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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
Holes for Hedgehogs
I am going to be making a hole at ground level in the fences either side of my garden this weekend in support of the PTES campaign, Hedgehog Street. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a hedgehog in my garden, … Continue reading
Posted in Gardens, Mammals
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Birds in Sidcup report January to June 2014
Bird sightings in the Sidcup area in the last six months collected by Ian Stewart available now at: https://app.box.com/s/phhkwhx6y408fhwyzh1j
Posted in Bird watching
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‘Consultation’ on destruction of important Erith Quarry wildlife site
The former Erith Quarry site, ‘the last great wilderness in Bexley’, is a Grade 1 Bexley Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, but is now under threat of being built on. It has been damaged in the past by inappropriate … Continue reading
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Butterfly Survey 2014
Each year conservation charity Butterfly conservation undertake a citizen survey with people reporting the butterflies they see. here is this year’s survey form. You can download a copy of the survey form here: You can read more about the work … Continue reading
Posted in Butterflies, Recording, Volunteering
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Next BNEF meeting is a walk around important sites in Bexley Village
Next BNEF meeting Wednesday 23rd July As Bexley Natural Environment Forum plans to have a rather more informal meeting and a stroll around in Bexley, there is not a formal agenda for the meeting. As a reminder of the details. We … Continue reading
Posted in BNEF
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Bexley Bird Report – January- June 2014
The new report of birds recorded in Bexley is available on our Birds in Bexley page. http://www.bexleywildlife.org/bird-watching-bexley/
Posted in Bird watching, Recording
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Weather and Climate reports for April 2014
Globally, April 2014 tied with April 2010 as warmest on record. Prime Meridian is published as part the outreach programme of the Ecospheres Project – Earth Campaign. prime-meridian01@hotmail.com http://www.ecospheresproject.wordpress.com/
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Helping researchers into Toad and Frog parasites.
Specimens of toad fly needed. The toad fly, Lucilia bufonivora, is recognised as an obligate parasite (meaning that’s all it eats) of toads and frogs in Britain and Europe; it causes considerable suffering to infested host amphibians. Infestations typically begin … Continue reading
Posted in Recording, Reptiles and Amphibians
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Danson Park Records May 2014
John Turner’s records for his regular visits to Danson Park. We are always interested in receiving reports of sightings from locations in Bexley, either in report form such as John’s (Excel spreadsheet) or as postings direct to our Bexley Wildlife … Continue reading
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