Another good morning
on the patch – trying to make an effort now that we are in season so to speak.
I think Nick was surprised to see me sauntering down centre path, two Whinchat
to the good at 7.45am, but I’m sure he’ll get used to it. Unless it rains. It
was quality again this morning, although seemingly with nothing new whatsoever.
They were probably the same two Whinchats as at the weekend, and Nick and I
notched up four or five Spotted Flycatchers around Long Wood, all of which were also
around yesterday. Similarly, Jubilee Pond still has its resident Common
Sandpiper – I’m pretty sure three days is unprecedented.
It’s particularly interesting that it is sticking on this particular pond,
probably the most disturbed and disgusting of all our ponds. Walking around it
this morning I was able to take in the quite disgraceful amounts of crap that
people insist on tossing into it, but still the birds come. I just don’t understand
the mentality of people who do this. The last time I dropped any litter anywhere
was probably around 1980 as a five year old mistake. Most of the litter around Jubilee
is dropped by adults, indeed some of it is very adult. They should know
better. And mostly the people who simply discard cans, bottles, bags, clothes,
TVs and all the rest of it actually live nearby, and visit repeatedly. I don’t
get how they can’t care what it looks or smells like. I can only assume that the
inside of their houses looks similar and they’re just used to shit everywhere, so inside or out makes no difference.
I appreciate that’s a very middle class comment, but poverty, social injustice
or any of the other ills of the world don’t give you a free pass to throw your rubbish
all over the floor. Or sit on runways. It’s a real shame, especially after all the effort that
went into trying to spruce the area up.
At the bus stop close by I seethed at the ignorance
and stupidity that the patch often brings to the fore, and then realized that today there
was a bus strike. As you can imagine this made me even happier, and I trudged
off across fairground flats towards Centre Road and Forest Gate station in a foul mood. I
passed a large rat in the ditch, another byproduct of local apathy, and on
crossing the road found a guy pissing in the car park and a pile of junk
including a chair and a TV. Honestly, I live in a fucking toilet. Or adjacent
to one. Bypassing this latest offence I skirted the smashed up Skylark signs
and headed down the path to Angel. As I did so a Pipit buzzed by overhead.
Buzzed. In that nice, non-silent Tree Pipity kind of way. Zero to hero. I thought I
probably had a Tree Pipit a week or so ago, but unless they call I frequently
refuse to tick them as one or the other. Views would have to be really good,
which often they’re not. A call however and even a flyover gets the nod. This
lifted my mood temporarily, and I tweeted out the good news. I’m still cross
about the state of the place however, it is so unnecessary and selfish.
I carried on past the pond and the
ubiquitous beer cans and left the Flats. A short while before I’d seen a lady
with six dogs also leaving the Flats. I’ve seen her before, like me a repeat visitor
lucky enough to have this amazing place on the doorstep. Except of course that unlike me she couldn’t give a rat’s arse, as far as she’s concerned it’s just a
massive sewer. Once again she was not carrying any little plastic bags, so
that means that there are another six piles of dogshit somewhere out there. I say
this not with absolute certainly, but nonetheless some measure of confidence. Few people use
the Flats as a place to enjoy, it’s mostly a place just to conveniently dump stuff.
I can imagine that picking up turds from six dogs must get a little tiring,
certainly I wouldn’t enjoy it. But if you have a dog, or even more than one,
that’s your responsibility and part of a owning a dog. Just as when you are replacing your telly it is your
responsibility to get rid of the old one properly, rather than, say, driving to
a secluded car park and tossing it out the boot.
In summary see title.
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