The Mammal Society is launching the Mammal Watch South East
(MaWSE) project at Wildwood Trust in Kent this coming Saturday (17th May), and has confirmed to Bexley Natural Environment Forum that the geographical scope includes 10k grid squares TQ57 and TQ67 which cover the Borough of Bexley.
Co-incidentally, BNEF Vice-chair Chris Rose has started work on a ‘Provisional checklist of the mammals of the London Borough of Bexley’ in order to pull together existing knowledge about the distribution of these species in our area. It is hoped that this will aid the targeting of work to improve our limited understanding of the subject.
One of the species that he and the MaWSE project are particularly interested in is Harvest Mice (a Biodiversity Action Plan subject), and Crossness Nature Reserve Manager Karen Sutton has furnished some basic Barn Owl pellet analysis which suggested that Harvest Mice were presented on Erith Marshes in 2005/6 – although this was not confirmed by a more meticulous study of 2011 pellets. Looking for Harvest Mouse nest remains in early winter is therefore something that wildlife enthusiasts in Bexley may be interested in getting involved with in order to try and settle the present/absent question.
More generally, if anyone reading this is, or has recently been doing, small mammal trapping or Bat recording work in Bexley, please get in touch.
THE PROJECT
The MaWSE project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is engaging the public in a variety of ways in mammal monitoring and conservation. This will help us to obtain more records of mammals in the South East, in order to paint a more accurate picture of their distribution in a South East Mammal Atlas.
Surveys: Take part in our surveys that have been designed with species experts Smartphone app: Download ‘Mammal Tracker’ for free to identify and submit mammal records
Camera traps: Borrow one through our loan scheme to discover elusive mammals near you
Website: Find out how to identify mammal species and network with others interested in mammals on our website, at www.mammal.org.uk/mawse
Motion-sensor camera trap picture of Rabbits at Thames Road Wetland
