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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, including indoor talks, please go to:
group.rspb.org.uk/bexley/news-blogs/blog/upcoming-events-october-2024-march-2025/
No booking is required for the indoor talks - just show up. Refreshments available. Non-members are 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 10a.m. 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
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
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
Michael Heath starts Cray Project blog
Cray Project Officer Michael Heath has started a blog about the Cray River-keeper team’s work. The blog is hosted on the website of Thames21, the organisation he is employed by to help manage the volunteer effort to clean up the … Continue reading
Posted in Cray Riverkeepers, River Cray, Thames21, Volunteering
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Shuttle team clears 10 sacks of rubbish from river
Friends of the Shuttle met on 9 October 2014 and carried out a successful litter pick along a stretch of the river between Crofton Avenue and Penhill Road. The group collected 10 bags of assorted rubbish (including 5 bags of … Continue reading
Posted in River Shuttle, Rivers, Volunteering
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Great Skuas and Little Gulls off Bexley. Redwing influx gets underway.
Mike Robinson who frequently covers the Thames path in the Crossness area, spotted three dark coloured birds midstream on October 13th. Alerting Bexley birdwatchers, he went on to say ‘The pictures are awful but I’m inclined to think the birds … Continue reading
Posted in Bird watching, River Thames
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East Wickham Open Space species records for 2014
Moira Scottow of East Wickham Conservation Volunteers has circulated a list of species recorded at the site this year, compiled by team member Del. There is an array of trees, scrub and seed-bearing plants, so a good list of birds … Continue reading
Date set for road bridges meeting
Transport for London is promoting the idea of two road bridges across the Thames into Bexley. As previously announced here (see October 7th posting) London Assembly member Darren Johnson AM (Green Party) will host a public meeting on river crossings. … Continue reading
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Bexley Council jacks housing-building numbers five-fold – with little regard for sustainability or transparency
Hands up who has noticed that the Council has increased the number of additional houses it thinks could (read should) be built in the Borough from 4,545 by 2026, with 438 of these in Belvedere, to 22,000, with 11,000 in … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Council, BNEF, Erith Quarry, Housing targets, Planning, Sustainability, Thames bridges
Tagged House-building, Housing targets
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Crossness records preview: July – Sept 2014
Ahead of the next Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve newsletter, a preview of the site’s summer records has now been received from Manager Karen Sutton. Thanks are due to volunteer Roger Taylor for spreadsheeting the raw data. Insect highlights were … Continue reading
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Roads to Nowhere campaigner conference 2014
Of interest to anti-road bridge, anti putative Bexley by-pass and anti ever more traffic campaigners, and those looking for positive alternatives: On 18 October Better Transport is hosting a training conference for anyone who wants to stop a new wave … Continue reading
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Meeting for anti-east London road bridge campaigners / Boris answers on river crossing matters
London Assembly member Darren Johnson AM (Green Party) will host a public meeting at City Hall on river crossings in November. To register your interest, please e-mail “Rachel Carlill” <Rachel.Carlill@london.gov.uk> and put ‘register’ in the subject line. Through this meeting … Continue reading
Posted in Belvedere, Bexley Council, BNEF, GLA, Planning, Sustainability, Thames bridges, Thamesmead
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Ragged Robins, Red Admiral and Wigeon at Danson
I came across two flowering Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) by the rock garden pond at Danson Park today, which according to GiGL’s database is only the second site for it in the Borough, the other having been Foots Cray Meadows … Continue reading