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Free webinar on improving Bee 'hotel' design with Prof Dave Gouslon.Tuesday, April 22 · 1 - 2pm
Improving Bee Hotel Design: The Big Bee Hotel Experiment
www.eventbrite.co.uk
Join Prof Dave Gouslon to hear about how the Buzz Club are investigating the effectiveness of different bee hotels for UK bees.
CROSSNESS NATURE RESERVE - PROTECTED AREA CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO BREAK-INApologies for the inconvenience that this may cause, but we have experienced another break-in to the Protected Area of the nature reserve and the area is subsequently closed until repairs are made and we are able to open again.
Best wishes
Karen Sutton
Crossness Nature Reserve Manager
HALL PLACE WEIR AND EEL PASS WORK WITH THE NORTH WEST KENT COUNTRYSIDE PARTNERSHIPWednesday 14th May – Hall Place and Gardens, Bourne Road, Bexley, DA5 1PQ
We will be replacing the stop plank in the weir at Hall Place (River Cray) to help prevent flooding. We will also be managing the vegetation on the walls of the structure to prevent damage to the historic brickwork and improve flows through the eel pass.
Led by: Mark Gallant (07740185228)
Meeting Time and Place: 10am in the yard at Hall Place.
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.
SOMETHING EVERYONE IN BEXLEY CAN DO TO HELP SWIFTSPlease write to your MP and ask them to sign Early Day Motion 1065, calling on the government to make Swift nest bricks a legal requirement in new domestic buildings.
Daniel Francis - MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford
Email daniel.francis.mp@parliament.uk
Abena Oppong Asare - MP for Erith and Thamesmead
Email Abena.oppongasare.mp@parliament.uk
Mr Louie French - MP for Old Bexley & Sidcup
Email louie.french.mp@parliament.uk
An EDM is a sort of petition for MPs, designed to generate debate and get things higher up the agenda.
The breeding population of Swifts in the UK has dropped by 60% since 1995. and the species is now red-listed. Loss of nesting sites through building 'modernisation' is thought to be a factor. The number of Swift nesting areas and number of birds in Bexley appears to be stable, but some only have a couple of pairs of birds and it would be good to increase their numbers.
So far the government has only talked about making changes to the planning process. This is likely to be ineffective as companies often fail to act on the conditions attached to planning permissions, and local councils struggle to check compliance and achieve enforcement when this happens.
Key points to make are:
i) Swifts are in serious decline in the UK. Swift nest bricks would help tackle one of the likely reasons for this. Some nesting areas in Bexley only have a couple of pairs of birds, so are at risk of being lost. A number of new buildings have gone up near existing nesting zones in the Borough in recent years, but they lack this key, simple, feature.
ii) The cost would be so small as to be irrelevant.
iii) Making them a straightforward legal requirement will be more effective than relying on the wider planning process, where local authorities already struggle to enforce 'add-on' conditions.
iv) Swifts are an iconic feature of the Bristish summer that everyone should be able to enjoy seeing and hearing, increasing engagement with nature, including in urban areas.
v) Such bricks can be used by other cavity-nesting species..
Swifts will be returning to Bexley from Africa in just over 2 weeks' time. Let's help make sure this continues for years to come .....
Full EDM text here:
edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/63437
At the time of writing (14/4/25) none of the Bexley MPs have signed it.
Chris Rose
edm.parliament.uk
This House notes with concern the dramatic decline in the breeding population of swifts whose numbers have dropped by 60% since 1995; recognises that the loss of natural nesting habitat for swifts and...
THAMES ROAD WETLAND VOLUNTEERS DONATE 568 PERSON-HOURS (living wage rate monetary equivalent £6,498) TO BEXLEY COUNCIL IN LAST SIX MONTHSTwenty two people have volunteered at the various Thames Road Wetland habitat management sessions over the last six months (October-March). These have taken place most Fridays, with Thames21's Michael O'Neill bringing down a van full of equipment once a month, enabling us to get more people into waders and out into the Reed/Reedmace beds for much-needed cutting back in order to maintain areas of open water and floral diversity.
We have now had an electric brushcutter for a year, and this has proved invaluable in getting our small band on top of rampant Reed growth which will otherwise completely dominate and lead to drying out, and also in selective Bramble work.
Whilst four of us have had the luxury of being able to donate a collective 366h 32m onsite, plus 91h 55m of admin time (record-keeping, research, correspondence, planning, reports, managing the site photograph collection, social media work/event promotion) it is important to note that without the combined contribution of the other eighteen people who got involved (109h 30m) 20% of the work would not have got done. So we are always keen to welcome new recruits, whether they can come once, a few times or regularly.
