PROGRAMME September 2016 – February 2017 WWW.LNHS.ORG.UK @LNHSoc EVENTS ARE OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS BUT VISITORS ALSO WELCOME. CHANGES TO THIS PROGRAMME WILL BE POSTED ON THE WEBSITE: WWW.LNHS.ORG.UK, MEMBER’S MESSAGE BOARD AND IN THE NEWSLETTER. _INDOOR MEETINGS. AT FORMAL INDOOR MEETINGS, illustrated talks are given and questions invited. INFORMAL INDOOR MEETINGS are a forum to exchange natural history ideas and problems. Members are invited to report observations and bring specimens/photos. FIELD MEETINGS Bring lunch and tea on whole-day meetings. Stout shoes or boots are advisable. Binoculars and/or hand lenses as appropriate are recommended. Cars not needed unless otherwise specified. TRANSPORT In the text for each entry ‘NR’ denotes a Network Rail station. TFL stations are named and line/s added where useful. Any time given is indicative only: get up-to-date facts from National Rail Enquiries 0845 748 4950, http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ or TFL Helpline 0207 222 1234, https://www.tfl.gov.uk/. For other enquiries contact the relevant Meetings Secretary (see pages 12-15). NATURE CONSERVATION Information about damage, or the threat of damage, to places of natural history interest in the Society’s area should be sent to the Conservation Officer (see page 12), whether or not representatives of the appropriate wildlife trust have been informed. 2 SEPTEMBER 2016 Sun. BOTANY. Woodberry Wetlands and New River. Annie Chipchase. Meet 4 10:30 Manor House U/g Station, Finsbury Park exit. (TQ320875, Picc). E&E. Brent River Park for spiders. Edward Milner. Meet 10:30 at Boston Manor Underground Station (Picc). Bring lunch. Thu. BOTANY. Deptford, a year in wildflowers. Hilly Fields and Lewisham 8 TQ3775. Nick Bertrand. Meet 16:00 Ladywell Station (TQ376748, NR Cannon Street). Sat. Bookham Common Survey. See page 9. 10 . BOTANY. Abbey Wood, recording for the LFP mostly in TQ4678. Rodney Burton. Meet 10:30 Abbey Wood Station (TQ473790, NR London Bridge). Site includes parts of Bostall Heath and Bostall Woods. Sun. BIRDS. Alexandra Park for woodland birds, woodpeckers, waterbirds 11 (maybe Kingfisher), possible migrants. Andrew Peel. Meet 10:00 in entrance to Wood Green U/g Station (Picc). AM only. (Toilets & cafe). Wed. _E&E._ Brad Ashby Memorial Lecture. “A history of bees in the UK: Is 14 change inevitable?” by Mike Edwards. 18:30-21:00. Room 1.47, Royal School of Mines , Imperial College London. Mike Edwards will give this year’s Brad Ashby Memorial Lecture. The speaker is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, a founding member of the Bees Wasps and Ants Recording Society and was a coordinator for the UK Biodiversity Action Plan Aculeate Conservation Group (now Hymettus Ltd.) from 1997 to 2007. Please arrive at 18:30 for 19:00 lecture start. Thu. _BOTANY._ Botany workshop on Rumex led by Geoffrey Kitchener. 15 17:30. Angela Marmont Centre, Natural History Museum. Bring specimens. Sat. BIRDS. Walthamstow Reservoirs for passage migrants, wildfowl and 17 gulls. Pete Lambert. Meet 09:30 entrance to Reservoirs, opposite Ferry Boat Inn pub (TQ350893). Nearest stations: Tottenham Hale or Blackhorse Road Underground Station (Vic). Permit fee £1. AM only. (Toilets). Tue. _BOTANY._ First of Two botany workshops on Salix led by Dr. Irina V. 20 Belyaeva-Chamberlain. 17:30. Angela Marmont Centre, Natural History Museum. Bring specimens. Thu. _BIRDS._ Talk - Dominic Couzens on “Have Wings, Will Travel - The Story 22 of Bird Migration”. 19:00-20:30. Burgh House, NW3 1LT. Nearest stns Hampstead U/g Stn or Hampstead Heath O/g Stn. Renowned nature writer 3 Dominic Couzens will be talking about bird migration which has fascinated people for centuries and spawned an enormous amount of research. Revealing that much still remains unexplained, everybody should find something of interest in this unusual and slightly quirky beginner’s guide to the marvel of bird migration which has long been one of Dominic’s most popular lectures. Everyone is welcome. £2 door charge. Free for under 18s and those in full time education. Sun. BOTANY. Recording the fecund wildflowers of the Ridgeway, less 25 euphemistically known as the Southern Outfall Sewer TQ4579. Nick Bertrand. Meet 11:00 Plumstead Station (TQ447788, NR Cannon Street). Tue. _BOTANY._ Second of two Botany workshops on Salix led by Dr. Irina V. 27 Belyaeva-Chamberlain. 