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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.
Category Archives: Volunteering
LWT announces August and early September Braeburn Park workdays
London Wildlife Trust is getting down to work in earnest at its new Braeburn Park reserve to the south of Hall Place, and just up the road from Crayford railway station, offering new conservation volunteering opportunities for people in this … Continue reading
LWT offers training in power tool use and conservation management
Contact person: Shaun Marriott Reserves Officer (South) smarriott@wildlondon.org.uk Mob: 07710 194268 From Mon, 15th until Sun, 21st September London Wildlife Trust will be running the annual residential/camping week, based at Fryland’s Wood Scout camp site, working on some of the … Continue reading
Posted in Education, London Wildlife Trust, Training, Volunteering
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Foots Cray Meadows river habitat enhancement programme continues apace
Thames21 River Cray Project officer Michael Heath writes: Our plan to put the River Cray at Foots Cray Meadows back on the map as a premiere habitat for wildlife, and a natural and recreational feature for the local community, is … Continue reading
Posted in Foots Cray Meadows, Rivers, Volunteering
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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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FoTS@Danson lake clean-up makes a big splash
Yesterday’s (19th June) Friends of the Shuttle-led event to start removing the large accumulation of litter from Danson park lake was a big success, drawing in 23 people, including one from Maze Hill and a couple of attendees from over … Continue reading
Posted in Volunteering
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St. Paul’s Academy help with conservation work
St. Paul’s Academy and Thames21 on the River Cray The Thames21 River Cray Project welcomed students from St Pauls Academy Greenwich on Saturday 1st March to Crayford. The school again joined with Thames21 volunteers at the Lower Cray and cleared … Continue reading
Posted in Thames Road Wetland, Volunteering
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Spring Summer events at Crossness Nature Reserve
Dear Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve, I hope this finds you all well and geared up for Spring/Summer. The bird hide at Crossness is now complete and looking amazing. Although it hasn’t had the official ribbon-cutting opening ceremony yet, it … Continue reading
Posted in Crossness Nature Reserve, Volunteering
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Mammal survey 2014
National charity PTES are conducting another annual mammal survey asking people to observe mammals in their local area. The survey starts on Monday 31st March and all you have to do is spend some time observing a chosen site (such … Continue reading
Posted in Mammals, Volunteering
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Thames21 events to July 2014
Forthcoming Thames 21 practical conservation events in Bexley listed at: http://www.bexleywildlife.org/thames-21-bexley/#comment-14
Posted in Rivers, Volunteering
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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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