goslings |
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| Shoveller |
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| Greater Spotted Woodpecker |
The former docks also hold very good wildlife. Great Crested
Grebe and Little Grebe put on impressive show in Canada Water and both Canada
Water and Surrey Water have nesting Swans.
Early in the month they both had large numbers of Black Headed Gulls,
but on 22 March on a warm sunny evening they left for their breeding grounds;
it was wonderful to stand on the Thames riverfront and watch thousands of them
migrating west.
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| Great Crested Grebe Little Grebe |
Rotherhithe is not normally a great place for mammals. The urban foxes have become very approachable
but also often look quite emaciated; the dustbin diet taking its inevitable
toll. The squirrels continue to increase
as do the rats around Canada Water, and are probably quite a threat to the
nesting wildfowl. But there is one
special mammal that has put in a spectacular appearance. The Grey Seal that surfaces from time to time
near to the Old Salt Quay, sometimes with a fish in its mouth. Perhaps it favours this spot because the
water is particularly deep there, so definitely worth looking out for if you
are having a drink in the pub. It tends
to pop its head up for about 30 seconds or so every five minutes if it is the
area. And soon now our local bird that has
adapted well to urban life – the Sand Martin - will return from Africa to
nest in the pipes in the river wall just along from the Old Salt Quay, so watch
out for that too.
So all in all a great month.
Rotherhithe is a wonderful part of London for wildlife. There are four different and complementary
habitats: the woodlands and stream of Stave Hill and Russia Docks, the broader
avenues of trees and larger ponds of Southwark Park, the open water of the old
docks and the tidal river. And thanks to
the hard work of Friends, volunteers, TCV employees and Southwark Council they are all
really well managed and maintained. It
is difficult to think where else a short walk can bring you in contact with
such diversity and quality of wildlife.
It’s a joy to live here.
