A seasonal message from Wansteadium, thanks to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.
Earlier this year, the Wansteadium Hedgehog Hunt asked readers to report any sightings in Wanstead of hedgehogs dead or alive. Our initial pessimism was somewhat dispelled by a number of sightings (full coverage here) and most memorably by this photo taken in a Nightingale Estate garden.
A detailed report into the state of Britain’s hedgehog population can be found here.
Wansteadium now undertakes not to mention hedgehogs again until springtime at the earliest.
• Plans for a homeless hostel on Cambridge Park were approved by the Redbridge Planning Committee. More than 150 Wanstead residents had opposed the plan. Voting on the committee was split, but the plan went through on the chair’s casting vote. Opponent Mick Goodenough told Wansteadium legal advice was being taken with a view to mounting a judicial review indicated a judicial review of the decision was unlikely to succeed.
• Litter bins on Christchurch Green are too small for the amount of litter, the Wanstead Society has told Redbridge Council. That, or foxes, or something else, might be the reason for the regular sight of overflowing litter, though tweeter Paddy Fantastic (below) has other thoughts. The council says it will replace the bins, when the current ones wear out.
• Welcome to the Larder Mark III. After opening a new branch in Bethnal Green, Wanstead’s favourite is also taking over the Butlers’ Retreat tea rooms in Chingford Plain. The Larder is turning into a Wanstead success story.
• Speaking of which, Little Bears nursery on The Green has announced a pretty big expansion. From having places for 35 children, it is growing by adding a further 90 places, and is creating 20 new jobs.
• They are not the only things growing. The ArcelorMittal Orbit (also known as that weird red sculpture next to the Olympic stadium) is now about a third of the way through its construction. When it reaches its full height, it will disrupt the Freeview signal to houses on Hermon Hill.
• Wanstead is gearing up for the second Wanstead Art Trail, which runs from 11 September. The event’s new website is taking shape too; it’s here.
• Where Wansteadium goes today, the Sunday Times will go tomorrow. After our efforts to prove – despite apparent odds – that hedgehogs still roamed through Wanstead gardens, the paper reported this week that:
Hedgehogs could be wiped out in Britain within 15 years, a study has warned. They are on a list of the 10 indigenous species suffering the biggest decline in numbers in recent decades, along with the cuckoo, left, turtle dove, brown hare and Scottish wildcat. According to the Eden Species Report, which measures native species’ populations and rates of decline, there are about 1m hedgehogs left in the UK — a decline of about 25% over the past 10 years. In some parts of Britain the fall could be as high as 50%. With populations becoming more isolated as a result of the decrease in numbers, naturalists fear that the species will struggle to maintain a sufficiently large gene pool to sustain a healthy and viable population.
• There’s a full calendar of events in Wanstead here. You can submit your events at events@wansteadium.com
• Wansteadium’s fledgling free classifieds advert service, which allows you to sell your unwanted items to other Wanstead residents, can be found here.
The positive sightings of urban hedgehogs in Wanstead (including this one, above, as helpfully reported by Tim Wright) have been encouraging. But readers might be interested in these other wildlifey things going on around Wanstead, as reported by the excellent Wanstead Wildlife site.
* Four mink have been spotted in Wanstead Park, and wildlife watchers are extremely concerned about the threat they could pose to birds and other animals. Paul Donovan told the Wanstead Guardian: “Something needs to be done because they can kill everything in sight and if they kill the voles, that has implications for the birds and suddenly they’re having an impact on the park’s ecology.” Anyone spotting a mink (image here) should report it to the Corporation of London on 020 8502 1010; it is hoped they can be trapped.
* The first reported sightings ever of the Marbled White butterfly in Wanstead happened earlier this month
* Paul Ferris recorded this remarkable video of a knot of toads heaped together at the end of May.
Heaps of Toads from Paul Ferris on Vimeo.
