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Friends of the Cray at Crayford, Friday 6th March.Clearing litter along the river, downstream of Crayford town centre, before the vegetation gets going again and hides it in the undergrowth.
Meet junction of Barnes Cray Rd and Footpath 106, 10 a.m.
Wear work clothes and bring any refreshments required.
Native Daffodil season underway at Lesnes ...........www.facebook.com/lesnesabbey/posts/pfbid0fkHcv1FKyNY2UTSKw2TyCMk9BXBJGfAP56tMPj9w9HqyQCptStki3ZWU...
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NEXT THAMES ROAD WETLAND STAFF-SUPPORTED HABITAT MANAGEMENT SESSION - Friday 13th March.Book here: book.plinth.org.uk/e/LFbuahHJmCpxSAcd1D3J
Samantha Dhedhi will be back with the van full of equipment for one last 'big bang' winter period event ahead of the nesting season for Reedbed birds. This will focus on cutting more stands of dead Reed stems and removing previously cut material. This will enable us to quickly and easily access and cut down re-growth with a handful of people later in the year, keeping some areas of water open for Dragonflies, Damselflies and other species.
No particular skills needed. Kit and basic refreshments provided. Loos nearby.
The predicted rain held off for our previous staffed session on 13th February, and we had 8 volunteers who did 31 person-hours 49m work (thanks to Rowan, Ashton, Ian W, Jim S, Tom B, Pamela Z and myself, all of whom have been before, plus wholly new person
Alex).
Sam was joined by Simon Phillips (Head of Engagement and Learning at Thames21 HQ) and they put in 8h 30m of staff time onsite.
Jim shifted one of the piles of cut Reed opposite the 'crap trap' and
spread the material over the Cray end Nettle beds which will soon grow up and hide it. Ian and Ashton did more ditch clearance work. Everyone else re-pollarded some of the Sallows in shallow water at the sewer bank end of the lake to keep two sides of it reasonably open and make it easier for wintering ducks to fly in and out, as well as to reduce sumer drying of this area. Most branches hanging over open water at a low angle are left as potential Willow Emerald Damselfly egg-laying sites.
Four more Mottled Shieldbugs were found, making six in the last couple of months, this time under the bark of a fire-damaged Elder. A Cormorant flew over. As did 2 Canada Geese. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard. There were at least 2 Cetti's Warblers on the site and 3 Water Rails. A Water Vole latrine and feeding station were found. Jelly Ear fungus was growing on another Elder. Some early Blackthorn flowers were out.
Chris Rose. Volunteer Site Manager.
BEE SURVEYS KICK OFF AGAIN AT WOODLANDS FARM, SHOOTERS HILL.We'll soon be starting our monthly Bee walks/surveys again. The dates for the first 3 walks of the year are as below. They will all start at 2pm. Please let me know if you will be able to attend.
Monday 16th March
Monday 13th April
Monday 11th May
We hope to see you then.
Hannah Ricketts, Education Officer
<education@thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org>
The Woodlands Farm Trust
331 Shooters Hill
Welling
Kent
DA16 3RP
Tel: 020 8319 8900
NORTH WEST KENT COUNTRYSIDE PARTNERSHIP look after the churchyard at St. Mary's, Old Bexley, with wildlife conservation in mind. Their next session there is:Wednesday 11th March. Meet 10 a.m. St Mary’s Churchyard, Manor Road, Bexley, DA5 3LY (black gates at end of Manor Road, there is limited parking on site).
We will be moving piles of wood chip onto the paths and maintaining pathway access by selectively cutting back vegetation.
Led by: Lucy Sawyer-Boyd (07809334071)
There are no facilities on site. Please enquiry with Lucy as to whether she can provide a lift from Hall Place or not.
goo.gl/maps/2Czb3X9qMs6KcPLg9
What3words: Meeting point = ///sheep.buzz.codes
Entrance gate = ///sushi.mole.washed
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.
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.
