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BOOK NOW FOR BEXLEY RSPB'S OUTDOOR WINTER EVENTS (non-members welcome, but advance booking is essential for anyone who wishes to attend as numbers are limited):The group's December/January walks and make-your-own-way-there car trips, plus a coach trip, are as below. There are currently spaces on each, so please email Ralph Todd on <rbtodd@btinternet.com> to reserve a spot.
5 December - Sidcup Place
14 December - Rainham Marshes
21 December - Wallasea Island
9 January - Lamorbey Park
11 January - Cliffe Pools
18 January - Sevenoaks Wildlife reserve
25 January - Big Garden Birdwatch - Hall Place (no booking required for this one)
26 January - Titchwell COACH TRIP - please email Deborah on deborahfrances@aol.com (cost £23 pp)
For more details and a full list of events through to March 23rd 2025, including indoor talks, please go to:
group.rspb.org.uk/bexley/news-blogs/blog/upcoming-events-october-2024-march-2025/
No booking is required for the indoor talks - just show up. Refreshments available. Non-members are again welcome but pay a slightly higher entrance fee of £5.
Upcoming Events October 2024 - March 2025 - Bexley Local Group
group.rspb.org.uk
Please note that booking is required on all our guided walks, car trips and coach trips. Please refer to the below for how to book a place. No booking is needed for our indoor meeting. To book a place...
VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT FOR MINK MONITORING SCHEME AT THAMES ROAD WETLAND - help protect rare local wildlife from Mink predation !A nationwide scheme to locate and eradicate non-native American Mink (Neogale [formerley Mustela] vison), which have contributed to the parlous state of Water Voles in the UK, as well as attacking other species, is now being rolled out along the River Cray by the Waterlife Recovery Trust.
Thames21 has agreed to install a Mink trap at Thames Road Wetland (TRW), where there is an important population of Water Voles, along with one of only a very few Harvest Mouse colonies in London. North West Kent Countryside Partnership (NWKCP) will be doing likewise at Ruxley Gravel Pits Nature Reserve. It is hoped that traps can be installed elsewhere on the Cray in due course.
If triggered, the trap automatically transmits an alert, with the role of volunteers being to go and check it if this happens. A WhatsApp group will be used for co-ordination purposes so that only one person out of those available at the time needs to go out. The design of the traps ensures that waterbirds rarely enter them. The species most likely to be caught are Water Voles, which will be released, and Brown Rats, which the TRW team has agreed should also be let loose. There is no evidence they are harming Water Voles, and there are so many in the wider landscape that any removed will quickly be replaced by others. Should a Mink be caught then there will be designated people to contact who will kill the animal humanely.
We do not think that there are any Mink at or in the vicinity of TRW at the moment, or that here have been any in the past, but with Mink known to be present on the River Darent, we don't want to take any unnecessary risks.
Ruxley already has enough volunteers, but we need a longer list of people for TRW to make sure that we can cover every alert in reasonable time, for animal welfare reasons.
To volunteer for trap-checking at TRW, please contact Michael at
<michael.oneill@thames21.org.uk>
Ffi about the scheme as a whole, see:
Waterlife Recovery Trust - Saving our native wildlife from the introduced American Mink
www.waterliferecoverytrust.org.uk
Have you seen or caught an American Mink? Please let us know Report Sighting Report Capture Seeking volunteers to host a smart mink raft If you live in Essex, London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire,
DOUBLE DOSE OF FRIENDS OF THE CRAY AT CRAYFORDDue to the amount of rubbish dumped along the river below Crayford, there are two upcoming opportunities to join the friends group in clearing up the resultant mess.
29th November - removing litter from Footpath 106 (not done last month as we were working on 105)
6th December - tackling the fly-tipping at the Maiden Lane end of By-way 105 by the bridge over the Cray, which has long been a favoured location for criminals to dump garbage. Arrangements have been made for the council to take the extracted material away.
Both events will start at 10a.m. at the group's usual rendezvous point, which is the junction of Footpath 106 and Barnes Cray Road (see graphic below) as it is easier to park the vehicle carrying the equipment at this location.
All welcome, no particular skills needed.
The necessary equipment will be provided. Wear appropriate clothing for being out in the open and avoiding stings and scratches from Brambles and Nettles, and bring something to drink.
Best wishes
Sarah
NORTH WEST KENT COUNTRYSIDE PARTNERSHIP - DECEMBER CONSERVATION EVENTS AT RUXLEY GRAVEL PITS NATURE RESERVE.The reserve is a SSSI on the Bexley-Bromley border, and normally off-limits to the general public, so besides helping out, this is an opporunity to visit somewhere you may not have seen before.
Wednesday 4th, Thursday 4th and Saturday 14th– Ruxley Gravel Pits, Edgington Way, Orpington, BR5 3HY
We will be clearing scrub and burning the arisings on a bonfire.
Led by: Lucy Sawyer-Boyd (07809 334071)
Meeting Time and Place: 10am at the site (lifts from Hall Place not currently available due to the group's vehicle being under repair).