UPDATE: Wansteadium reader Nigel Watson writes:
Just read your posting regarding Wanstead wildlife and I thought I would share the attached photograph of a regular visitor to my garden on St Mary’s Avenue. The photo is of a single green parrot, however last week we had 3 of them all feeding at once! Hope you enjoy and keep up the good work
Wansteadium’s hedgehog hunt is now into its third week, and we have built up several sightings around Wanstead.
• Spotted in Wanstead Park Avenue, Aldersbrook, Wansteadium reader Nick says: “Further proof as if it were needed that Aldersbrook is the Galapagos Islands of East London.”
Untitled from Tiggy Winkle on Vimeo.
• Deep e-mails from his house on The Green to say : “There is a hedgehog – I call him Harry – who comes to my garden every evening at around 10.30pm. The first time we met I was doing my Bob Marley impressions (badly) and the little dude came and scared the life out of me…. Do you intend to microchip them?”
• Sadly, though, Shiobhain tweeted us to say: “Found the hedgehog I saw last week dead outside this morning 
It looked OK to me, so not sure what happened. I saw two foxes around it last week so maybe they were playing with it.”
• The updated map of sightings is below. The Wanstead Hedgehog Hunt goes on, though: please report any sightings, dead or alive, to hedgehogs@wansteadium.com
View Hedgehogs in Wanstead in a larger map
Happy news for hedgehog hunting Wanstead folk. It seems the hedgehogs are back – or conceivably they never went away.
Wansteadium, which last week launched the Wanstead Hedgehog Hunt, is happy to announce the following sightings:
• Wansteadium reader Tony on Rodney Road, plus a non-plussed dog, spotted this rather impressively sized hog on 23 June.
• Nearby, on Colvin Gardens fellow reader Colin spotted another large hedgehog on 26 June, trotting along the pavement. Could easily be the same animal.
• Further away, at 3.15am on 26 June, Rebecca Strong had another sighting, tweeting:
@.... Saw a hedgehog last night!!! On Seagry road around 3:15am • And not too far from that, on 25 June, @AlasdairBain, who also follows @Wansteadium on Twitter sent this message:
@ Hedgehog spotted about 3 hours ago on Mansfield Road #hedgehog • Michael of Warren Road said he has a hedgehog which visits his garden most evenings.
So it seems there are at least two pockets of hedgehogdom surviving in Wanstead. The map below is looking a bit healthier (2011 live sightings are yellow markers) but there are still big gaps. Please keep your ears peeled for night-time snuffling. Report any sightings to hedgehogs@wansteadium.com
View Hedgehogs in Wanstead in a larger map
Wansteadium reader Nick reports that he had a hedgehog in his garden near Nightingale Primary School early last summer but that it has not been seen since. This is the most recent sighting we are aware of, but is consistent with the 2008 sighting in Woodbury Close we reported last week.
So there are still no reported sightings of hedgehogs in Wanstead, Snaresbrook or Aldersbrook in 2011. It seems remarkably sad, if true, that there are none left. You can help spread the word about the Wanstead Hedgehog Hunt by printing and displaying this poster. Thanks for your help.
Report any sightings of hedgehogs, dead or alive, to hedgehogs@wansteadium.com
View Hedgehogs in Wanstead in a larger map
The Wanstead Hedgehog Hunt, launched by Wansteadium last week, seeks to disprove the notion that there are no hedgehogs left in Wanstead, despite the greenery, the open spaces, and the lush gardens.
First reported sighting comes from Jo Mussett, who took this photo of a hedgehog in her Woodbury Close garden. The bad news though is that this was in 2008.
Wansteadium reader Mark Bentley, however, offered this tweet on Saturday morning:
Wanstead zoo at home this am. Fox, woodpecker, squirrels, finches, tits, et al. No hedgehogs though. Haven't seen one of those for years. So the map now has one pin dropped on it. Please report any sightings (dead or alive, current or within past five years) to hedgehogs@wansteadium.com, and pass the word around…
View Hedgehogs in Wanstead in a larger map
A seasonal message from Wansteadium, thanks to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.
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