Newly-Emerged Birds, Butterflies and Damselflies

Driving in posts for wooden railing
Driving in posts for wooden railing

On a lovely May day, we replaced quite a bit of wooden railing, the rail mainly being fine but several of the posts having rotted at the base.

As we worked, a pair of Brimstone butterflies flew nearby, as well as a few Orange Tips, a Red Admiral, a couple of Holly Blues, and a Large White. It was very pretty among the cow parsley, green alkanet and garlic mustard, with visiting bees and hoverflies. A couple of brilliant metallic green Rose Chafer beetles flew over, just above the tops of the cow parsley.

Around the reserve, newly-fledged robins and jays were hopping about unsteadily.  A blackcap sang sweetly; a blackbird, a wren and some robins chattered in alarm from a thicket, mobbing a predator, apparently a magpie — most probably as it threatened to rob a nest of eggs or young.

Azure Damselfly pair choosing egg-laying sites together
Azure Damselfly pair choosing egg-laying sites together

Above the pond, Azure Damselflies and Large Red Damselflies were in cop and egg-laying (both species); up to three male Small Reds at a time were dashing about in tiny dogfights.

Book Launch: The English Love Affair with Nature

The author reading under a Birch tree during the book launch
The author reading under a Birch tree during the book launch

We were fortunate yesterday to have bright dry weather for the book launch of The English Love Affair with Nature, generously hosted by London Wildlife Trust.

Book launch in Gunnersbury Triangle
Book launch in Gunnersbury Triangle

I read sections from the Introduction, Art, and Gardening chapters, with an encore from Spiritual Rebels. The audience took a few minutes, in pairs, to share three things they personally loved about nature. I was kept busy signing copies. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the event, at least they laughed at the jokes and clapped unexpectedly at the end. And everyone lent a hand tidying up, so it all felt very friendly.

Ducklings at the Leg of Mutton Nature Reserve, Barnes (and House Martins)

Leg of Mutton Nature Reserve
Leg of Mutton Nature Reserve

An unexpectedly warm and sunny afternoon in May is an opportunity too good to miss, so I went out with bicycle and binoculars along the river, and spent some time in the Leg of Mutton local nature reserve at Barnes. This is a bit of a secret corner, as it’s not far from the WWT’s London Wetland Centre which is certainly far better known. It’s also quite beautiful in springtime, the paths dressed in Queen Anne’s Lace (cow parsley to you) and the lake resplendently blue with new green borders. From the woods, Blackcaps sang all over; from the reeds, both Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler sang their cheerful repetitive songs: I had a fine view of a Reed Warbler atop the reeds shown in the photo. A Coot with five cootlings scooted about the end of the lake (to the left); a mother Mallard escorted a neat convoy of ducklings; a few Tufted duck preened; five male Pochard dabbled heads-down; more surprisingly, a pair of Gadwall paddled about on the far side. A Mute Swan sat on a nest amongst the reeds. The flowers were visited by masses of small bees. Apart from the planes overhead, the city felt far away.

House Martin Nests on Chiswick Mall
House Martin Nests on Chiswick Mall

On the other side of the river (with the help of the handsome green Barnes Bridge) I had a wonderful surprise: House Martins. Four were wheeling and chattering above Chiswick Mall, right by a house decorated with a dozen House Martin nests (many of them visible in the photo), and several in usable condition. This was news to me because the old colony a few hundred yards away was abandoned for whatever reason some years ago. But it is clear that the birds have nested repeatedly in the past few years, and it certainly looks as if they’ll nest again this year. The only small fly in the ointment can be seen on the extreme left of the photo: there is the remains of at least one nest behind some netting, so the birds must have been considered a nuisance on that side of the house, at least. Let us hope that their presence on the front doesn’t trouble anyone, as the colony may well be the only one in Chiswick, and is certainly one of not very many in West London. Being by the river, there are plenty of flies, and the house’s wide eaves with stout supports are ideal for the species.

An Absurdly British Electoral System

A million people voted Green and got one MP.

11 million people voted Conservative and got 331 MPs.

Notice anything wrong with that system? Yes, it’s grossly, absurdly, disgustingly unfair.

Perhaps you don’t care much about the Greens, favour the right of British politics? OK, try this:

Nearly 4 million people voted UKIP and got one MP. You know how many voted Conservative already. It takes 100 UKIP voters (or 30 Green voters) to balance one Tory.

The British first-past-the-post electoral system is delivering a parliament which doesn’t even pretend to be properly representative. It just does its best to dump a majority of seats in the lap of the largest party. That has given the Tories, Labour and as it happens the completely-concentrated-in-Scotland Scottish Nationalists far more seats than they deserve (the SNP got over 50, their share of the vote would give them 25), at the expense of democracy and all other parties.

During the campaign, no party other than the Greens so much as mentioned the environment in any of the voluminous “literature” that fell through my letterbox. So now, the 24 Green candidates who should have been elected are unable to transmit the British people’s declared voice to Parliament. And, yes, 82 UKIP candidates were similarly cheated of their voice.

Don’t be surprised when Nature and “the environment” barely get a mention for the next five years. You million Greens, be happy you’ve given Cameron’s Tories a new “mandate”. You’ve even got an MP, what more could you want?

Free Public Event: Book Launch at Gunnersbury Triangle 17 May 2015

LWT reading by the author 17 May 2015
LWT reading by the author 17 May 2015

London Wildlife Trust have kindly put on a book launch event for my new book The English Love Affair with Nature. The event is free and open to all; though small children may prefer to eat the cakes and go pond-dipping, which will be available on the reserve! Attractions will include me, reading from the book; a chance to buy a signed copy, if that’s your sort of thing; nice things to eat and drink; and the beauty of a nature reserve in May, complete with birds, butterflies, bees, bugs, flowers and trees in new leaf, not to mention mini-beasts, newts and everything that wriggles in pond water! I hope to see you there.