Roofs & Rambles

Rainy afternoon but still walk down to Brookmill Park in Lewisham to try out my new 200mm lens. I regularly see Kingfishers in the Park. Luckily there was one fishing avid along the southern stretch. Although not a brilliant shot it certainly shows that they are here. One of the best places in the UK to see Kingfishers 1/2 a mile form Lewisham Town Centre. They have become quite habituate to humans so are relatively tolerate.

I was also absolutely ‘gobsmacked’ to see and manage to get a rather blurred picture of a water rail, feeding out in the open. Once I disturbed it scuttled off to skulk in some brambles.

Of all the birds in the park – the Mandarin was the most obliging for the camera. Again, if a wild bird, he is a very unusual bird for Lewisham

A cold damp winters day visit to the Laban Dance Centre.  Our first green roof visit of the year. This roof is the original  rubble or brown roof. We carried a couple of bags of crocii bulbs to plant in the rubble. At this time of year, to many the roof’s look will not appeal, but we know that there is life inside this gray roof. We had watched a few bumblebees digging in the substrate late in the year seeking a refuge until spring. And by May the roof will be all awash with the yellows and blues of native flowers. But in early spring there is little colour to succour an emerging bee with early Spring nectar. Continue reading »

As the nights draw in and the storms of autumn herald in the approach of winter, everything retreats into itself in preparation for hibernation. The naturalists mind leaves behind thoughts of bees, and the fragrance of summer  and turns to fungi and winter tit flocks. A visit to a green roof in autumn may well not seem the most exhilarating experience. But then again green roofs can always surprise. Even when they are deemed past their best in the yearly calender. Professional green roofers, especially the suppliers and installers will avoid them, preferring the peak months of May and June when the flowers are at their best. But then again they have something to sell! And perhaps less inclined to look and observe the minutiae of nature still active. Continue reading »

When I was out in Washington DC I was lucky enough to stay for a few days up on Ed Snodgrass’s Farm in Harford County, MD. Normally my approach to visiting foreign countries is to race about chasing a list and trying to see as much as I can!!! I return to the UK for a holiday form my holiday! But on this trip I had decided that I would spend a few days getting to know a small patch of landscape and the birds to be found there. I sort of knew what I could see as Ed and his wife keep a list of all the birds seen on the farm. They are tracking the changes as they turn the once soya bean farm back to native grasslands. I know wasn’t going to see anything new but what that wasn’t the point. I could indulge in really getting a feel for the birds of Maryland.

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Earlier in the year as part of my London leaders pledge I manages to get Lendlease Retail Ltd to install a small green roof on their London HQ. The roof in question was in fact a balcony 30m long and about 1m wide. The roof was installed over a weekend in January by  Garden Lounge - it had to be installed quickly as the main bosses of the company were due to arrive on the Monday from Australia for a major meeting. the UK employers want to show the balcony off.
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A visit to Pestival at the weekend inspired me to write something on habitat walls, sand walls and of course green roofs! Nearly everywhere I have traveled in Switzerland and Germany, from the Black Forest to thuringia, to the high Alps, to animal parks, nature reserves and even Universities I have always encountered these features. And I have always been struck how you rarely you see them in the UK!

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