Our Facebook Posts
Guided Bat walk, Danson Park. 10/5/24.www.facebook.com/FriendsofDansonPark/posts/pfbid02ry29xhKQNrwbjv8mrLjYzpY99N4L61446BrL5nsF6vnAR1e...Our next guided bat walk is open for bookings.
Friday 10 May at 8 pm at Danson Stables carpark
Adults £5
Accompanied children free
These are normally oversubscribed, so please email friendsofdansonpark@gmail.com or text 07596 657763 to book your place.
RECYCLING FOR CHARITY EVENTby Wasteless Market.
Wednesday 15th May, 13.00-15.00
Bexleyheath Library, Townley Road, Bexleyheath
We will be collecting hard-to recycle packaging in aid of charity as part of the Eco-Library tour - a monthly drop-in session where you can discuss and get ideas for sustainable living.
Please check the list of acceptable items below, as these do change. All packaging must be flat, empty and sorted into the categories shown.
For every kg collected £1 is donated to charity (apart from the blister packs). Charities supported are: Kent & London Air Ambulance; Pathfinder Guide Dogs; Against Breast Cancer and Mind in Bexley.
Biscuit, cake & cracker packets
Bras - any condition
Bread & bakery product wrappers - only plastic
Cheese packets - clean & dry please
Dishwasher tablet pouches & household wipe packaging (no other types of wipe please)
Broken Food storage boxes & reusable plastic drinking bottles
Laundry pod pouches
Medicine blister packs
Plastic Milk bottle tops (washed and dried please)
Used postage stamps
Pringles tubes - no lids - squashed flat please
Printer cartridges (inkjet only)
Medicine blister pack recycling incurs a cost for us - if you would like to support us with the cost of this scheme, or to make a donation towards our work, please visit our localgiving page at localgiving.org/charity/Wasteless-market/
Thank you!
Wasteless Community Hub Ltd | Localgiving
localgiving.org
We believe that local is better. By connecting grassroots organisations with donations, fundraising and grants plus resources and support, we are proud to help thousands of UK community groups do amaz...
THAMES21 - TARGETED HIMALAYAN BALSAM ERADICATION PROGRAMME ON RIVER CRAY.** Revised schedule with date changes**
A couple of the proposed Friday sessions have now been changed to Saturdays, which will hopefully enable people to join in who are not able to make weekdays.
Past attempts to tackle the plentiful Himalayan Balsam on the Cray have jumped around from one location to another, with no sustained effort working from upstream downward. Consequently, plants removed from lower down the river can simply be replaced by seed washed down from further up. Balsam seed only remains viable for a couple of years, so a more disciplined approach could start to clear the river of it.
Michael O'Neill will be leading 6 events in total over this spring and summer period, 3 on the upper stretch of the affected Cray, 3 on the next stretch down.
The upper stretch being from Water Lane off North Cray Road, down to Old Bexley Village, the lower stretch being from Old Bexley Village to the confluence of the river Shuttle, next to Dartfordians Rugby Club.
Dates and links are given below for both the Thames21 website (which carries background details) and for the Plinth event sign up pages.
Please send these dates on to your contacts if you think they would be interested in getting involved, either as a volunteer or to coordinate control works on the Cray river. Any questions, please do let me know.
Here are the links:
Booking:
2nd event - Friday 03/5/24
book.plinth.org.uk/e/m2F8e62NkwUwurdy4diJ
3rd event - NOW Saturday 25/5/24
book.plinth.org.uk/e/i0JY9SORp1q0JstoVRTF
4th event - NOW Saturday 1/6/24
book.plinth.org.uk/e/gpVVKbNti5oxiuP8lmZg
5th event (London Rivers Week) Friday 21/6/24
book.plinth.org.uk/e/S1vEqb7sJoztovKqWxvg
6th event - Friday 5/7/24
book.plinth.org.uk/e/04q3NEldqncXlKLf5H1K
Further info:
www.thames21.org.uk/event/cray-river-balsam-blitz-2/
(2nd Event) - same background details apply to 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th events.
Kind regards
Michael O'Neill
Engagement Officer
M +44 (0)7597584363 www.thames21.org.uk
BARNEHURST SWIFT NESTING AREA - earliest recorded return date.Four, possibly six Swfts were over the area tonight (1/5), between 19.30 and 20.15, my earliest recorded date here. None were seen during an hour of circuits at the same time on 30/4.
The first two spotted were over the Westfield/Midfield junction, flying towards Hillingdon, then again a bit later. Four were observed coming off Barnehurst Golf Course and over Beverley/Northall, two of which appeared to dive down towards a roof on Northall Rd (in the vicinity of a known nesting building), after which no more were seen.