For the past six months, thanks are due to:
Ray, Pamela, Elio, Clare, Ian, Lee, Jim, Ronn, Jonathan, Rachel, Phil, Jonah, Riley, Gavin, Trev and 6 Chinese students from Goldsmith's College.
Taking the National Living Wage rate for the period, Bexley Council, which owns the site, has been the beneficiary of £6,497.92 (568 x £11.44) worth of free labour, although strictly very slightly less, as up to 7 of the volunteers may have been under 21. There is also a considerable amount of experience and expertise involved, which cannot readily be given a financial value.
Total volunteer time is slightly up on the 563h 49m for the seasonally corresponding period of 1/10/23-31/3/24. However, it is significantly higher than for the immediately previous period of 1/4/2024-30/9/2024 when it was 443h 5m. This is a reflection of the greater amount of work done in the winter period to avoid unduly disturbing the wildlfe.
Recent advances include now having a better birder on board, someone doing systematic reptile surveying and a couple of people about to start more regular monitoring of Water Vole occupancy at the site.
Chris Rose. Volunteer Site Manager.
Category Archives: Bird watching
Nuxley Road, Belvedere, a Swift hotspot
There was a spectacular and heart-warming sight of 31 Swifts over the north end of Nuxley Road in Bexley village yesterday evening around half past eight, oftentimes swooping low over the buildings. One can imagine that in the past there … Continue reading
Posted in Belvedere, Bexley, Bird watching
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Crossness Kestrels star on Newsshopper website
The pair of Kestrels breeding at Crossness, which recently featured on ‘BW’, have now made it onto the News Shopper website, complete with further fabulous photos taken by Richard Spink, following some media work by Site Manager Karen Sutton. http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/13354210.PICTURED__Kestrels_have_returned_to_Crossness_nature_reserve__Bexley/ It’s … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley, Bird watching, Crossness Nature Reserve, Raptors
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Danson Park Bird Report May 2015
20+ Swifts over Danson Park as these welcome summer migrants arrive. John Turner provides us with his monthly sightings list for Danson Park. We are always interested in receiving reports s this is how we can compile data for the … Continue reading
Posted in Bird watching, Danson Park
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Turtle Dove or Collared Dove
With occasional summer reports of the rare Turtle Dove in the Bexley area we thought it would be helpful to share this British Trust for ornithology identification video.
Posted in Bird watching
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Little Egret in Foots Cray Meadows
Great photo of Little Egret in Foots Cray Meadows this morning from Joe Johnson. From RSPB: “The little egret is a small white heron with attractive white plumes on crest, back and chest, black legs and bill and yellow feet. … Continue reading
Posted in Bird watching, Foots Cray Meadows
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Helping Turtle Doves
Conservation advice for Turtle Doves. Turtle Doves are occasionally reported in the borough and from nearby Swanley. On June 1st a Turtle Dove was seen in flight over Thamesmead near Morrisons, not far from the Bexley border, by George Kalli. … Continue reading
Posted in Bird watching, Gardening for wildlife
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Some Shuttle wildlife observations, June 4th – another Hairy Dragonfly range expansion?
Call it a bit mercenary, but I helped out on the BETHs stretch clean-up so I could cover a part of the river I’d not done before for the Water Vole survey I’m leading, without having to make special arrangements … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley, Bexley Woods, Bird watching, Butterflies, Crossness, Dragonflies and Damselflies, Friends of the Shuttle, Hollyoak Wood Park, Lamorbey, Marlborough Park, Parish Wood Park, Parks, Plants in Bexley, Raptors, Recording, Reptiles and Amphibians, River Shuttle, Rivers, Sidcup Golf Course, Uncategorized, vegetation management
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Red List for European Birds published
Kingfisher among the Vulnerable species in the new Red Data list for European birds. Download here: https://app.box.com/s/4twiz7ktv58ts6tay2hunt2uwrkgsxss
Posted in Bird watching
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FotS Danson wildlife walk
Six members plus a friend joined me as leader on this late spring wildlife walk organised by Friends of the Shuttle, the wildlife/environment action group in the park, looking primarily at plants, damselflies and birds. Some of the plants of … Continue reading
Kestrel pair caught on camera at Crossness des res
Site manager Karen Sutton writes: Kestrels have returned to breed once again at Crossness! A pair bred in 2010 in the upper compartment of a Barn Owl nest box. Barn owls were breeding in the main compartment, whilst Kestrels took … Continue reading
Posted in Bird watching, Crossness, Crossness Nature Reserve, Erith Marshes, Raptors
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