Friends of Stanmore Common

The season of mellow fruitfulness is definitely here. There were so many fungi around where we were working today that I got a bit distracted.😄

WARNING! Update!

We have located the wasp nest and blocked off the footpath in the area. Look out for the warning signs!

The nest is located here:

https://w3w.co/dishes.mostly.bowls

I have just been told by Terry, one of our regular dog walkers, that he has been attacked by a swarm of wasps while walking his dogs along the long trail at the Northern end by the large fallen beech tree. So it’s advisable to give that area a wide berth for today. Both he and his dogs have all been stung multiple times. This is the first time we have had anything like this. I wouldn’t want anyone else to have this happen to them.

On Sunday we cleared a tree across the path between Cerrislande and Oakmead. Yesterday a student Joshua Wright, Ed Milner Spider Recorder for London and myself started installing pitfall traps on the grassland clearings under the Bracken.
There were lots of Butterflies,bees and Dragonflies. I am certain we saw a Silver -washed Fritillary next to Great Brewer's Pond. Also Brown Hawker, Emperor Dragonfly, Downy Emerald, Willow Emerald Damselfly and one of the Blue Damselflies were all over the pond.
Best of all we saw on Bluebell Heath, Heath -spotted Orchids and in the same area a mating pair of Stictoleptura scutellata a rare species of Longhorn Beetle.
This is an ancient woodland indicator species A month earlier we saw an even rarer ancient woodland beetle, the False Darkling Beetle ,Melandrya caraboides.
The deadwood fauna of the reserve is excellent.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of working with volunteers Jen, John and Barkai of Insights Personality Co. As you can see they really showed the bracken who was boss. A big thank to insights for giving them time from work to volunteer. I hope to see them again.

Today we were attacking the Pendular Sedge that is choking up the horse ride and also removing some of the low hanging branches, ably assisted by Andrew Wright and Pawil Lokasik from Scouting America.

Shree Raj Saubhag Satsang Mandal joined up with us today and set to work clearing holly from Hollybrook Rise. Great job guys, lovely to meet you all and, hopefully, the start of a long relationship.

It’s amazing how quickly nature can repair damage done by humans. Just a fortnight after the brush fire, green shoots cover the wound. Nature always finds a way.

Coralroot Bittercress at its best. This is an ancient woodland indicator species. This is a shade-loving plant and likes rich. humid soils.
We have an expanding colony and we have tried to get clones off the bulbils.
The plant produces vegetative buds that fall off and within weeks produce new plants.

We will have another go this year

We are working hard on the reserve. Yesterday we were controlling Bracken, removing dead Bracken and breaking the heads of new Bracken. This is essential work, removing dead bracken reduces nutrient input.
This reduces the nutrient content of the soil which should benefit the slower growing plants of the Common.
We also raked the leaf litter off an area just to the East of Great Brewer's Pond where Sheep's Sorrel grows. We looked at the high level of trees around the pond which suppresses the marginal plants. We found the Pignut which we only find around this pond.

Our ancient apple tree on Bluebell Heath is in full bloom and looking amazing this year.

Having had a brush fire on the common, today we raked the rest of the unburnt dead bracken from the area adjacent. Here are before and after photos.