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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
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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
RSPB Bexley Group Field Trip – Crayford Marshes Thursday 24th September 2015
Avocet the highlight as rain gives way to sun on Bexley RSPB Crayford marshes visit. It was raining hard at 8am, raining at 9am, cloudy 10am and brilliant warm sunshine 11am – surprisingly 6 members arrived to join us for … Continue reading
Posted in Bird watching, Crayford Marshes, River Thames
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What do we know about the status of our wildlife? Free lecture series.
Ecology and Conservation Studies Society, Birkbeck Free Lecture series. Autumn 2015: six Friday evenings, Oct 9th to Nov 13th, 18:30 to 20:00. Birkbeck, University of London, Lecture Theatre B36, downstairs at the Torrington Square entrance. In Britain we have a long and … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Environment, Recording
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Thames21 team brave rain to clear river and plan Thames Road Wetland work
Cray River project boss Michael Heath, Chris Rose, Ray, Ron Pearson and Wren Rose turned out for a planning meeting at Thames Road Wetland on Wednesday 16th, despite the persistent rain, but first cleared a blockage of rubbish in the … Continue reading
Dr. Livingstone moment at Danson as early Shoveler plays tricks on the mind
Yesterday’s trip to Danson Park (Sept 18th) was prompted both by news of baby Newts trying to exit the Old English Garden pond (see separate post) and also Ian Stewart’s London Bird Club wiki report of a pair of Gadwall … Continue reading
Posted in Bird watching, Danson Park, Parks, Recording
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Newt rescue at Danson Park
Thanks to an alert from John Arnold, I was able to rescue 50 baby – almost certainly Smooth (and not Palmate) – newts from the pond in the Danson Park Old English Garden yesterday (Sept 18th). I have looked for … Continue reading
Joanne Bradley’s back ….. back again – this time working on the T21 Thames River Watch project
After spells as River Shuttle Co-ordinator and then general Education Officer, Bexleyheath resident Joanne is back on the staff of the Thames21 waterways charity again, this time delivering training and education for the Thames River Watch project. Joanne left a … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Environment, River Thames, Rivers
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Next ‘Bexley Wildlife’ social to be held Wednesday October 14th
After the success of our first event, the ‘Bexley Wildlife’ team (a web platform collaboration between Bexley Natural Environment Forum and the Greener Bexley Charity) are pleased to invite ‘followers’ and other interested people to join us at another social … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley, Bexley Wildlife social events, BNEF
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GLA committee seeks views on ‘growth’ vz environment – by 18th September
The Greater London Assembly Environment Committee is seeking evidence on the environmental pressures of London’s growth, focussing on: Energy supply, demand and distribution Water management Green infrastructure Deadline Friday 18th September. For details see: http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly/london-assembly/investigations/environmental-pressures-of-londons-growth There are already several examples … Continue reading
Thames Road ‘dryland’ is nursery for little Lizards
When is the best time for Common Lizard-watching? Probably now – the weather isn’t too hot and can be changeable, plus the year’s crop of babies are very keen to come out and bask rather more obviously than their parents. … Continue reading
Southern Marsh is Migrant Hawker heaven. Solitary Southern Hawker takes area to equal first with FCM on 15 Odonata species.
I counted some 40 to 44 Migrant Hawker dragonflies (Aeshna mixta) on the southern part of Erith Marshes yesterday afternoon (September 11th) , largely feeding along tall ‘hedge lines’ of Poplars and other tree species. This is an easy species … Continue reading