The gate must be kept locked, if there is no-one there to open it, please call Lucy’s mobile. Follow the track and park underneath the A20. Plenty of parking. Toilets are available at the local Tesco (but it is far from site).
On Saturday 14th we will be working with Kent Wildlife Trust volunteers. Please bring your own refreshments if joining on this day. On this occasion there will be a portaloo on site.
LOCATION:
goo.gl/maps/S2NBZUfT2mTkbgX17
What3words:
Entrance: ///noises.sheet.reject
Parking: ///hopes.gender.gums
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.
51°24'41.7"N 0°07'10.5"E · 51.411583, 0.119583
goo.gl
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
If the council said it was going to concrete/tarmac/pave over Danson Park, there would be uproar. But vastly more greenspace/wildlife habitat in the Borough has been lost to cars in recent years.Why the loss of front gardens matters - to cut flood risk, reduce health-harming heat, restore our depleted nature, and raise resilience.
Lunchtime online discussion on Thurs 14 Nov. FREE.
Front gardens on the frontline - CPRE London - Tickets
cpre-london.eventcube.io
Front gardens on the frontline at Tickets and Information
Category Archives: RSPB
Report of Bexley RSPB bird walk, Lesnes Abbey Woods, March 11th 2017
Ralph and Brenda Todd report on the birds and other wildlife seen in Abbey woods at Bexley RSPB’s walk on 11th March. Comments are made about the condition of the heathland and wildflower areas, much of the credit for which … Continue reading
Bexley RSPB members see Cattle Egret on Rainham visit
Having the Rainham RSPB reserve just over the water from Crayford Marshes increases the prospects of rarities turning up on our side of the river. Bexley RSPB members visiting on December 17th were delighted they got to see a Cattle … Continue reading
Posted in Bird watching, RSPB
Tagged Bexley RSPB, Cattle Egret, Pintail, Rainham Marshes
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Bexley RSPB Foots Cray Meadows 6th December bird walk – report
Ralph and Brenda Todd report on the 6th December Bexley RSPB bird walk at Foots Cray Meadows, which attracted several members new to the group’s outdoor meetings. 28 species were seen including Little Egret, Kingfisher and Gadwall. http://www.bexleywildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/RSPB-Bexley-Group-Walk-Foots-Cray-Meadows-December-2016.pdf
Bexley RSPB – report of Danson bird walk, October 27th
An illustrated report from Ralph and Brenda Todd of birds seen on the Bexley RSPB walk around Danson Park on 27th October: http://www.bexleywildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/RSPB-Bexley-Group-walk-Danson-Park-October-2016.pdf
Posted in Bird watching, Danson Park, RSPB
Tagged Bexley, Bexley RSPB, birdwatching, Brenda Todd, Danson Park, Kingfisher, Ralph Todd, Yellow-legged Gull
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Bexley RSPB visit to Thames Road Wetland
Just 6 of us turned out early on a dull morning with rain forecast, for a walk down the river Cray from Crayford town centre and around Thames Road Wetland, but it’s probably about the best number for keeping people … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley, Bird watching, Crayford, Plants in Bexley, Reedbeds, River Cray, River Wansunt, Rivers, RSPB, Thames Road Wetland
Tagged Bexley RSPB, River Cray, Thames Road Wetland
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River Shuttle and Bexley Woods bird walk report. 5th November 2015.
RSPB Bexley Group Field Trip – River Shuttle/Bexley Park Woods – Thursday 5th November 2015 A dull, drizzly morning but 22 Group members/Friends of the Shuttle joined Brenda and I for a wander along the River Shuttle (or, as we … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Woods, Bird watching, River Shuttle, RSPB
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Bexley RSPB: programme of local bird walks
The Bexley group of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is by far and away the largest wildlife/nature group in the Borough, so encouraging its members and other local residents to take a keener interest in the value … Continue reading
Key wildlife legislation needs your support – Birds and Habitats protections under threat from narrow-minded view of ‘progress’
The EU Birds and Habitats directives, which have done much to at least slow the tide of wildlife destruction in this country and abroad, are under threat from ‘revision’ at the hands of the EU Commission President who wants to … Continue reading
Posted in Consultations, development threat, Environment, RSPB
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Fears for Bexley’s iconic summer birds – House Martin survey underway
Can you help conserve Swifts and House Martins? Following on from the piece about Swift’s in this week’s News Shopper, Ralph Todd has submitted the following piece to the paper. If you know of Swift aggregations or House Martin nesting … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley, Bird watching, RSPB
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Crossness boss hopes for patter of tiny Pochard feet
Karen Sutton, Crossness Nature Reserve Site Manager and Thames Water Biodiversity Team Leader is hoping Pochard ducklings will be amongst the new arrivals at the site this spring, after Richard Spink took an excellent photo of a pair of these … Continue reading
Posted in Bird watching, Crossness Nature Reserve, RSPB
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