by Dave Clark, Ornithologist
The abundance and species of birds change with the seasons and at Burgess Park this is as true as anywhere in the country. Take a special look at the lake during the winter where the number of gulls and cormorants increase.
We commonly call these grey/black and white birds – seagulls – but they are actually coastal and inland birds and consist of several species, look out for these four different birds during the winter:
Litter picks are every Monday morning, 7.30-9.30am and Thursday evening session 6.15-8pm. Both weekly litter-pics continue until the end of September.
FOBP provide litter-picks, gloves and bags or bring your own. Come along to any session, meet-up at Chumleigh Gardens picnic benches.
Our first session was 20 July and between 12 and 20 people have come along at each session, 50 people have done 92 volunteering litter-picking sessions. Some people have come to lots of sessions and others just to one or two but it all helps. Together we’ve picked up bags and bags of rubbish and just as importantly loads of the little stuff that gets missed; bottle tops, cigarette ends, shiny metallic balloon confetti and broken plastic cutlery.
The FOBP litter-pick is helping the park gardeners after the week-end and improving our park for wildlife. With people from the community involved and some stronger messages from the council about the unacceptability of leaving rubbish we hope to make a small difference this summer.
During the summer you can’t have missed the photos and images of rubbish left in open spaces across the country, including Burgess Park. Parks have never been so popular, but for our gardeners it has just meant mountains of rubbish to collect every morning.
With many people complaining about the rubbish Friends of Burgess Park set up a regular weekly litter-pic session. We are so grateful for the fantastic help from Burgess Parkrun and Southwark Good Gym volunteers.
Come and join Burgess Park Team Zero Waste or get in contact if you have any suggestions for reducing litter at friendsofburgesspark@gmail.com.
Susan, Monica, Sam, Paula.
Burgess Park west (running from Wells Way to Southampton Way) is under threat.
New developments are planned all along the southside of the park on Parkhouse Street.
The 10 storey high blocks (about 30m) will be north facing and cast long shadows across the park. In the winter mornings the shadows will be over 100m long and reach to the main Surrey Canal path. In the summer, shorter shadows will still reach across the wildlife area, about one third the width of the park.
Overshadowing from multiple buildings* will change the character of the park. It will have a negative impact on green space, biodiversity, and people’s health and well-being.
Southwark Council needs to make clear in their planning policy and discussions with developers that they are taking seriously the cumulative impact of tall buildings along the park boundary.
Very little will grow in the deep shade from buildings. Some plants thrive in light shade, but wildflowers and pollinators need full sun throughout the day.
Burgess Park west was created in 2018/19 with a £3.5m make-over taking out New Church Road, putting in a playground and extending the wildlife area. The new walkways through the wildlife area are already popular with children, walkers and runners bringing back into use a previously closed-off, no-go area. This is the squeezed middle of the park, less than 200 meters wide, so the extra usable space is really welcome
The wildlife will take a few years to become established. But the evidence from other areas of the park is that the mix of small woodlands, meadows and native bushes attracts and encourages a good mix of plants, insects, butterflies and birds. Sometimes this habitat mix is called scrubland. Often in planning reports it is implied as having little value. That might be the case in places with lots of green space but here in Southwark our patch of green space is important to many, many people.
People who live both nearby and further away use Burgess Park. Since the re-landscaping of 2012, user numbers have gone up and up. It is one of the major parks of the area. As Southwark’s population grows it will be very difficult to make more large, green spaces where children can run freely, play rounders and football. We must look after and keep green spaces for future generations.
Burgess Park has a vital role to play for local people. Around Burgess Park the new Aylesbury area is being built, taller blocks are planned along the Old Kent Road and the new residential developments along Parkhouse Street mean that many more people will use Burgess Park. We want the park to provide high quality green space with different landscapes for people to use and enjoy.
BAME respondents were twice as likely as white respondents to use parks and green spaces for team and individual sports and to meet friends.
* FOBP Shadows from tall buildings report, 2019
by Dave Clark, Ornithologist
10 years ago I did some bird surveying for the council at Burgess Park and last week I had a revisit. Wow I was impressed! Blown away by the positive changes that have occurred in the interim.
Wildflower and meadow areas buzzing and singing with life, amenity grassland merging seamlessy into nature friendly areas. People working out with butterflies dancing around their feet. No inaptly named so-called ‘eco-zones’, just a park working with nature. All this in an urban area close to the centre of London.
