Vetch in bloom
It is vetch time of year again. Bush vetch (with a purple flower) and common vetch are doing well thanks to the warmth and rain. We hope that letting the grass grow in part of the Recreation Ground will see vetch return to that area too.
Beautiful bluebell carpet
It is bluebell time of year at last. Bluebells are scattered all over the woods, but they are at their most beautiful in the south side of the woods, where they carpet the ground with a haze of blue.
Friends Group members and Duke of Edinburgh scheme volunteer tackling waste dumped in Crofton Woods
Three sessions of rubbish removal from the woods secured a mass of fly tipping - unwanted items consciously taken into the woods to dump. It is a real shame that the beautiful and scientifically important woods are despoiled in this manner. Well done to all the hard work of the Friends Group members and our Duke of Edinburgh scheme volunteer for sparing the time to make a difference, and to idverde for their support.
Crofton buzzard sighting
Good to see raptors are doing so well - although I am not sure that the very cross nesting crows agree.
A delightful flower or spring
Here are a couple of plants of cuckoo flower flowering on a Kyd Brook tributary stream bank, so named because of the time of year that it flowers is when cuckoos were heard. It has been a few years since cuckoos were heard in Crofton Woods.
The Friends of Crofton and Sparrow Woods turned out in force today for a socially distanced battle to cut back encroaching brambles and restore the only small area of natural meadow that is left.
Don't worry, we have left plenty of brambles for blackberrying later in the year.
What was depressing was the amount of rubbish that has been brought into the area and dumped, so we had these filled bags to take away to the dump.
The butterflies of Crofton and Sparrow Wood
Members of the Friends of Crofton and Sparrow Woods walk the same two circuits of the woods every week, and record the butterflies seen. Today is was Brimstones, Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells. What butterflies have you seen in the woods?
We have had no recent recorded sightings of siskins in Crofton Woods, so it is great news that they have been seen in 2021 - here are a male and female popping out of Sparrow Wood into an adjoining garden for a spot of lunch.
Seen yesterday, on first sight this might have you reaching for a doggy bag, but it is actually daldinia concentrica known by several common names, including King Alfred's cake, cramp balls, and coal fungus.
A small flock of redpolls were sighted by Group members Ann Russell and Peter Smart. They were recorded as breeding in Crofton Woods in 1974 - maybe we will get confirmation that they are breeding in 2021. Spring is just around the corner.
With thanks to Geoff Coad of RSPB Bromley Local Group for his photograph.
A couple of days snow fall left the recreation ground and woods looking very pretty as snow created a winter wonderland.
Bird watchers reported seeing a little owl and tree creeper in the woodland near the recreation ground - so well worth keeping a close eye on the trees.
The tawny owls continue to call on still nights.
Idverde work to open up woodland glades continues - so there should be more opportunities for butterflies in summer 2021.