A new era for the Wildlife in London... (1 Viewer)

[ChrisKten]

Maybe it's just me being selfish, but I've been going to Walthamstow Reservoirs for over 40 (actually 50 I think) years, as either an Angler or a Nature Watcher/Photographer... or just to get away from all the concrete and noise of a Council Housing Estate. I won't type it all here, but the Heronry is the first/largest in London - Little Egret/Cormorant/Grey Heron/Kestrel/Peregrine, all breed at the Reservoirs. Large numbers of migrants visit and breed each year (especially Warblers)... I could easily see 50+ species of birds in less than 2 hours in the morning, oh, and there's Foxes, Water Voles, Snakes etc... plus the Insects.

So all in all, a great place for anyone with an interest in Nature, and a protected (SSSI) sanctuary for Wildlife, and then it all changed...

Someone had the brilliant idea of changing everything, including the name (it would be called "Walthamstow Wetlands"). There would be better access for Bicycles and they'd put some Reeds here and there, dredge a few lakes, plant some more green stuff (by destroying the old "green stuff"). Now if this sounds good to some of you, you've not considered how it gets from Walthamstow Reservoirs to Walthamstow Wetlands... it needs workmen, lots of them, and big lorries and other equipment, and more workmen...

Even though they tried to hide them in the undergrowth, I know of at least two Mute Swans and four Geese run over by speeding lorries/trucks in the first few weeks. The large area of bushes/shrubs that the Warblers (Common and Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap etc) bred and fed in each year was destroyed and turned into a car park and feeding area for the workmen. Portacabins replaced bushes, and concrete parking areas replaced the earth and undergrowth. I stopped enjoying my visits almost immediately, but I persisted for months, as some of the Wildlife found a way around the disturbance; eventually I stopped going, I didn't like what I saw, and I dreaded what I didn't see and what was to come.

To cut a long story short; I've only just noticed this; the bit about the Application for a Premises Licence is the bit that caught my eye... I don't know what others think about this, but it's too late to do anything about it now anyway.

So watch your local area for "improvements" to your favourite sites, you might get more than you bargained for, and the Wildlife might get a raw deal.

 

[Kits]

It's all about the money, Chris. What a shame.

 

[ChrisKten]

It's all about the money, Chris. What a shame.

Always is, Kits. Odd how it even trumps Public safety/security... these reservoirs provide the water for millions of Londoners and has always been considered a possible target for Terrorists *. The site has never been easy to secure, as it's vast, but the number of visitors has always been limited, as was the times those visitors could enter the site. Now everything will be done to increase those numbers, and with it the risk of someone slipping through the net. Still, hopefully they've considered the security implications, after all, they've considered the impact on the Wildlife... haven't they?

*

Security is co-ordinated by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, a special directorate within the Home Office that ensures water companies are briefed on latest intelligence.

Dr Sandra Bell, head of security at Thames Water and a former adviser to the Government during her spell at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said the “terror threat is real”.

OK, I don't for one minute expect that security hasn't been considered, but I never expected such a sensitive site to end up as a Theme Park either (I know, gross exaggeration).

 

[kb57]

It's better than a SSSI, it's actually part of Lea Valley SPA. As such, whoever is responsible for the works will have had to consider whether it would have a likely significant effect on the special features of the site (wintering bittern, gadwall and shoveler). Such information should be publicly available - if it doesn't exist, they're in breach of the Habitats Regulations.
There is no need for an assessment if the works were carried out to further the site's conservation objectives; creating reedbeds (for bittern) could clearly fall into this category. However, the works you describe to increase public access would require assessment, as they would potentially increase disturbance of birds.

 

[Nutcracker]

... if it doesn't exist, they're in breach of the Habitats Regulations.

Presumably they'll know that the Habitats Directive will be ditched after leaving the EU (as promised by Eustice & Leadsome), and working to the hope that the EU won't enforce them in the run-up.

 

[patkin]

man very rarely improves on nature.

 

[ChrisKten]

It's better than a SSSI, it's actually part of Lea Valley SPA. As such, whoever is responsible for the works will have had to consider whether it would have a likely significant effect on the special features of the site (wintering bittern, gadwall and shoveler). Such information should be publicly available - if it doesn't exist, they're in breach of the Habitats Regulations.
There is no need for an assessment if the works were carried out to further the site's conservation objectives; creating reedbeds (for bittern) could clearly fall into this category. However, the works you describe to increase public access would require assessment, as they would potentially increase disturbance of birds.

I would assume that the proper "Birders" that visit would have checked all that out two years ago when the work started. Even if the intentions were honourable, Wildlife did suffer while the work was going on (actually, it's not finished yet), and there's anecdotal (not sure if any surveys have been carried out yet) evidence that the Little Egrets and Grey Herons have reared less young while the work was going on, not due to disturbance to their islands as much as disturbance to where they hunt for food... mainly in the margins of the lakes. They may well learn to ignore a few Anglers, but Lorries and heavy machinery is another thing entirely. The Lorries and other machinery were also forced to use the road alongside the Coppermill Stream, and the area with the Portacabins was also close to the stream. The stream has been home to breeding Kingfishers for as long as I can remember. Due to breeding birds, including the Kingfishers, there was, and always has been, a close season for Anglers on that part of the Reservoirs (reservoirs 1,2,3, and the Coppermill Stream), there was no close season for workmen, work continued throughout the year.

I suppose at some point someone will say it was worth it, but perhaps the Warblers, Herons, Egrets, and Kingfishers will have a different view. I've a strong feeling that this is another example of us knowing what's best for Nature - when in fact "Nature" didn't need any help... and definitely didn't need an Entertainment Licence.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Chris

I have been dipping into this thread. I've been to Walthamstow Reservoirs back in the day (when it was on a shared permit with King George V and William Girling) and indeed the other two could be accessed through holes in the fence. I've also been skipping down memory lane as I'm cataloguing records from the late 80's and think about the sites I visited thirty years ago which have now been changed to nature reserves when they were not previously or as reserves have been improved beyond all measure - Lakenheath RSPB Reserve (shame about the Orioles), London Wildfowl Centre (Barn Elms Reservoir), Amwell Nature Reserve (a working quarry when it was my patch), Fairburn Ings RSPB Reserve (an astonishing site now and unrecognisable), etc........

Personally, I think that the vast majority of these 'improvements' do actually turn out to be that. Improvements for nature. Though I have read other stories with less happy outcomes eg Beddington Sewage Works.

All the best

 

[Nutcracker]

... was on a shared permit with King George V

Any good reminiscences of going birding with him?


8-P

 

[Paul Chapman]

Any good reminiscences of going birding with him?

8-P

He did insist he should be able to keep a British Empire list. Really hacked everyone off.......... B

 

[Digbert Doobrey]

I was quite excited when I first heard the news that this place was going to be 'developed' into a proper nature reserve (whatever that is). I should've known better. I was not a regular visitor but always surprised at the abundance of birdlife down there that seemed to live side by side with the anglers and local people just out for a stroll. The fact that the area had not been sanitised into one of these new modernised urban nature reserves and still had a few rough edges and wild patches led to its charm.

As long as there are not wholesale changes I'm sure nature will adapt as it always does but I will be interested to know if the breeding warblers will return in the same numbers.

I'm not sure I'll be rushing back though. Not if the gentrified Jeremys and Jeremiahs of Hackney are holding birthday parties for their little two year old Tarquin Tobyjugs in the visiting centre on the way in while all their mates are getting slaughtered at the bar.