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THAMES ROAD WETLAND (Inner Crayford Marshes) - THE WORK GOES ON.Our last report was way back on 12th April. We're usually out every Friday, but tiredness and a loss of motivation from yours truly, plus some rainy days, have reduced our levels of activity over the last quarter.
Repeat summer cutting of areas of Reed we are trying to supress has continued. Where this has got taller than we'd hoped, we have watched and listened first to ensure no Reed Warbler usage. We have been able to cut some patches often enough for there to be no danger of nesting birds using them.
Dates, work done and selected wildlife sightings have been as follows:
19/4 - Re-pollarded small Sallows. Dug out road run-off muck from 'crap-trap'. Path work. Slender Thistles outside fenceline in flower. Bur-chervil in flower. Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Small White. Large Red Damselfly, Reed Warblers back.
17/5 - Re-packed Bug Hotels with dead hollow plant stems. Re-cutting main path. Litter removal. In flower: swathe of Wild Clary (Salvia verbenaca), Bee Orchid, Brookweed, Flag Iris, Early Forget-me-Not, Hound's-tongue. Adult Cinnabar Moth, Ashy Mining Bee. 1 x Painted Lady, Peacock, Red Admiral, 2 Holly Blue, single Small Heath. Lizards. 1 Greenfinch heard. Chiffchaff.
14/6 - Re-cutting area of Reed at foot of Thames Road bank with brushcutter, and Reed at west end by scythe. Raking and stacking silt and cut material. Cutting off Giant Hogweed flower heads. Re-cutting sections of main path. Selective cutting back of vegetation where now shading reptile basking sites. Pyramidal Orchids in flower. 18 plants with 23 flower spikes (vz 7 with 12 on 17/6/23). Lots of Hemlock Water Dropwort in flower and one Monkey Flower (Mimulus guttatus). Banded Demoiselle and Azure Damselfly.
28/6 - Reed cutting. Path work. Wild Carrots and Hop Sedges in flower. Small Tortoiseshell, 1st Gatekeeper of season. A few Lizards. Water Rail heard, suggesting possible breeding.
12/7 - Re-cut Reed at west end with brushcutter and by hand with scythes. Some path and Lizard basking site work. More Giant Hogweed beheaded (The fire of 2022 caused a few new ones to come up. Since all the Cray area plants appear to flower once and die, they usually think their job is done if you cut off the flowerhead even though the seeds haven't ripened, and they therefore die without reproducing). First Marsh Sow-thistle flowers of season out. Marsh Woundwort in flower. Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma, a few Gatekeepers. 3 or 4 Blue-tailed Damselflies. A few Lizards out.
A complaint has been submitted to the Council about the large amount of litter / fragmented plastics along the Thames Road site fence that never seem to get cleared up, and that fact that a strimmer gang recently went over it all, unhelpfully chopping up the material into even smaller pieces.
For assistance during this period I thank fellow volunteers Ray, Pamela, Clare, Elio, Ian, Alex, Sarah, Lee, Verity and Rory. There was Thames21 staff support from Michael O'Neill on 14/6 and 12/7.
Chris Rose. Volunteer Site Manager.
WOODLANDS FARM (SHOOTERS HILL) BAT SURVEY DATE CONFIRMED.Thank you to everyone who got back to me to confirm which date they could do for the Bat Survey. I can confirm that we shall be sticking with the original date of Thursday 25th July. Meeting in the yard at 9.15pm. So hope to see you there, please bring a bat detector if you have one, and a torch.
Also a reminder that the Big Butterfly Count season has started until beginning of August. So why not pop down to the farm on a sunny day (if we have any!) and record what butterflies you see for 15 minutes. Then either write in the Bird Book in Mess or send me the info. All the information and ID sheets are available from the
Butterfly Conservation Trust bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/
Hannah Ricketts
Education Officer
The Woodlands Farm Trust
331 Shooters Hill
Welling
Kent
DA16 3RP
Tel: 0208 3198900
Website: www.thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org
NORTH AMERICAN VAGRANT SPOTTED AT CROSSNESS.A Franklin's Gull was found at Crossness yesterday (13/7/2024) by Conrad Ellam, a member of the Friends Group. Thanks to @stormcabbirds for permission to reproduce his 'X' post with photos here.
This is an uncommon species from Canada and the northern USA, which migrates to South America, occasionally showing up in western Europe.
There is currently some debate as to whether it's the third, or possibly second record for London. It is certainly the second for Crossness, since one was also seen here in April 2000.
State of the UK's Invertebrates Virtual SymposiumHugely important subject.
Online event.
Friday, July 19 · 10am - 1pm
Non-professional attendees asked to pay what you can afford (minimum fee of £1, recommended donation £10)
State of the UK's Invertebrates Virtual Symposium
www.eventbrite.co.uk
Join us for a knowledge-sharing event about the state of the UK's invertebrate populations.
Author Archives: jonathanrooks1@outlook.com
Local Wildlife Sites under threat nationally.
A report by the Wildlife Trusts nationally warns that Local Wildlife Sites not protected by statute are being ruined by development. A 10th damaged or lost in the last five years. Identified as crucial in their own right or as … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Council, Open spaces, Planning
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Danson bird records November 2014
Mediterranean Gull rare record for Danson Park. 05/11/2014 12/11/2014 24/28/11/2014 a.m. a.m. p.m. Great-crested Grebe 3 3 1 Little Grebe 4 4 2 Cormorant 4 4 5 Heron 4 4 1 Little Egret Mute Swan 5 5 5 Canada … Continue reading
Posted in Bird watching
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Lesnes Abbey project latest newsletter
This is the online newsletter distributed by the project team and includes a link to an online magazine about the project at http://bit.ly/12WqGqH ********* Dig, Demolish, Deliver Lights are out, services switched off and the archaeologist is standing by as both … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Council
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Weather reports for September and October 2014
Is the climate juggernaut unstoppable? The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has laid out disturbing predictions for climate change during this Century. “Human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent anthropogenic* emissions of greenhouse gases are the highest … Continue reading
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Bexley Council asks residents to sponsor trees
Street trees are shown to have positive impacts on health, wildlife and property values. Unfortunately many trees planted by the council fail. It is reported that the Council will plant trees when they are ‘sponsored’. Hopefully this is in addition … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Identifying sparrows
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has produced a handy little video to help identify British sparrows and sparrow like birds. Distinguish between House Sparrows, Tree Sparrows and similar looking birds. Additional information and call guides are at the website http://www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id/bird-id-common-sparrows-reed-bunting?dm_i=IG4,2XFPA,H7T58M,AKQU2,1
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Campaign for an Act to protect nature.
The RSPB together with the 47 Wildlife Trusts have produced a document that is an initial discussion of the proposal that as we depend upon the natural world, this should be recognised in law. The Nature and Welfare Act is being … Continue reading
Posted in Parks, Planning, Sustainability
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Even small scale tree felling can disrupt bat populations
A five year study into bat behavior in an Oxfordshire wood reveals how bats regularly move roost sites every few days. The study confirmed that bats “move house” every few days, but usually to another roost site nearby. Dr Fiona … Continue reading
Posted in Erith Quarry
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Thames21 celebrates 10th anniversay
Thames21 who lead on a number of river conservation projects in the Borough have released a film to mark their 10th anniversary.
Posted in Rivers
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Climate report for September 2014
Latest Prime Meridian newsletter covering weather and climate, globally and locally, for September 2014. Latest Prime Meridian newsletter covering weather and climate, globally and locally, for September 2014. This issue pays particular attention to the failure to keep global temperature rises below … Continue reading
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