Spring is here, but so are foot and mouth restrictions. Many of us will feel deprived of countryside walking. Well, there is a substitute on our doorstep. Wimbledon Park is our own local piece of 'countryside' and presents us with a good selection of springtime experiences. The absence of any cloven hoofed mammals in the Park means that walking there does not risk spreading the dread virus. You can spend a good hour wandering around the periphery of the Park and it'll do you a lot of good.

In Horse Close Wood, the sweet violets by the path in the north-west corner are in flower. There's bright white blossom on the blackthorn shrub by the derelict adventure playground, but most woodland wildflowers have yet to put on a show. As spring progresses, look out under the trees for the green flowers of Cuckoo Pint and the yellow stars of Lesser Celandine. Later on come the Bluebells, Jack by the Hedge and the frothy white heads of 'Queen Anne's Lace'; its mundane name is Cow Parsley. Look out too for the Midland Hawthorn, halfway along the northern edge of the woodland - you can tell the blossom from common hawthorn by the two stigmas in the middle of each flower (and later by the two seeds in each haw).

Between the Revelstoke Road entrance and the woodland is the hedgerow planted by the Residents' Association and local children ten years ago. Planted bulbs, and both Blackthorn and Lesser Celandine are now flowering. Watch out here for the flowers of Red Campion and Aquilegia a little later on, and the delicate flower heads of Pendulous Sedge.

The lake is best for winter birds, but the Shovellers, and Cormorants have moved off now to breed elsewhere and the gulls will leave soon. A Common Tern or Common Sandpiper may call in on its passage further north. Grey Herons visit from the nearby heronries at Battersea and Morden Hall Park, standing by the water, tall and gaunt, with their heads held high. Elegant birds they are.

In the woodland, listen out for the drumming of the Great Spotted Woodpecker, which sometimes breeds there, and later on for the song of the Chiffchaff and Blackcap Warblers. Soon the Brimstone Butterfly will be flying far and wide in search of foodplants for its caterpillars and, shortly afterwards, look out for the Orange Tip Butterfly, that lays its eggs on Jack by the Hedge.     

When you see the elders in bloom, summer is really here, and let's hope that the foot and mouth will be over.
           Dr. David Dawson