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°26'24.4"N 0°09'16.5"E · 51.440111, 0.154583
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Category Archives: River Cray
26 enjoy first ‘Bexley Wildlife’ social event
Twenty six people from a wide variety of conservation groups across Bexley (and beyond) came to our first social event at Bexley library last night (August 18th). Whilst something of an experiment, with the aim of mixing a ‘networking’ opportunity … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley, Bexley Wildlife social events, BNEF, Cray Riverkeepers, Crossness Nature Reserve, Environment, Erith Marshes, Foots Cray Meadows, Friends of the Shuttle, Keats Community Farm, Lesnes Abbey Woods, Old Farm Park, River Cray, River Shuttle, Ruxley Gravel Pits, Save Our Green Spaces Campaign, Thames21, Volunteering
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Ruxley Gravel Pits SSSI working group announces autumn/winter dates
Ruxley Gravel Pits is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Come and help conserve the key features of this important wildlife site on the Cray by the Bexley/Bromley border. The birds have flown but the buddleia & the brambles continue … Continue reading
Posted in Reedbeds, River Cray, vegetation management, Volunteering
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‘Bexley Wildlife’ social, August 18th: reminder and ‘programme’
The ‘Bexley Wildlife’ team, a web platform collaboration between Bexley Natural Environment Forum and the Greener Bexley Charity, invites ‘followers’ and other interested people to join us at a social event on Tuesday August 18th from 7p.m. at Bexley Village … Continue reading
Dealing with Himalyan Balsam
Himalayan Balsam is an invasive introduced plant that needs to be removed from our waterways. It has explosive seed pods so unfortunately, even removing it can help it spread. Locally, groups such as Friends of The Shuttle do extensive work to remove … Continue reading
Posted in Invasive species, River Cray, River Shuttle, River Wansunt, Rivers
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QWAG members enjoy ‘back to nature’ experience at Thames Road Wetland
Seven members of the Quaggy Waterways Action Group, a river restoration organisation, and the Secretary of Friends of Sutcliffe Park, all from Lewisham, visited Thames Road Wetland on Saturday July 18th to learn more about the possibilities for enhancing wetland in … Continue reading
Bexley Council has no management plan for 80% of SINCS it wholly or partly owns, reveals FOI request
80% of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation wholly or partly owned by Bexley Council have no management plan (i.e. only 1 in 5 does), and 3 of the 6 plans that do exist expired more than 7 years ago. … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Council, Bexley Woods, Biodiversity Action Plan, BNEF, Braeburn Park, Bursted Woods, Chalk Wood, coppicing, Crayford Rough, Crossness, Danson Park, East Wickham Open Space, Environment, Erith Marshes, Hollyhill open space, Joydens Wood, Lesnes Abbey Woods, London Wildlife Trust, Martens Grove, Open spaces, Parish Wood Park, Parks, River Cray, River Shuttle, SINC, Thames Road Wetland, Woodlands Farm
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Birder gets on his bike to study other species
Plants, Odonata and fish photographed. From Bexley Bird Report author, Ralph Todd. Mid June-Mid July are relatively quiet times for active birdwatchers so I often pursue other avenues of natural history but keep with the flying beasties as much as possible but … Continue reading
Bryony Ladybird reaches Crossness
The Bryony Ladybird (Henosepilachna argus) has been found at Crossness by Chris Rose. The GiGL dataset, and Site Manager Karen Sutton having been consulted, it appears to be a new site record for the species, which was first recorded in … Continue reading
‘Conservation grazing’ at Thames Road Wetland
It’s been a while since the local ponies were on the site when I was around, but last week (June 23rd) I was intently studying the spread of the rare Brookweed when there was a quiet rustling right behind me. … Continue reading
A Fond Farewell to St Paul’s Academy after three years loyal service with Thames21
Michael Heath writes of the latest session with St Paul’s Academy on the River Cray Project in his Thames21 blog. Posted on June 24, 2015 Dear All The team rallied to my request to help the event at Erith with … Continue reading
Posted in River Cray, Thames21
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