The beloved Cockney House Sparrow which has lost 60% of its urban population since the 1970s is thriving here, not just picking up scraps from around the cafe but flitting amongst the meadowlands for live food for their hungry chicks.
I found at least 30 (last time just a pair) and to put this into some kind of context there are no Sparrows in Peckham Rye Park nor Dulwich Park. Similarly the Starling population, compared to other local urban spaces, is abundant. This lovable roguish street urchin of a bird, once so common it was deemed a pest, has suffered 66% losses since the mid-70s and is now a red-listed species, i.e. a species of highest conservation concern.
What was really exciting was finding seven different breeding territories of birds that had flown all the way from Africa. Five male Whitethroats busily displaying amongst the meadows and two Reed Warblers, guess where – in the reeds surrounding the lake. Both of these species travel from the Sahel, a region between the Sahara desert and the Savanna, to breed here in the UK. To find them so close to the centre of London is uncommon and a pleasure. The scratching sound of the Whitethroat and the gurgle of the Reed Warbler is deeply resonant of the exoticism of a faraway continent. Their joyous life affirming songs showing that nature can survive despite what obstacles we throw at it.
Well done, you should be proud. Burgess Park is an example of what can be achieved in an urban inner city area when ecological concerns are placed at the forefront of the agenda and not left at the bottom of the priority pile. Nature does not pick nature reserves. Nature is all around and can flourish with some care and attention. Praise should be given to Greg and his gardening team for being a large part of this environmental success despite having only limited resources and despite having to battle the conflicting interests that public parks bring.
So is this just a nature lover banging on …
Er … nope … the maintenance and improvement of the health of urban green spaces is paramount for all of us not just nature. 80% of us live in cities for a start and we also know that access and proximity to nature is beneficial to our physical and mental well being, reduces stress and reduces crime. By making nature more visible and audible the easier it becomes for people to engage with it. Engagement with nature not only brings joy but also increases our care for our environment.
We can deny nature but we can’t get away from it, it’s the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink. It’s incumbent on all of us to maintain its health.
Well done again!
by Simon Saville
Chair of the Surrey & SW London Branch of Butterfly Conservation
I suppose that most people don’t think of butterflies when they think of Burgess Park. But they should! Already this year (by late March) I have seen a Small Tortoiseshell, a Small White, a couple of Commas and a couple of Brimstones.
Over the past few years, I have spotted no fewer than 16 different types of butterfly in the park. On one spectacular sunny July day, I saw more than 160 butterflies of 10 different species, plus a couple of day-flying moths.
Burgess Park has been managed quite sensitively for wildlife, and there are lots of good places for butterflies. Some of them are shown in this map:
1 – Elm trees, supporting some very elusive White-letter Hairstreaks
2 – Nature area, being redeveloped. This could become a nature hotspot in a few years’ time
3 – The big mounds, home to the Common Blue butterfly
4 – By St. George’s Way
5 – Grassy area with brambles
6 – South-facing slope
7 – Wooded area north of the lake
8 – Grassy area by the lake
9 – Grassy area and hedges between Waite St and Oakley Place
10 – Glengall Wharf, start of Surrey Canal Walk
The Comma is a harbinger of spring, often seen in April. They spend the winter hibernating as adults and they reappear as soon as the weather warms up. This one was in the wooded area north of the lake – a favoured spot. The caterpillars used to feed on hops, but now have a taste for nettles and this has helped them increase their range and abundance in recent years.
The Small Tortoiseshell also hibernates as an adult. This one was spotted in the middle of the Park by some brambles in April. The caterpillars feed on nettles, so it’s important that we don’t tidy the nettles away! We used to see a lot more of these butterflies. Nobody really knows why they have crashed in numbers so quickly.
A Speckled Wood in the Glengall Wharf area in April. They like the semi-wooded areas and enjoy dappled sunlight.
A Sitochroa verticalis moth (this has no English name) on one of the big mounds in June when many of the flowers were in bloom. Also around at that time were lots of Burnet Companion and Silver-Y moths. The latter is a migrant that can appear in London in big numbers.
One of many Common Blue butterflies seen on the big mounds in June last year. The caterpillars feed on Bird’s-foot Trefoil which is present here.
The big mounds are often teeming with insect life, a result of the many wild flowers present.
