Nature notes: rainy day reading, bird song, spectacular skies and...wet wipes

I have to admit I haven't had a lot of time to compile any Nature notes on one particular topic this week. Too busy staring at the skies

and the sunsets, when I've not been skulking at home because of the rain.

Although, normally, snails get short shrift from me I couldn't resist this one making its way at speed across the pavement

I've had the chance to catch up on a bit of reading this week and two nature related articles caught my eye.

The first is a call from The Wildlife Trusts for local authorities to produce "wildlife recovery maps". Policy protection for Local Wildlife Sites has been dropped from the draft National Planning Policy Framework which could undo basic protection for 42,000 sites that are crucial to local wildlife. Local Nature Recovery Maps would set out the areas important for sustaining wildlife and would help local and central government to coordinate their work around creating environmentally sustainable communities.

Given the wealth of Green and Blue space in and around Haringey this seems like an eminently sensible idea.

The second article was more a make my blood boil kind. Humans use of wet wipes is changing the shape of British riverbeds. Thames 21, a London environmental organisation that cleans up rivers and canals, retrieved 5,453 wet wipes during an operation last month in 116 sq m of the Thames embankment near Hammersmith. The haul was an increase of nearly a thousand over last year’s total (which took place on a larger riverbank area).

Seriously, why are people allowing wet wipes to enter the water supply, presumably by flushing them down the toilet? They aren't biodegradable as they contain plastic fibres. I'm not sure people are going to stop using wipes any day soon but putting them down the loo is idiotic. The article kindly suggests "confusion". I'd not be so kind about it.

And breathe...

Despite losing a couple of plants in the cold snap, our street garden is starting to bloom and is currently full of flowering rocket much loved by bees. 

It's felt like a long winter but finally it feels like we've turned a corner.

One of the greatest pleasures of Spring is the Dawn Chorus. International Dawn Chorus Day falls on May 6th this year, a day when nature lovers get up extra early to experience the sunrise accompanied by bird song. Last year, it was also a big event on BBC Radio when radio stations across Europe and India tracked the Dawn Chorus across the world

This year a few days after the "official" date, on Sunday 13th May, Friends of Railway Fields invite you to join them at 4.30 AM for a guided dawn walk led by local birder, Quentin Given.I did it last year and it really is worth it and, as its Sunday, you can go back to bed again afterwards! FInd out more here

Hope to see you there!