Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Report 2017
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WIMBLEDON AND PUTNEY COMMONS ECOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING REPORT 2017 THANKS ARE DUE TO EVERYONE WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED RECORDS FOR THIS REPORT; TO THE WILLING VOLUNTEERS; FOR THE SUPPORT OF WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION FORUM MEMBERS; AND FOR THE RECIPROCAL ENTHUSIASM OF WIMBLEDON AND PUTNEY COMMONS STAFF. A SPECIAL THANK YOU GOES TO ANGELA EVANS-HILL FOR HER HELP WITH PROOF READING, CHASING MISSING DATA AND ASSISTANCE WITH THE FINAL FORMATTING, COMPILATION AND PRINTING OF THE REPORT. CONTENTS Page Context 1 A. Systematic Recording 5 Results 7 Reflections and Recommendations 27 B. BioBlitz 29 Reflections and Recommendations 34 C. References 35 List of Tables Table 1 Mowing Dates for the Conservation Zone of the Plain 2008-2017 4 Table 2 Summary of Systematic Recording in 2017 and Recent Years 6 Table 3 Recording Effort and Overall Plant Species Counts on The Plain 10 2014-17 Table 4 The Habitat Patches (for detailed records see Appendix 3b) 10 Table 5 Confirmed Bird Records for The Plain, March-September, 2017 12 Table 6 Comparison of the Most Abundant Butterfly Species Recorded 14 2015, 2016, 2017 Table 7 Dragonfly and Damselflies Species Found at the Standard 17 Sampling Locations 2017 Table 8 Locations and Site Descriptions of Refugia 20 Table 9 Summary of Frogs and Toads Sightings Reported 2nd March and 21 8th March 2017 Table 10 Mammals Sighted on Wimbledon and Putney Commons 2017 22 Table 11 Fauna at Putney Lower Common, January – December 2017 25 Table 12 Wet and Dry Periods as Revealed by Raynes Park (SW20) Rainfall 27 Data Table 13 Summary of BioBlitz Sightings, 2017 32 List of Figures Figure 1 Location of The Plain on Wimbledon and Putney Commons 3 Figure 2 The Variable Height ‘Grassy’ Sward with Cut Bramble in the 8 Formerly Uncut Area Figure 3 Bee Orchid amidst Yellow Rattle and Ribwort Plantain 9 Figure 4 Autumn Hawkbit flourishing in the late summer mowed sward 9 Figure 5 Trifid Bur Marigold and Marsh Pennywort on the Exposed 11 Marginal Areas of Bluegate Pond Figure 6 Stonechat 13 Figure 7 Holly Blue 15 Figure 8 Black Darter at Bluegate Pond 16 Figure 9 Double Line Moth 18 Figure 10 Common Lizards Sightings on Wimbledon Common and Putney 20 Heath 2017 Figure 11 One of 9 Common Lizards seen on Heathland during a Scrub- 21 bashing Session Close to the Junction of Ladies Mile and Inner Park Ride 20th May 2017 (Map area 13 on Figure 10) Figure 12 Leccinum melaneum 24 Figure 13 BioBlitz Route 2017 29 Figure 14 The BioBlitz Blackboard 2017 30 Figure 15 Oak Processionary Moth Nest 31 Figure 16 Honey Bee on Bird’s-foot Trefoil 33 Figure 17 WPC’s Dog Waste Challenge 33 List of Appendices Appendix 1 a. Forum and volunteers etc 36 b. Dave Wills Obituary 37 Appendix 2 WPC Wildlife and Conservation Events 2017 and Associated 38 W&C Forum Activities Appendix 3 Plants 3a Floral Records for The Plain 39 3b BioBlitz Plant Communities - Beyond the Main Area of The Plain – The 44 Habitat Patches Appendix 4 Butterflies 4a The Long-established Transect 46 4b Wimbledon Common SW and Fishponds Wood 47 Appendix 5 Dragonflies and Damselflies 48 Appendix 6 Moths 49 Appendix 7 Fungi 62 Appendix 8 Rainfall data 66 Appendix 9 BioBlitz Flyer 67 Appendix 10 Woodland and Meadow Mini-Beasts 68 Appendix 11 BioBlitz Fauna 70 Wimbledon and Putney Commons ECOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AT WIMBLEDON AND PUTNEY COMMONS 2017 CONTEXT 2017 has been a challenging year. Diverse events conspired to disrupt monitoring activities. Most significantly, the sudden illness and death of the lead bird recorder, Dave Wills (Appendix 1); exceptional and untimely mid-summer pressures on some staff and Conservators, who are regular contributors to recording, relating to the appointment and fact-finding activities of an Interim Manager for the Wimbledon and Putney Commons; and conflicting major family commitments of some key recorders. In mid-April, fire affected two heathland areas and disrupted some reptile and amphibian monitoring sites as well as impacting on the habitats concerned more generally. Consequently, there are no systematic bird records for The Plain for 2017; the proposed high-summer, pre-mowing, floral survey of The Plain did not take place; and plans to extend the field survey to a wider heathland area linked to the NVC report were put ‘on hold’. Only occasional anecdotal reports of people pressures and environmental conditions are available. Since a key aim of the volunteer monitoring activity is to gather reliable data that can inform management, the loss of data that has been available in previous years, and hopefully years to come, is unfortunate. But what it does highlight is the need to have a larger pool of volunteers with the necessary skills and this must be a priority moving forward. Very positively, however, from among the regular volunteer bird watchers on the Commons, a new lead bird expert, Adrian Podmore (AP), came forward. Thus the programme