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BOOK NOW FOR BEXLEY RSPB'S OUTDOOR WINTER EVENTS (non-members welcome, but advance booking is essential for anyone who wishes to attend as numbers are limited):The group's December/January walks and make-your-own-way-there car trips, plus a coach trip, are as below. There are currently spaces on each, so please email Ralph Todd on <rbtodd@btinternet.com> to reserve a spot.
5 December - Sidcup Place
14 December - Rainham Marshes
21 December - Wallasea Island
9 January - Lamorbey Park
11 January - Cliffe Pools
18 January - Sevenoaks Wildlife reserve
25 January - Big Garden Birdwatch - Hall Place (no booking required for this one)
26 January - Titchwell COACH TRIP - please email Deborah on deborahfrances@aol.com (cost £23 pp)
For more details and a full list of events through to March 23rd 2025, please go to:
group.rspb.org.uk/bexley/news-blogs/blog/upcoming-events-october-2024-march-2025/
No booking required for indoor meetings - just show up. Refreshments available. Non-members again welcome but pay a slightly higher entrance fee of £5.
Upcoming Events October 2024 - March 2025 - Bexley Local Group
group.rspb.org.uk
Please note that booking is required on all our guided walks, car trips and coach trips. Please refer to the below for how to book a place. No booking is needed for our indoor meeting. To book a place...
VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT FOR MINK MONITORING SCHEME AT THAMES ROAD WETLAND - help protect rare local wildlife from Mink predation !A nationwide scheme to locate and eradicate non-native American Mink (Neogale [formerley Mustela] vison), which have contributed to the parlous state of Water Voles in the UK, as well as attacking other species, is now being rolled out along the River Cray by the Waterlife Recovery Trust.
Thames21 has agreed to install a Mink trap at Thames Road Wetland (TRW), where there is an important population of Water Voles, along with one of only a very few Harvest Mouse colonies in London. North West Kent Countryside Partnership (NWKCP) will be doing likewise at Ruxley Gravel Pits Nature Reserve. It is hoped that traps can be installed elsewhere on the Cray in due course.
If triggered, the trap automatically transmits an alert, with the role of volunteers being to go and check it if this happens. A WhatsApp group will be used for co-ordination purposes so that only one person out of those available at the time needs to go out. The design of the traps ensures that waterbirds rarely enter them. The species most likely to be caught are Water Voles, which will be released, and Brown Rats, which the TRW team has agreed should also be let loose. There is no evidence they are harming Water Voles, and there are so many in the wider landscape that any removed will quickly be replaced by others. Should a Mink be caught then there will be designated people to contact who will kill the animal humanely.
We do not think that there are any Mink at or in the vicinity of TRW at the moment, or that here have been any in the past, but with Mink known to be present on the River Darent, we don't want to take any unnecessary risks.
Ruxley already has enough volunteers, but we need a longer list of people for TRW to make sure that we can cover every alert in reasonable time, for animal welfare reasons.
To volunteer for trap-checking at TRW, please contact Michael at
<michael.oneill@thames21.org.uk>
Ffi about the scheme as a whole, see:
Waterlife Recovery Trust - Saving our native wildlife from the introduced American Mink
www.waterliferecoverytrust.org.uk
Have you seen or caught an American Mink? Please let us know Report Sighting Report Capture Seeking volunteers to host a smart mink raft If you live in Essex, London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire,
DOUBLE DOSE OF FRIENDS OF THE CRAY AT CRAYFORDDue to the amount of rubbish dumped along the river below Crayford, there are two upcoming opportunities to join the friends group in clearing up the resultant mess.
29th November - removing litter from Footpath 106 (not done last month as we were working on 105)
6th December - tackling the fly-tipping at the Maiden Lane end of By-way 105 by the bridge over the Cray, which has long been a favoured location for criminals to dump garbage. Arrangements have been made for the council to take the extracted material away.
Both events will start at the group's usual rendezvous point, which is the junction of Footpath 106 and Barnes Cray Road (see graphic below) as it is easier to park the vehicle carrying the equipment at this location.
All welcome, no particular skills needed.
The necessary equipment will be provided. Wear appropriate clothing for being out in the open and avoiding stings and scratches from Brambles and Nettles, and bring something to drink.
Best wishes
Sarah
NORTH WEST KENT COUNTRYSIDE PARTNERSHIP - DECEMBER CONSERVATION EVENTS AT RUXLEY GRAVEL PITS NATURE RESERVE.The reserve is a SSSI on the Bexley-Bromley border, and normally off-limits to the general public, so besides helping out, this is an opporunity to visit somewhere you may not have seen before.
Wednesday 4th, Thursday 4th and Saturday 14th– Ruxley Gravel Pits, Edgington Way, Orpington, BR5 3HY
We will be clearing scrub and burning the arisings on a bonfire.
Led by: Lucy Sawyer-Boyd (07809 334071)
Meeting Time and Place: 10am at the site (lifts from Hall Place not currently available due to the group's vehicle being under repair).
The gate must be kept locked, if there is no-one there to open it, please call Lucy’s mobile. Follow the track and park underneath the A20. Plenty of parking. Toilets are available at the local Tesco (but it is far from site).