The spectacular Jersey Tiger moth can be seen flying in the Park in July and August. This photo is from Kennington, about a mile away. This used to be restricted to the south coast, but is now spreading rapidly. It can be seen all over south London. Because it is colourful and flies by day, it’s often mistaken for a butterfly.
Elm trees by New Church Road. If you are lucky, you might see pairs of male White-letter Hairstreaks spiralling in mock combat at the top of the canopy.
Butterflies seen in Burgess Park Larval foodplant
Brimstone Buckthorn
Comma Nettle
Common Blue Birdsfoot Trefoil
Gatekeeper Grasses
Green-veined White Crucifers
Holly Blue Holly (spring), ivy (summer)
Large Skipper Grasses
Large White Brassicas
Meadow Brown Grasses
Orange-tip Garlic Mustard, crucifers
Red Admiral Nettles
Small / Essex Skipper
(not separately recorded) Grasses
Small Tortoiseshell Nettles
Small White Brassicas, crucifers
Speckled Wood Grasses
White-letter Hairstreak Elm
I haven’t seen any Painted Lady, Peacock or Ringlet butterflies in Burgess Park, but I would be surprised if they were not present, as they have been seen at Nunhead Cemetery (3km away). The Painted Lady, which is a migrant species, was also seen at Walworth Garden (1km away). There may be Purple Hairstreaks on the oak trees by Waite Street.
Moths present include: Jersey Tiger, Six Spot Burnet, Burnet Companion, Silver-Y and Sitochroa verticalis.
All this goes to show what a wonderful place Burgess Park is for butterflies. I know that Southwark Council are keen to make it even better.
Butterfly Conservation has started a ‘BIG City Butterflies’ project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This aims to get people to engage with the green spaces near them and to discover the wildlife that’s under their noses. We’ll be using Burgess Park as one of our key sites in SW London. It’s early days, but you can read more about Big City Butterflies here.
27 March 2019
www.butterfly-conservation.org
A murder of crows
Perhaps, if crows were brightly coloured, they would be loved instead of feared. Part of the Corvid family which includes magpies, ravens, jays and jackdaws they are arguably the most intelligent and fascinating of all birds. I have watched them fly off with a chicken’s egg, wash the salt off a chip in a puddle before eating it and mobbing a fox. Set aside an hour to watch this brilliant documentary which will make you view crows in a whole new light.
Just a piece of unkempt turf on the common that is providing shelter, protection and food for next summer’s butterflies, grass-hoppers and maybe the odd frog.
We don’t hear so much about acid rain these days, but it’s still there, scrubbing clean the tree trunks of moss and lichen, so a treat to see this.
Not one organism, but two, a fungus and an alga that can’t live without each other. The fungus provides the structure and the algae make the sugar. There are many different species of Lichen. It’s not feeding on the tree, but is affected by the acidity of the water running off the bark . You will find Lichen on brick and stone, glass, metal ,leather surfaces too.
Lichen is used to make Litmus paper. Dies are extracted and added to filter paper so that it turns red in acid conditions and blue in alkaline. Some lichens contain Usinic acid which is anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and attacks cancer cells. Unfortunately, it also damages the liver.
Still some lingering seed heads from last year’s spectacular display in St George’s Gardens. Many seeds have a protective coating and won’t germinate until they have been exposed to frost. This keeps them fresh and hydrated ready to send out new roots into the warm moist spring soil.
Burgess Park fishing lake was redesigned in 2012/13 and opened to the public along with the rest of the park after five years.
Nature and caring people have made the lake as you see it today with reed beds. The very tall reed is Norfolk reed mace. The shorter reeds are Phragmites. We also have Yellow Flag Iris, Bulrush and Water Mint in places.
In 2016 we received 6 rolls of coir matting which were planted with various water plants. These you can see between the bridge and the bird sanctuary. So have fun finding out the rest of the names of the plants for yourselves.
Waterfowl or birds that live on the lake are Mute Swans, three different types of goose (Canada Goose, Greylag Goose and Egyptian Goose), Coots (black body, white beak and head dress), Moorhens (brown body, red beak with yellow tip), and Tufted Ducks (males – black and white and females – brown).
Sometimes there are Common Pochard (grey body with reddish head), a pair of Great Crested Grebes (on Burgess lake in July 2018) and also the Little Grebe.
