Summer is finally here and we are now all wanting it to rain again!!!
If you walk from along the path from the lido entrance towards Bedford Hill you will be overwhelmed by the gorgeous smell of honeysuckle which is in amongst the brambles on the left - linger a while and enjoy! More can be found around the common.
Take a look at the Chestnut trees. They have been looking spectacular but are now showing signs of the leaf-mining beetle, which causes the leaves to go brown. These on their own will not cause the chestnuts long term damage but unfortunately the canker that can be seen on some of the trunks will eventually kill them. Sadly, this is affecting Chestnuts across the country and as yet there is no cure.
As you walk around the lake watch out for our resident heron and also for dragonflies just above the water level and in the rushes. You may also see a new clutch of Egyptian Goslings, which appeared in early July, 2 large clutches of Tufted Ducks and some Mallards too.
We also have turtles living in the lake. If you see them digging holes on the bank Valerie in the Parks Office would like to hear from you immediately as this means they are nesting. This would be very bad news for our ducks and ducklings. Please also watch out for discarded fishing line and send that in to the Parks Office. They are monitoring the amount of line left by the fishermen and will take action if necessary.
Enjoy the long grass while it is here. At the end of July the contractors will start cutting it and baling it - a sight you don't quite expect in Tooting! It then gets composted over at Battersea Park

Please let us know if you see any of our ducklings being killed. The dogs usually get all the blame but we don't think this is the case. Is the swan drowning them? Do the crows get them? Is it the carp? Please tell us what you see so that we can inform the Parks Department and try to improve things for the future.

The main lake continues to improve slowly but surely. It continues to support a range of nesting waterfowl including mute swans and again, the exotic looking Egyptian geese. As ever, many ducklings, cygnets and goslings were lost, due to poorly controlled dogs. We urge all of you who own dogs to please keep them on a lead around the lake, particularly during spring and summer to try to reduce this problem.

The reed bed on the corner of Elmbourne Road now hosts reed bunting and house sparrow. A large colony of sparrows has also been identified in the shrub areas surrounding this patch. Invasive woody species will be removed during the winter works programme and also one sixth of the reeds will be cut annually to encourage regeneration. The MAC sub-committee is liaising with the council to assess ways of accommodating a permanently open patch of water within the reedbed to broaden the biodiversity.

Discarded fishing line is regularly removed from the edge of the lake and island. The debris often amounts to 3 black dustbin sacks full. This can be damaging to both fish and waterfowl and we have in the past lost several birds as a result of discarded tackle over the past year.

The acid grassland areas have been assessed as part of the London Biodiversity Action Plan for this habitat. The results of this are due imminently and management practices will be reviewed in the light of these.

We are also participating in the RSPB project to assess the biodiversity benefits to house sparrow populations of different long grass management actions. This will result in changes to the grassland management on the Emmanuel Road field for the next 3 years. Some management practices have already been altered resulting in a new area of long grass. The first surveys of birds and invertebrates began in June 2009.