Using data posted to londonbirders.fandom.com/wiki/April_2024
the first Swift seen over London was at the London Wetland Centre on 12th April. There were scattered sightings until 20th April when one was at Rainham Marshes, over the river from Crayford Marshes. Conrad Ellam saw 2 over Southmere Lake on April 21st, with more than 20 at Rainham the same day, 40+here on 23/4 and 100 on 27/4.
2 Swifts were seen from Erith Pier by Tim Rymer on 28/4. There are at least two nest sites nearby, one on Manor Rd. A swift was reported over a known Lewisham nesting area on 29/4 on the Lewisham Swifts Facebook page.
Previous first sightings for the Barnehurst colony were:
2023 - 2/5. My first check of the year so they may have arrived earlier. One reported at Crossness 28/4
2022 -8/5 (checked from 28/4)
2021 - 6/5 (had last checked 3/5)
2020 - 2/5 (first date checked)
2019 - didn't monitor
2018 - 7/5 (had checked every evening starting 1/5)
2017 - 4/5 (no prior daily checks)
2016 - 4/5 (no prior daily checks)
2015 - 6/5 (no prior daily checks)
Worryingly, despite a few visits, no Swifts were seen at two of the very small colonies in Bexley during 2023. One was seen flying away from the Mill Rd (North Heath) site one evening, but that was it, and none were at Silverdale Rd (Bexleyheath. Although the adults may have died, there should still be juveniles out there that were hatched at these locations, so they will be checked again this season.
Chris Rose
Crossness River Action Group's latest haul .......www.facebook.com/groups/crossnessriveraction/posts/1141568633854019/
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Category Archives: Volunteering
FotS team clears 41 sacks of rubbish from in and around Danson lake
A big thanks to everyone who turned out in absolutely awful weather yesterday (November 14th) to help clean up the lake. We collected 41 bags of rubbish which was a great result! Here is a photo of our rather, damp – but … Continue reading
Posted in Danson Park, Friends of the Shuttle, Litter, Volunteering
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Carry on coppicing – Ruxley team thins out Willows
Remembrance Sunday turned out to be a good day for the working party at Ruxley Gravel Pits Nature Reserve. The water levels were unexpectedly low despite some heavy rains during the week. The nine volunteers got stuck into hacking back the saplings which … Continue reading
Crayford Academy pupils get stuck into Thames Road Wetland management work
Sixth-formers from the nearby Crayford Haberdashers Aske’s Academy helped with key winter tasks at Thames Road Wetland on the afternoons of 7th October and 11th November, getting most of the required Reedmace-pulling done in double-quick time and also cutting back … Continue reading
Crossness Reedbed Work Party 11th November
Dear Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve, Attached is a picture of my two faithful volunteers, Reg and Roger, sitting down. Yes, sitting down! Mid-task!! This has never happened before!!! They have been incredibly busy cutting reeds around the wader … Continue reading
Erith fish show pervasiveness of plastics problem
International explorer Paul Rose and campaign partners joined environment charity Thames21’s foreshore clean up recently and called on Londoners to “do the right” thing and make sure their rubbish goes in the bin, not in the River Thames. The campaign aims to … Continue reading
Posted in Litter, River Cray, River Shuttle, River Thames, Rivers, Thames21, Volunteering, Welling
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Braeburn Park (London Wildlife Trust reserve) update and workdays
Work continues at the excellent new London Wildlife Trust reserve at Braeburn Park, 5 minutes up the road from Crayford railway station, and opposite Hall Place, on the south side of the railway line. http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/reserves/braeburn-park Reserve manager Shaun Marriott writes: … Continue reading
FotS: third Danson Lake clean-up to take place on November 14th
On November 14th Friends of the Shuttle will be running their third big Danson Park lake clean-up. Danson lake drains into the River Shuttle in Bexley Park woods. Despite two previous such events which removed a large amount of rubbish, … Continue reading
Posted in Danson Park, Litter, Volunteering
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Ruxley working group numbers grow – 14 help at September 27th event
Sunday 27th of September saw a glorious Indian summer day for the Ruxley Gravel Pits Nature Reserve [RGPNR] working party crew. Participation had increased to 14 people, who got stuck into the season’s regrowth of plants that would gradually shade or … Continue reading
River Cray project work for October – new volunteers welcome!
The Thames21 London waterways charity’s River Cray project officer Michael Heath has announced the following public events for October. Tuesday 6th October 2015 Chalk Stream River Cray Habitat Enhancements at Foots Cray Meadows. Some of the riverbank restoration work needs … Continue reading
Thames21 team brave rain to clear river and plan Thames Road Wetland work
Cray River project boss Michael Heath, Chris Rose, Ray, Ron Pearson and Wren Rose turned out for a planning meeting at Thames Road Wetland on Wednesday 16th, despite the persistent rain, but first cleared a blockage of rubbish in the … Continue reading