On Saturday 14th we will be working with Kent Wildlife Trust volunteers. Please bring your own refreshments if joining on this day. On this occasion there will be a portaloo on site.
LOCATION:
goo.gl/maps/S2NBZUfT2mTkbgX17
What3words:
Entrance: ///noises.sheet.reject
Parking: ///hopes.gender.gums
Just a quick reminder that any volunteers who plan to meet us on site should let the member of staff leading the task know as soon as possible so that they can pack the correct number of tools and inform them of any task changes/delays that may occur.
If there are any updates or changes with the programme, we will update it regularly on the volunteer page on our website (www.nwkcp.org ). We will also contact the regular volunteers by phone if any last-minute changes to the location of the task happen.
Please remember to bring with you; suitable clothes for the weather conditions, a packed lunch and suitable footwear (we insist working boots with steel toecap and mid sole are worn at all times to comply with health and safety and insurance considerations). We will supply all other equipment, gloves and safety equipment and also hot drinks and biscuits throughout the day.
Each project will be led by a NWKCP member of staff who will be more than happy to answer any questions that you have throughout the day. A health and safety talk will also be given at the beginning of each project. If you are planning to come out on a project for the first time this month then please let us know beforehand which day that will be.
We write a risk assessment for each task day, and a copy of this will be brought to the site and available for you to read if you wish.
51°24'41.7"N 0°07'10.5"E · 51.411583, 0.119583
goo.gl
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If the council said it was going to concrete/tarmac/pave over Danson Park, there would be uproar. But vastly more greenspace/wildlife habitat in the Borough has been lost to cars in recent years.Why the loss of front gardens matters - to cut flood risk, reduce health-harming heat, restore our depleted nature, and raise resilience.
Lunchtime online discussion on Thurs 14 Nov. FREE.
Front gardens on the frontline - CPRE London - Tickets
cpre-london.eventcube.io
Front gardens on the frontline at Tickets and Information
Author Archives: Chris Rose
Crayford Academy pupils get stuck into Thames Road Wetland management work
Sixth-formers from the nearby Crayford Haberdashers Aske’s Academy helped with key winter tasks at Thames Road Wetland on the afternoons of 7th October and 11th November, getting most of the required Reedmace-pulling done in double-quick time and also cutting back … Continue reading
River Shuttle and Bexley Woods bird walk report. 5th November 2015.
RSPB Bexley Group Field Trip – River Shuttle/Bexley Park Woods – Thursday 5th November 2015 A dull, drizzly morning but 22 Group members/Friends of the Shuttle joined Brenda and I for a wander along the River Shuttle (or, as we … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Woods, Bird watching, River Shuttle, RSPB
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SINC questions fail to make the Council cut – written responses awaited
Two questions to Councillor Peter Craske about the progress – or lack of it – on signing off the 2013 Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation Review, failed to beat the guillotine for verbal presentation at Wednesday night’s full Council … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Council, BNEF, development threat, SINC
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No more wind in Mill Willows for now as bridge works result in cutting back
Trees at the Old Mill in Bexley village have been cut back to make way for bridge strengthening works, but River Cray project officer Michael Heath encouraged the landowner to have them pruned/pollarded within the TfL budget rather than removed, … Continue reading
Posted in Trees
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Landowner gives trees the chop in Sidcup SINC
Mature trees by the railway line on Jubilee Way, Sidcup, have been cut down by landowner – who did not bother to consult the Council – despite them falling within the Sidcup rail linesides Site of Importance for Nature Conservation. This … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Council, SINC, Trees
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Erith fish show pervasiveness of plastics problem
International explorer Paul Rose and campaign partners joined environment charity Thames21’s foreshore clean up recently and called on Londoners to “do the right” thing and make sure their rubbish goes in the bin, not in the River Thames. The campaign aims to … Continue reading
Posted in Litter, River Cray, River Shuttle, River Thames, Rivers, Thames21, Volunteering, Welling
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Bird-strikes in Bexleyheath – pictures of Sparrowhawk fatality
Tim Briggs has sent these photos of a Sparrowhawk that recently crashed into his window in Bexleyheath, and didn’t live to tell the tale. Shortly after this event John Arnold forwarded this image of the impression left by a bird-strike … Continue reading
Posted in Bexleyheath, Bird watching
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LNHS experts have identified 132 species of invertebrate on Southern Marsh, including several scarcities
We have just received the final list of invertebrate species found on the southern part of Crossness at Erith Marshes at the joint meeting with Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve on 4th July, compiled by London Natural History Society experts … Continue reading
Crossness winter events diary published – new volunteers welcome!
Crossness (on Erith marshes between Abbey Wood and Belvedere) is a Metropolitan Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, recognised as one of the most important sites for wildlife in London, not just Bexley. It retains that status in part thanks … Continue reading
Bexley Natural Environment Forum statement of support for reduced and more efficient night lighting
Bexley Natural Environment Forum supports Bexley Council’s proposed reduction in night-lighting and the installation of more energy efficient lighting systems both for environmental (light pollution, carbon emissions reductions) reasons and because this is the sort of financial saving that we … Continue reading
Posted in Bats, Bexley Council, BNEF, Environment, Light pollution
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