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FRIENDS OF THE CRAY AT CRAYFORDLitter removal and selective vegetation managment along Footpath 106 or By-way 105.
Next session Friday 2nd August.
Meet 10 am, corner of Barnes Cray Road and Footpath 106 (see graphic attached).
Equipment provided. Wear appropriate clothing for being out in the open, avoiding scratches and stings and excessive sun exposure, and bring something to drink.
Best wishes
Sarah
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.
Author Archives: jonathanrooks1@outlook.com
SINC Review – comments from Crossness
Specific site comments that you might like to make regarding certain SINCS from our colleagues at Crossness Nature Reserve. These have been submitted, but if you can make similar comments on sites you know, it can only help. Details on … Continue reading
Posted in Planning, SINC
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Toads on roads
We don’t have any significant toad sites in Bexley (as far as I am aware) where we need a Toad patrol to help toads across roads, but colleagues may find toads that have been squashed on their migration to breeding … Continue reading
Posted in Reptiles and Amphibians
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Borough review of Sites of Interest for Nature conservation
SITES OF IMPORTANCE FOR NATURE CONSERVATION – PUBLIC CONSULTATION YOUR CHANCE TO SUPPORT HOMES FOR NATURE IN BEXLEY Chris Rose, Vice-chair Bexley Natural Environment Forum (BNEF) What’s happening: The review of SINCs highlighted in a previous BRSPB newsletter has now … Continue reading
Site under development
This site, which is maintained by the charity Greener Bexley is being set up to aid Bexley based conservation groups promote their sites and activities. For further information during this stage, please email Jonathan Rooks on JonathanRooks@virginmedia.com
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Local conservationists work with the sow thistle recognised in Lost In London magazine.
Local conservationist Chris Rose has been managing the Thames Road Wetland for some years now and has worked with others to grow the endangered marsh sow thistle and reintroduce it to the site. It is now, no longer extinct in London. The … Continue reading
Threat to local marshes – opportunity to comment on Norman Road planning application
PROTECTING CROSSNESS NATURE RESERVE – HOW YOU CAN HELP What’s happening? The former electricity sub-station site along Norman Road, adjoining the south-east corner of the northern part of the marshes, has been divided into four sections, each of which will … Continue reading
Posted in Crossness Nature Reserve, Planning
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