There are many other birds that visit the water to feed – Kingfisher, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Common Tern and different types of Sea Gulls.
Have a look at these pages to help you identify the waterfowl on Burgess Lake.
There is as much that lives underwater as above. The most common plant seen is Blanket Weed, next is Najas Minor which is growing in the non-fishing side of the lake, and some patches of Silk Weed out towards the middle of the lake. The lake bed is made up of areas of mud, rubble and rubbish that have been covered in silt. In the pockets of silt can be found Bloodworm (larvae of the non-biting Midge – the little flies you see over your head sometimes) Dragonflies, Damselflies and other types of water insect, too many to list.
Friends of Burgess Park will be pond-dipping by the lake on Saturday 21 July, 4.30 to 6pm as part of London’s National Park City Week. Come and join us.
There are many fish in the lake. Carp is the main species found, Tench is next, then Bream, Roach, Rudd, Perch, Dace and Catfish. Carp can be divided into sub species Common, Mirror, Linner, Fully scaled, Ghost and Koi.
When fishing at Burgess Park lake you must have a rod licence before you fish. You will need to purchase a day ticket from the council web site. The Environment Agency, Southwark Council officers and community wardens come around regularly to check on licences.
While fishing you will need to have a landing net 36 inches minimum and unhooking mat as there is a chance of a large carp or more. You must fish from the swims only. Swims 1 to 6 are concrete. There is a dirt area at the side to put up a shelter and they are on the school and toilet side of the lake. Swims 7 to 10 are on the other side of the lake and are dirt covered.
If you’re lucky and catch a fish then you must return all fish back to the water.
Find out more about the wildlife in Burgess Park over the next few months.
Saturday 28 April Find out more about the bird spotting by the lake
All through June we doing #30DaysWild #wildaboutburgess part of the London Wildlife campaign. The perfect excuse to share your favourite photos @BurgessPk.
Saturday 21 July – 4.30 to 6pm Pond-dipping by the lake. Part of London’s National Park City Week.
In a corner of the English Garden you’ll find Daphne odora. As the name suggests, it has a gorgeous perfume.
Spot the frogs in the pond. There is some frogs spawn and probably more to come. Creep up slowly and you may hear them croaking. The tadpoles will emerge over the next 21 days. At first, they stick themselves to plants digesting the remaining egg yolk in their guts, then they swim about feeding on algae. As they grow, their diet expands to include other pond life and even plant material which they grind up with tiny teeth. By 12 weeks, they look like tiny frogs and at 16 weeks, they assume their adult shape and can leave the pond.
Alder trees
These are native trees that are usually found in boggy ground. Tap one of the yellow catkins and you will see a puff of pollen. These are wind pollinated plants that don’t need insects to fertilise them though you may see bees collecting the protein rich pollen to feed to their larva.
There are male and female flowers on the same tree. The female flowers are much smaller catkins which develop into cones. You will find brown cones from last year still on the trees. The leaves are round with a notch cut out at the tip and the bark has small holes in it.
Alder trees fix nitrogen into the soil, so add to the fertility.
Because they grow in boggy conditions, their orange coloured timber will not rot in water so it was used in the foundations of Venice and for water pipes. Above ground, it will quickly rot.
Siskin, Redpol and Goldfinches eat the seeds, several moths feed on the leaves and the bark is used in medicine.
Southwark Council have announced construction of the Burgess Park West project is due to begin in late October.
The plan shows what areas of the site Southwark Council intends to close and for how long.
Rust Square and the area next to it up to where the road Addington Square crosses the park will be closed for the duration of the project.
Trees earmarked for removal will be felled in Site A during the week beginning 5 February.
The rest of the site will have smaller sites set up within it while works are carried out and Southwark do not expect to close this area all at once.
More information on the project can be found here: www.southwark.gov.uk/burgessparkwest
or contact John Wade (020 7525 0141) or Pippa Krishnan (020 7525 5133).
Southwark Council will close the section on New Church Road that runs through the park. The road will no longer be accessible from Monday 4th December. Southwark apologises for any inconvenience caused. The new Quietway 7 cycle pathway which will cut through the park will be built as an alternative route. It is expected to open in spring 2018.
Tuesday 28 November 3.30 to 5pm Chumleigh Gardens play area, next to the Park Life café, off Albany Road. If the weather is poor the consultation will be inside the Chumleigh West building, which will be signposted from the play area.
