Egyptian Geese: on alert.

Back blip.

The ponds of Clapham Common have taken a dramatic turn for the worse... Fishing season is now open.

ARGH.
Almost every inch of the edge of the ponds was occupied by fishers with tents and poles and stands and bite alarms and (many) dogs... Many of the grass and iris beds have been cut back to make access to the water easier for the fishers. It seems totally brutal: there are families of waterfowl with young birds which had had a sheltered and quiet environment (for the most part) and are now surrounded by people listening to music on radios, and taking up all of the water's edge where they had previously grazed and rested, and now there are even more dogs by the pond...
This picture is of the birds on alert (the mother was honking) because people were walking past with a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Why do the fishers only seem to have dogs that are descendants of dogs bred for fighting?
But, look how big the goslings are! They look wonderful. The largest ones are even developing the little brown patch on their breasts, and their legs are starting to turn pink.

From Lambeth Website [my [b]bold[/b]]:
"Eagle and Mount Ponds are closed each year to fishing from 15 March to 15 June inclusive; you can fish them for the rest of the year from 16 June to 14 March. This is to give fish and birds some 'breathing space' whilst they breed and allows us to undertake maintenance works."

The birds are still breeding!? They still need 'breathing space'. The moorhenlings are still small, and coots hatched on Wandsworth Common just a few days ago...

Hum, it seems most unsympathetic, and I'm finding it very disheartening. I might have to write a letter to Lambeth.