London's continuing wildlife?

[AshLee]

I was researching a bird of interest and came across Picidae's post in this thread:
Time Travel Question

....during some past research into the area I was born in (Hampstead Heath local patch), I came across some fantastic studies on the flora and fauna of that area in Victorian times.

Hope the link works - It's very long and written in plain text but thoroughly fascinating - scroll down endlessly past all the geological surveys on Hampstead, past the fossils, past the flowers, pass the butterflies then the real gem, THE BIRDS OF HAMPSTEAD by JE Harting a victorian birdwatcher.

Some of the birds he notes as common on the Heath and surrounding gardens:

Sparrowhawk
Kestrel
Barn Owl
Tawny Owl
Long Eared Owl - he notes as once common on Hampstead Heath
Stonechat
Dartford Warbler
Marsh Tit
Meadow Pipit
Corn Bunting
Black Heading Bunting - nesting record
Tree Sparrow
Hawfinch
Sisken
Linnet
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - he notes as the most visible woodpecker
Lapwing
Moorhen
SUMMER VISITORS INCLUDE
Red Backed Shrike (presumably breeding!)
Spotted Flycatcher
Pied Flycatcher (rare)
Ring Ouzel
Redstart
Quail
Turtle Dove
Nightjar
WRYNECK - COMMON
Cuckoo
Garden Warbler
Reed Warbler
Grasshopper Warbler
Nightingale - COMMON and many ''used to be caught by birdcatchers at Highgate''
Snow Bunting
Woodcock
Snipe
Jack Snipe
Golden Oriole (rare)
CIRL BUNTING (rare even then)
Crossbill
Hoopoe (rare summer visitor)

Plus all the usual garden birds/warblers.

This was only as long ago as Victorian times. Just look at all those species I'm not sure how many of these are still recorded, but I'm guessing not many!

How sad I feel for Londoners, considering the obvious loss of the city's biodiversity. How FANTASTIC it would be to step back in time for the afternoon.

[Moonmoth]

Hi What an amazingly long list, and how sad that we have all but obliterated th greater part .We ALL must try harder to be more considerate of Nature and stop paving and tarmacing and tidying and polluting everything to death and we might have a chance of seeing at least some of these birds again .

[aeshna5]

I'm very sceptical of the record of nesting Black-headed Bunting nesting!

According to the Birds of England there were only 3 or 4 records of this species being seen prior to 1958 + no mention of any nesting attempts.

[AshLee]

I'm wavering between being amazed and skeptical myself. I find this list astonishing.

I did a bit of light research into the history of the Heath. Pre-1871 it was fairly heavily worked for its sand (for building and industry; some of the quarrying activities left scars that can be seen in Constable's paintings). After its public acquisition, it was used extensively for leisure pursuits. At no time during Victoria's reign, or for many of the years preceding, or at any time since, was it devoid of a significant amount of human activity. This seems to be supported by the old images of the area that I could find on the internet:




If the absence of people and industry wasn't a factor in making this what I can only describe as a birdwatcher paradise, what was? And how reliable is this list?

So many unanswered questions. So much more research needed. But how fantastic it would be if it were true.

[aeshna5]

Other than Black-headed Bunting, which has only ever been a vagrant here, the list looks credible to me. I know from recordfs that Cirl Bunting used to breed on Wimbledon common + birds such as Wryneck + Red-backed shrike did indeed breed around the London area. Remember some of the species on your list wil not have been regular species, but mybe just the odd record- I suspect Quail would be in that category.

[AshLee]

There doesn't seem to be a link in terms of preferred habitat. Many of these birds are ones of open countryside - farmland and heath - which it was, if the paintings are anything to go by. But Long-eared Owls? Were these not equally shy with just as much a preference for dense coniferous woodland 150 years ago? Has the Hawfinch become less tolerant of human activity? And it's the reference to "common" that I find the most incredible.

If the list is true, where did we go wrong? And can we not get what we had back? Not in London, I know. But somewhere in this country. Even if this list is a bit fanciful (I'm not saying whether I think it is or it isn't) surely we can learn some lessons. Or is it too late?

[AshLee]

The May 2010 LNHS Newsletter contains a "winter street meeting" report for Holland Park/Kensington.

"A couple of hundred years ago the area would have been fields, hedges and woodland, with a native flora including Lesser Celandine Ranunculus ficaria hanging on at the bas of a Lime Tilia x europaea in Sheffield Terrace. Its survival as a street plant may be because it flowers early and the leaves have died back by late spring, the tubers being safely underground by the time the council-funded plant murderers hit the streets to destroy all green things." George Hounsome

I love that description in the last sentence.