Alexandra Park has recently received a grant from the London Mayor’s re-wilding fund. The money has been used to improve the drainage in the Park conservation area, and to create better wetland habitat beside the paths next to the reservoirs. 

This will obviously affect the trees, and we will consider which species have flourished in the conservation area, and how growth may be affected by a more open environment with better drainage. We will then look at what species currently grow around the conservation pond and near the reservoirs, and which may flourish in the wetter habitat beyond. 

Some areas may still be muddy - please wear appropriate footwear.

Meet at the Gas Hut by the Bedford Road entrance

(What3words: shins.boots.trendy)

We’ll be laying the rest of the hedge and doing some repairs to it in the Spinney. Bring gardening gloves and secateurs if you have them, although we have spares to lend. No special skills needed and refreshments provided.

There is a morning and and an afternoon session - come to either or both!

Meet at the Park Visitor Centre.

Two more sessions on the Thurs, 20th and Sat 29th.

We’ll be carrying out a range of tasks – especially dead-hedging and some stream works and building leaky dams.

We’ll supply tools, materials, gloves, tea/coffee/biscuits training etc – all volunteers will need to bring is suitable outdoor clothing/footwear and lunch.

The sessions will be run by @Hattie Jones of The Conservation Volunteers – could all volunteers please email her on hattie.jones@tcv.org.uk to sign up – so she can bring enough tools, and share info on meeting places etc. 

An opportunity for park lovers to join others in a relaxed and friendly group to enjoy time spent outdoors, observing nature through drawing, painting or photography. Bring something to sit on and your own materials (though some basics are provided). 

The group is free and open to all, whatever your level.

 Email allyparkn10@gmail.com to find out more.

For the first time on one of our bryophte walks..... sunshine. Starting at the Park Visitor Centre, we ascertained that all participants were new to the world of mosses and liverworts so Professor Jeff Duckett spent time explaining the ecology of these simple plants which cannot control their water content. They can dry out, but adding water, they almost miraculously spring back to life.

Right outside the Park Visitor Centre, Jeff pointed out a liverwort, Metzgeria furcata. These are flatter plants than the mosses.

Also close to the PVC was Homalothecium sericeum, a moss on a dead log. He mentioned that although common names have been invented for our bryophytes they are not normally used.

Also in the Grove, Jeff pointed out the algae all the way around the base of a plane tree pictured left and explained that they grow there due to the high incidence of dogs urinating on the base of the tree and provided much needed nitrogen nutrients. 

We stopped to admire the clouds of pollen coming from a yew tree before making our way towards the Palace. 

This walk takes place at this time of year, because the mosses are producing their reproductive capsules seen to great advantage on this Tortula muralis pictured on the left and growing on the handrail of the steps up to the Palm Court.

At the top on a wall opposite the Palm Court we spotted a Grimmia pulvinata moss growing and also showing off its capsules.

We carried on down the slope stopping to admire the cork oak (pictured left).

On the slope we looked at mosses growing in the grass. Jeff said that a moss lawn was a much more lower maintenance covering for a garden than grass - no cutting required. The main drawback is that the mosses do not react well to trampling and that is why there is less moss on the ground in our park than a more infrequently visited woodland.

Lots more was seen and some more pictures can be found here. An excellent book to improve your knowledge of mosses has been produced by the Bryological Society and can be obtained from them. Also they welcome new members!

 Thanks again to Jeff for a great walk of discovery.

A stroll around the Boating Lake yielded plenty of wildfowl, including four common pochards and a vocal but elusive nuthatch. At the old deer enclosures, we heard a small flock of redwings chattering invisibly in the trees, before two kindly perched up for telescope views. Two gorgeous stock doves were seen in an oak tree, before we walked on down the steep path towards the station. Despite some enthusiastic ‘pishing’ by Gareth, the firecrest that has favoured the holly bushes by the path this winter failed to give itself up.

Having crossed Alexandra Palace Way, we stopped at the Conservation Pond, where Beatrice gave a talk about the exciting wetland project: the drainage work in the Nature Conservation Area, the digging of three ponds alongside Wood Green Reservoir and some thinning out of the trees here to let through the light necessary for these ponds to thrive.

The male and female peregrines then put on a fine show at and around the top of the mast. On the reservoir, three pairs of shovelers showed well, whilst the young grey heron (pictured, © Greg Smith) did likewise on the Balancing Pond. Pied and grey wagtails were spotted at the Filter Beds, with two of the latter also being seen by the New River near Hornsey High Street. 

Frustratingly, the female kingfisher, which has been wintering here, chose this weekend not to put on a show – you can’t win them all! Both the 33 participants and the total of 42 species were the highest counts on a bird walk for a number of years.

February found us working in the Grove, on a pleasantly warm morning. There were 16 of us, enabling us to tackle three different areas of work: firstly, a small group continued to prune the remaining fruit trees in the Springfield Orchard, guided by Rubén of O’Conners; a second group worked on a bramble-infested euonymus hedge around the main grassy area, improving it no end; a third group reduced hollies and laurel on the bank overlooking the Railway Orchard, allowing more light to reach the trees. 

All that physical work was very satisfying, especially as we could see the difference we’d made.

Excitingly, we can see the results of November’s bulb planting session in the Spinney: several winter aconites and snowdrops are flowering, with scilla and wild daffodils well on the way.

A lot more pictures here.

A large group of 17 members turned up on a cold winter's day for a just a walk in the park. In the rose garden, we identified some of plants especially those flowering (winter flowering honeysuckle, mahonia and witch hazel) before walking down the slope towards the Blandford Hall area noting the dead trees and explained that the park management had left them for invertebrates and those that feed on them, but only if quite safe.

We looked at some trees (holm oak and birch among others) before passing the bunker and looking up to the monkey puzzle tree and spotting the cedar. The birders, Markus and Tony, explained about the sparrowhawks that have been breeding and the rare firecrests that have been increasingly visiting the area. Caroline pointed out the jelly ear fungi that was particularly common in this part of the park.

Those that were keen and had the time walked back up off the main path - quite an exploration seeing what goes on in the park outside the normal area that the public access.

A dozen volunteers amassed a total of more than two dozen bags of rubbish found in the park. The group dug deep into the brambles and hedges to remove litter that had been hanging around for quite a while. Thanks to Ruben from John O'Conner (the park contractors) for staying late to pick it up all the trash with his lorry.

The Park Visitor Centre was humming with creativity as 10 families packed into it on a damp February Sunday. Children and grown-ups alike got stuck in making cardboard collages of winter tree forms, misty charcoal wintry scenes and mucky mud owls. 

We were also able to spill outside for some messy mud painting and charcoal sketching. It seems lots of fun was had all round. 

This was the feedback from one family: “The session was great. Really welcoming.... the emphasis on the natural world marks these out. I like the freedom that Family Art in the Park gives the children to make a mess and experiment, and look around us.”

 More pictures here.

It was a bit soggy so we diverted our meet-up to the East Court Café. Here the big tables were handy for spreading out our drawing materials, but woolly hats were still required! 

Katy brought some wintry nature bits, such as decayed leaves and twigs, to draw, and so we focused in on small details. We also looked at Jackie Morris’s illustrations in The Lost Words as a source of inspiration. A nice by-product of being inside was that we could have a good chat while drawing – always a bonus!