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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
Bumblebees out early
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Most exceptional winter for 248 years.
Latest issue of Prime Meridian, a newsletter covering weather and environment in the south-east reveals the extent of the extreme weather this past winter and the links to climate change. London is very dependent for protection on the Thames Barrier, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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EU to agree on legislation on Invasive Species?
We have plenty of problems with invasive plants in Bexley, Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed and some wetland species. Umbrella conservation group Birdlife report on how the EU law to address Invasive Alien Species is high on the policy agenda in … Continue reading
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Zero Carbon Britain event 9th April
A regular discussion I have with people is about how we can actually change the way we live (without knitting our own muesli!) and reduce if not eliminate carbon emissions. ‘Zero Carbon Britain: Rethinking the Future’ is the flagship research … Continue reading
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Amphibians, reptiles and butterflies seen in first warm weekend
Amphibians are turning up in ponds now and withy the warm weekend 8/9th March there should now be a lot of activity. There is a good amount of Frog spawn in my pond. There are three newts in the Borough, … Continue reading
Posted in Reptiles and Amphibians
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London Marsh Frog Survey
The London Amphibian and Reptile Group (LARG) has obtained permission to survey the ponds at various central London parks for Marsh Frogs. Although not in Bexley, local conservationists might be interested in getting involved Weekends, meeting at the park location … Continue reading
Posted in Reptiles and Amphibians
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National survey on attitudes to reptiles and amphibians.
We love them! National charity Froglife has a survey finishing next week sking for people’s attitudes towards reptiles and amphibians. The survey is coming to an end on the 14th of March. They are asking people what they think about snakes, … Continue reading
Posted in Reptiles and Amphibians
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Lesnes Abbey volunteering programme 2014
All LACV events are free to attend The events start behind the information centre near Lesnes Abbey at noon, finishing about 3:30pm. All ages & abilities are welcome, to find out more about free Lesnes Abbey Conservation events phone 02083103033 … Continue reading
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Bird report June to December 2013
Latest Birds in Bexley report, covering June 2013 to December 2013 compiled by Ralph Todd in our Birds in Bexley page at http://wp.me/P4kqWs-2q
Posted in Bird watching
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Garden Wildlife Health project
Garden Wildlife Health moves in to its second year – a citizen science project, GWH is monitoring the health of British garden wildlife. It investigates infectious diseases as well as toxicity, trauma and predation. How you can help: – if you … Continue reading
Posted in Recording, Volunteering
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