of bird walks, bird monitoring at the BioBlitz, and the regular Annual Bird Report have all still been achieved. Furthermore, working with other Forum members, notably Les Evans-Hill (LE-H), a fuller and more seasonally extensive series of bird walks and workshops has been established for 2018. Consideration is being given to new public- information materials drawing on the increasing pool of systematic data that has emerged during the recent monitoring push (2014 to date). As a trial, brief notes on butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies have been incorporated into the 2017 Bird Report following the style of the long-established bird reporting. Work to make recent historical records for these species more readily available in a form compatible with the new records has been started. Despite the challenges, much was achieved in 2017 (Appendix 2). A second Wildlife and Conservation Forum (W&C Forum) Winter Talk was held in February, this time on the theme of Hedgehog Conservation. The 2017 guest speaker was Dr Nigel Reeves. Around 80 guests attended. The topic was especially pertinent since, though under threat in London’s Park and across Greater London generally, Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) had recently been spotted at Putney Lower Common. Dr Reeve subsequently visited Putney Lower Common with the Head Ranger (Bill Rowland) and Peter Haldane (Conservation and Engagement Officer (C&EO)) and made site evaluations of potential Hedgehog habitat at the same time 1 giving helpful advice for maintenance of Hedgehog presence in that area. Later in the year a Hedgehog was also reported in a staff garden on Wimbledon Common. These are the first reported sightings for the Commons for many years and, given the well-documented nationwide decline in Hedgehog populations (BTO, 2018; The Guardian 2018; PTES & BHPS, 2011), their presence is particularly pleasing and their conservation needs to be promoted. All maintenance staff involved with regular sward mowing in the grassy areas of Putney Lower Common now first beat and search to ensure no Hedgehogs get injured in this process (C&EO report to W&C Forum, 2017). The National Vegetation Classification Survey and Habitat Assessment Report (NVC Report) on the key habitats of Wimbledon and Putney Commons was received in January 2017 (PAA, 2016). It affirmed that current conservation activities, such as mowing regimes on The Plain and other grassy areas, were indeed appropriate and if maintained could lead to improved conservation status for the Commons. It also highlighted where further beneficial intervention could be considered. The report forms the basis for linking monitoring to specific habitat units and for targeted habitat improvements. It is an essential baseline against which to regularly monitor change on the Commons. In mid-summer, the BioBlitz was well supported despite a sudden switch in weather to heat wave ◦ conditions (over 30 C by mid-day). Building on the success of the small mammal pilot survey in autumn 2016, a fuller survey was incorporated into the 2017 BioBlitz. A lunch-time talk on Bee-Keeping and Bee behaviour was another new and much-liked addition to the programme. A programme of wildlife and conservation-management themed walks with the public was offered throughout the year enriching the co-learning opportunities. A noteworthy popular addition was the high-summer butterfly, damselfly and dragonfly walk. Seasonal walks with the staff management team have proved popular and the Walks for Health programme became increasingly well supported and in all weather conditions. Fun activities for children at Easter and Halloween have brought families onto the Commons who were not previous visitors and are potentially generating their active engagement in future volunteering and recording events. Meanwhile, the ‘scrub bashers’ volunteer group maintained momentum clearing invasive scrub from the heathland areas. Their activities are supported by follow-through work from the Maintenance Team poisoning tree stumps and removing the excess woody materials generated. New mid-week volunteer programmes were under development by late 2017. These will allow a greater diversity of volunteering opportunities from estates and simple grounds maintenance work such as litter picking, post painting, etc. through to data sorting and wildlife monitoring. For the latter some training will be offered. These activities will be overseen by the C&EO and will dovetail to reflect management needs in relation to the new Land Management Plan to be developed in 2018 under the review of the W&C Forum. Monitoring priorities for 2017 were to:- • Consolidate further the records for The Plain (Figure1) as initiated in 2014 using, as far as possible, the same methodology as previously described in Monitoring the Plain, Summer 2014 and Wimbledon and Putney Commons Monitoring Report Spring/Summer 2015; Ibid 2016. • Continue to review the impact, if any, of use of an earlier summer mowing date for The Plain as adopted in summer 2014 (Table 1) on ground nesting song bird species and flora and fauna more generally.