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Monday 10th August - mini-beasts and plants at Lesnes.Minibeast Hunting (1 1/4 hour family workshop)
£3 per child (accompanying adults come free!)
Come join us at Lesnes Abbey as we explore the vegetation and flowers around the park looking for minibeasts. Learn how to use a sweep net along with other equipment such as 2 way microscopes and discover the amazing insects, spiders and other smaller creatures that call Lesnes home.
Times: 10-11:15, 11:30-12:45, 1:00-2:15
These workshops have been subsidised by a grant from National Lottery Heritage Fund
Meet outside the lodge by the chestnut kiosk (booking is essential)
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HALL PLACE DUSK BAT WALK 26/8.Bat walks in the Borough are very popular, and advance booking is essential - www.hallplace.org.uk/event/family-bat-walk/
[20/8 - adults only - SOLD OUT]
26/8 - family
Adults £15.50
Children (10-16 years) £10.50
Followed by tea and cake.
Hall Place and Gardens - One of the South East’s best-kept secrets
www.hallplace.org.uk
Welcome to Hall Place and Gardens One of the South East's best-kept secrets. This historic house and garden, rich in fascinating history, welcomes visitors all year round with a range of exhibitions a...
Not seen this many Aphid (Eriosoma lanuginosum)-induced bladder-like galls on Elm before. Nor has the London Natural History Society gall recorder Tommy Root. The aphids cause these distorted leaf growths, which they then live inside. WhitehallLane, Slade Green, near railway station footbridge. 19th June.
Chris Rose.
BEXLEY RSPB LOCAL BUTTERFLY WALK - EAST WICKHAM OPEN SPACE. 18/7/2026.Prior booking essential. Contact Ralph Todd - by email (preferable) Ralph on rbtodd@btinternet.com or phone/text on 07838 352393 and please give a contact phone number in case of late changes to arrangements. Please also advise if you have booked and need to cancel as there may be a waiting list. Ralph will usually send out
a reminder to those booked two or three days prior to the date to confirm arrangements and any changes.
Time: 10:30-12:30
Meet at the entrance to the Open Space in Camdale Road SE18 2DR. Our annual visit for this popular butterfly walk. We are returning to our original July date which seems to be the prime month for butterflies. As always, we hope to find a variety of skippers, Marbled White and Brown Argus and other more common species. No facilities. Leader Nicky Wilson.
HOW ABOUT SIGNING UP FOR THE BIG BUTTERFLY COUNT 2026 ?Butterfly Conservation's important annual citizen science project, helping measure the status of butterfly populations, gets underway on 1st July, with counting due to take place between 17th of July and 9th of August.
Simply count butterflies for 15 minutes during bright (preferably sunny) weather during the Big Butterfly Count. We have chosen this time of year because most butterflies are at the adult stage of their lifecycle, so more likely to be seen. Records are welcome from anywhere: from parks, school grounds and gardens, to fields and forests.
You can do more than one count - different dates and/or different places if you want to.
ID guide available for less experienced observers.
Ffi and registration go to:
bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org
Be part of this nationwide survey and help take the pulse of nature. Butterfly declines reveal the poor health of the environment. We need your sightings.
Category Archives: Volunteering
New grounds maintenance contract process raises yet more doubts over Council’s ability to take biodiversity duty seriously
As a new contract for grounds maintenance went out to tender, we have discovered that the Trees and Nature Conservation Manager in the Parks and Open Spaces section ‘was never part of this process’ . Nor has there been any prior consultation with … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Council, Budget, vegetation management, Volunteering
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News from the Sidcup Place Gardens Project
Reports and meeting announcement from the Sidcup Community Garden Group. Community answer the call to restore Sidcup’s “Secret Garden”. Council cuts backs meant that the once beautiful walled garden at Sidcup Place was allowed to decline, and become overgrown through … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Council, Parks, Sidcup Place Garden, Volunteering
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Purple haze as Lesnes woods conservationists brave persistent rain
Six members of Lesnes Abbey Woods Conservation Volunteers turned out on Sunday morning (August 23rd) for the last heathland task of the year, despite the threat of persistent rain, which soon became a reality. There was some cover from the … Continue reading
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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Sidcup walled garden project off to successful start
The Sidcup Community Garden Project, a scheme to maintain the gardens at Sidcup Place following Bexley Council funding cuts, had a good turnout at its first hands-on event on Saturday 8th August. Sidcup Ward Councillor Rob Leitch sets out the next … Continue reading
New access ramp built at Ruxley Gravel Pits Nature Reserve
A small tributary had washed away the previous ramp leaving a high step and a muddy mess to negotiate. The temporary solution of a plank was quickly rejected on safety grounds. Volunteers replaced this with a more user friendly ramp. The 15 volunteers … Continue reading
Posted in Ruxley Gravel Pits, Volunteering
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FotS features in ‘Bexley Magazine’
A photo of FotS volunteers hard at work in Danson Park’s Old English Garden features on page 16 of the Council’s own magazine for local residents. The associated article extols the opportunities of getting involved with such initiatives, but could … Continue reading
Spring into summer at Thames Road Wetland
Things were hotting up at Thames Road Wetland on Tuesday (June 16th). Reed Bunting bred on site in 2013, but last year the male seemed to spend most of the summer singing, with no apparent success. Now he is back … Continue reading
Ruxley Gravel Pits Nature Reserve – working party dates announced
Ruxley Gravel Pits Nature Reserve – working party dates announced. OK so Ruxley isn’t in Bexley, but it’s near enough, and is part of the Cray catchment, within which many of us do conservation work. It’s a biological Site of … Continue reading