The Unexpected Beauty of Croydon

I am fascinated by the wildlife which has managed to make itself home in human-dominated places. Travelling to another city, whether in the UK or elsewhere in the world, I like to observe the wildlife the locals take for granted. They say one man's trash is another man's treasure and that's certainly true of urban wildlife. Tourists are fascinated by the grey squirrels in the Royal Parks, even though they're non-native and found almost everywhere here.  Park Hill Park, July 2019 One creature we have a lot of in British cities is the red fox, which apparently started moving into cities from the 1930s onwards. Foxes are a divisive creature, as is common with urban wildlife. I'm not going to get into the issues around fox hunting but I do recall the protests when Parliament were debating whether to ban it. Rural foxes behave rather differently to urban foxes - they are flighty and mostly active at night. In London, the foxes strut along the pavement in broad daylight l...

I used to work near the Beddington Farmlands site and it wasn't the most popular neighbour among my colleagues but I found it fascinating. I got some glimpses of wildlife through the fencing - families of foxes and birds including little egrets, shovelers and teal (ducks).  Fox at the Beddington Lane side of the Farmlands, May 2012 From the Hackbridge end, with my camera at full zoom I was able to spot wetland birds like shoveler ducks and lapwings. Lapwings and shovelers, March 2014 Although technically in the borough of Sutton, Beddington Farmlands has been an important site for Croydon for over 160 years. The sewage works here originated as a sewage processing site for the Croydon Board of Health and it still plays a big part in our sewage and waste disposal services. It's also close to Croydon - there are views of the town centre and Purley Way area from the new bird hides installed a couple of years ago. Ikea towers and new buildings in Croydon town centre, Nov 2020 The va...

Chepstow Road is not the most memorable of thoroughfares. It is a dual carriageway running between the Park Hill roundabout and the Addiscombe Road tram crossing, on the way from Croydon town centre eastwards to Addiscombe, Shirley and beyond.  However, this time of year, the grass verges are awash with a sea of yellow. This looks striking if you're driving or walking past. On closer examination, there's a wider variety of plant species and they support an array of wildlife. Bumblebee inside a daffodil, Chepstow Road, March 2021 Violets, Chepstow Road, March 2021 Fig buttercups, Chepstow Road, March 2021 I was excited to see a brimstone butterfly flitting between plants on Chepstow Road. It particularly liked the plants below, which I think may be dead nettles. It's nice to go to a quiet nature reserve and see butterflies but it feels extra special to see them living in such urban places.  Brimstone butterfly Dandelion, Addiscombe Road, March 2021 Here's some more examp...