Local Wildlife Site

Wildlife

The Beverley Brook flows over a gravely bottom and has little aquatic vegetation, but the adjacent strip of vegetation contains trees, shrubs and a good variety of common wild flowers. Trees include several maple species (Acer campestre, A. platanoides, A. pseudoplatanus), while smaller plants include wild angelica (Angelica sylvestris), lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum), red fescue and tall fescue (Festuca rubra , F.arundinacea), hops (Humulus lupulus), bristly oxtongue (Picris echioides), raspberry (Rubus idaeus) and Mexican fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus). Back Green is a small area of amenity grassland surrounded by mature trees. A good variety of common birds use the site including chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch and blackcap. Butterflies include gatekeeper and common blue. In the northern part of this section, the Beverley Brook forms the borough boundary, with the west half of the brook in Kingston. Beyond the Sutton boundary, the brook continues northwards alongside Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Wood as the boundary between Kingston and Merton.