Park notes and news…..August 025
The stars of the park this month have to be the black eyed Susan……springing up everywhere…..Rudbeckia hirta, commonly called black-eyed Susan and yellow coneflower, is a North American flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It grows to 1 metre (3+1⁄2 ft) tall with daisy-like yellow flower heads. There are numerous cultivars. It is toxic when ingested by cats, but was used medicinally by Native Americans. It is the state flower of Maryland.
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:223740-2
Garden birds…… Where have the birds gone?
Park volunteers have been very busy……the recent workday was very productive. A report from Maria:
Hello,
Yesterday, the Friends had a lovely partly sunny, breezy and productive Garden in the Park.
Thanks to Anna C, Cath C, Ed, Jon and Mike, we did the following:
Added two more signs reminding people to clean up after their dogs around the football field.
Painted the rusty bits on two picnic benches.
Weeded the star bed border
Watered borders (cloverlead, star bed etc.).
Watered the urns and topped up the compost in them as required.
Dead-headed loads of roses
Cleared broken whips from the willow tunnel
Thanks to all who came along and helped beautify the park.
Next garden day: Saturday 20th September 10am-12noon
Next FOHMP meeting: Weds 10th Septhttps://bclung.ca/lung-health/air-quality/breathe/
Thanks to everyone who came along! Brilliant work!
Amsterdam Some lovely news….Amsterdam is installing hundreds of tiny staircases along its canals to keep wildlife safe. Animals are drowning…. Along the canals of Amersfoort in the Netherlands are hundreds of little wooden staircases leading out of the water and onto the banks. These special steps were installed as part of an initiative to protect wildlife that sometimes falls into the water and cannot climb out because of the high sides. Now, Amsterdam is looking to create similar escape routes for its small creatures. So far this year, 19 cats have drowned in the city’s canals, a statistic that has prompted local pro-animal party PvdD to propose taking a leaf from Amersfoot’s book.
Research:
Connection to nature…..Human connection to nature has declined 60% in 200 years, study finds
Prof Miles Richardson says people risk ‘extinction of experience’ in the natural world without new policies….
Better Living Through Biochemistry
Scientists are creating custom microbiomes to clean up microplastics, restore trashed agricultural soil, and solve other environmental problems. https://www.biographic.com/better-living-through-biochemistry/
Modelling Nature Connectedness Within Environmental Systems: Human-Nature Relationships from 1800 to 2020 and Beyond…………. https://doi.org/10.3390/earth6030082
Nature futures for the urban century: Integrating multiple values into urban management …..
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2022.01.013
Why Park Configuration Matters (August 4, 2025)
….a deep dive, using AI to boot!………. https://robertpriebe.substack.com/p/why-park-configuration-matters-august
Park Features, Neighborhood Environment, and Time Factors Affect Park Visitor Volume: A Meta-Analysis…….
https://doi.org/10.1177/00139165251342974
Various music festivals are still taking place in parks, particularly in London…..However, The originals festival got canceled yesterday as people stormed the main gate happen in crystal palace park……
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/south-london-festival-originals-crowd-crush-b1243474.html
RSPB
How is wildlife doing on RSPB nature reserves?
https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/wildlife-on-reserves
Photography
The Big Picture competiton – lovely nature shots