Monday 4th December 6pm to 8pm Southwark Council’s offices 160 Tooley Street, SE1 2QH
Drop by to see the emerging design which has taken into account previous consultation results, and tell the designers your ideas and opinions.
If you cannot attend either session and are still interested in the play area design, please get in touch with Pippa Krishnan pippa.krishnan@southwark.gov.uk
Listen to the fascinating podcast audio adaptation of the Animated Walk from the Friends’ Zeppelin 1917 season. It tells the story of the Zeppelin Raid on Camberwell, in the industrial and residential area that existed before the creation of the park itself, and puts the tragic events of that night into the context of local life at that time. Read about the Animated Walk.
Wednesday 17 October 2018 from 5.30-7pm
Sally Hogarth will unveil her new art work memorial ‘Silent Raid’. The installation was commissioned by Southwark Council and has been a year in the making. The art work commemorates the Zeppelin raid on Calmington Road (now part of Burgess Park) in 1917 with ten replica houses representing each of the people killed in the attack. Read Sally Hogarth’s blog about creating the sculptures on the Southwark Heritage website.
Meet at Theatre Delicatessen, in the Old Library on Wells Way, for a walk around the locations for the memorial, with speeches, refreshments, a poem by Koko and more. To book tickets for the launch event, please see the Eventbrite page.
The launch will be exactly 101 years after the attack and is part of the Zeppelin 1917 programme of events in Burgess Park about the First World War.
Saturday 20 October, 2-5:30pm
An afternoon of FREE events at Theatre Delicatessen, the Old Library on Wells Way.
The Unknown Soldier is a moving show, often humorous, but above all thought provoking. It looks at the First World War from a new perspective, through the eyes of a man who has survived the carnage but who finds it hard to return home. A story of comradeship, betrayal and of promises both broken and kept following the carnage of World War One. Official EdFringe 2016 sell out show by award nominated writer of Casualties. Book for 4.30 performance
Supported by Southwark Council, the Friends of Burgess Park and Theatre Deli.
FOBP have just won the Mary Boast History Prize, organised by the Camberwell Society. Copies of our winning essay will be available at the events, and you can read more about the Prize here, or read the essay here.
Almost one hundred years ago, on the night of 19th October 1917, a Zeppelin bomb landed in Calmington Road, Southwark. It killed 10 people, injured 24 more, and destroyed a fish and chip shop, a doctor’s surgery, and many homes. The Friends of Burgess Park project “Zeppelin 1917” will uncover the stories of local heroes and piece together the dramatic raid right over what is now Burgess Park.
Jon Pickup and Andrew Pearson, from Friends of Burgess Park are leading the project supported by a successful £9,800 Heritage Lottery Fund award. Jon Pickup said “We’re looking for people to volunteer, get involved and during the summer we’ll be visiting the Imperial War Museum and Southwark Heritage Library to look into archive material about the people who lived in the street. This is a fantastic opportunity to do some original research and uncover hidden stories. We’re also delighted that Southwark Council are funding an art piece for the park to remember this event.” Sally Hogarth has been appointed as the artist.
The project kicks off over the summer. Volunteers will find out more about the Zeppelin and the lives of ordinary people who took heroic action as part of the war effort. In September, children’s workshops led by Art in the Park will take place at the Creation Trust, Giraffe House.
During October 2017 a festival of events at Theatre Delicatessen, in the Old Library, Wells Way, will showcase the work created by local residents. John Whelan will bring together the historical research with volunteers to tell the story of the raid through an animated walk. Stephen Bourne, local historian, and author of Black Poppies, will talk about the armed services as well as men and women who stayed at home and played a role in the civil defence.
Exhibition – A timeline of the raid and archival display – open Saturdays during October 2017, with opening talk by Zeppelin expert Ian Castle on Saturday 7 October.
Hidden Heroes – Talk by Stephen Bourne, author of Black Poppies, on the black community and the Great War, Saturday 14 October 2017.
Animated Walk – Created by actors using research by local volunteers, to animate the history of WW1 and the Zeppelin Raid on Calmington Road in October 1917, on Saturday 21 October.
Family events – Drop-in family events including art workshops with Art in the Park, Cuming Museum object handling, stories and rhymes with Vanessa Wolf, Saturday 7 and Thursday 26 and Friday 27 October.