17:30. Angela Marmont Centre, Natural History Museum. Bring specimens. OCTOBER Sat. BOTANY. Wimbledon Common for lichens. John Skinner. Meet 10:30 at 1 the Windmill car park (TQ230725). Satnav SW19 5NQ. Bus 93 from Putney or Wimbledon (NR Waterloo). E&E. Hounslow Heath for Ivy Bees and other late season inverts. Mick Massie. Meet 10:30 at Rangers Hut opposite the Hussar PH, Staines Rd (TQ121749). Nearest stn Feltham (NR) or Hounslow West (Picc). Bring lunch. Sun. BIRDS. Crossness for migrants. George Kalli. Meet 10:00 Belvedere Stn 2 (NR Charing Cross). Long half day. Bring snacks. (No toilets). Sat. Bookham Common Survey. See page 9. 8 . BOTANY. Deptford, a year in wildflowers. Brockley and Old Deptford Cemetery TQ3675. Nick Bertrand. Meet 11:00 Brockley Station (TQ364757, NR London Bridge). Sun. BIRDS. Hampstead Heath for ducks and woodland birds, including 9 Nuthatch and Green Woodpecker. Possible Kingfisher and early arriving winter migrants. Joint walk with Marylebone Birdwatching Society. Marion Hill & David Allen. Meet 10:00 Hampstead Heath Overground Station. Long half day. (Toilets). Sat. BIRDS. Greenwich Park for Nuthatch, Woodpeckers and possible autumn 15 migrants. Joe Beale. Meet 09:00 at Blackheath Gate entrance (TQ392768). Nearest station Blackheath (NR Charing Cross) and buses 53, 54, 202, 380. AM only. (Toilets). 4 Sat. BOTANY. Hampstead Heath. Get to Know Your Ferns. John Edgington. 15 Meet 10:30 Hampstead Underground Station (Northern). Cars not needed. Wed. _BIRDS._ Talk - Les Edwins on “Operation Turtle Dove - Saving A Bird On 19 The Brink”. 19:00–20:30. Burgh House, NW3 1LT. Nearest stns Hampstead U/g Stn or Hampstead Heath O/g Stn. Once a common farmland bird, the UK’s population of Turtle Doves has decreased by over 90% over the last 40 years. This talk by Les Edwins, the RSPB’s Turtle Dove Conservation Advisor for South East England, will aim to look at the reasons for the decline, the action being taken and the wider conservation implications for other species. Everyone is welcome. £2 door charge. Free for under 18s and those in full time education. Sat. BIRDS. Rye Meads RSPB for Kingfisher, Water Rail, Green Sandpiper and 22 autumn migrants. Pete Lambert. Meet 09:30 Rye House Station (NR Liverpool Street) or 10:00 RSPB reserve entrance. Bring lunch. Permit fee for non-RSPB members. (Toilets). Sat. BIRDS. Ruislip Woods NNR for woodland birds and wildfowl. Neil 29 Anderson. Meet 10:00 at bus stop in Reservoir Road (TQ087892). Nearest station Ruislip (Met/Picc), then H13 to Lido or 331 bus to Ducks Hill Road. Long half day. (Toilets, cafe & pub!) If the weather forecast is for very wet weather, this walk will be cancelled. Please contact Neil on 020 8578 2464 or 0792 223 2801 for confirmation. BOTANY. The Haringey Fungus Foray. Alan Skipp. Meet 10:00 Railway Fields LNR (TQ318883), corner of Green Lanes and Umfreville Rd N4, 5 minutes walk from Manor House U/g Stn (Picc). The batting order will be as last year: after searching Railway Fields we will go to Queens Wood and then to Alexandra Palace. We will not visit Tottenham Cemetery. Joint with LWT. Note that the meeting is on a Saturday this year instead of the usual Sunday. Cars needed. NOVEMBER Sun. BIRDS. Wandsworth Common for autumn birds. Peter White. Meet 09:30 6 ticket office Wandsworth Common Station (NR Victoria). AM only. (Toilets). Tue. _BOTANY AGM & Talk_ Talk after the AGM by Dr. Mark Spencer, LNHS 8 Recorder of Higher Plants, on “The first frontier, botanical exploration in the London area between 1600 and 1753”. 18:30-21:00. SALC room 7, Imperial College London. 5 Sat. Bookham Common Survey. See page 9. 12 . BOTANY. Deptford, a year in wildflowers. Telegraph Hill (TQ3576). Nick Bertrand. Meet 11:00 New Cross Gate Stn (TQ361769, NR London Bridge). Sun. BIRDS. Beddington Farmlands for Tree Sparrow, Green Sandpiper and 13 late migrants. Derek Coleman. Meet 09:30 Hackbridge Station. (NR Victoria). Wellies recommended. AM only. (No toilets). Tue. _E&E AGM & Talk_ Talk after the AGM by guest speaker Andy Willmore 15 on "An introduction to fish identification and river restoration techniques". 18:00-21:00. SALC room 6, Imperial College London. Sat. BIRDS. Two Tree Island for Brent Geese, Avocet and high tide wader 19 roost. Robin Blades. Meet 10:00 Leigh-on-Sea Station (NR Fenchurch Street). All day. Bring lunch. (Toilets). BOTANY. Richmond Park for bryophytes. Pete Howarth. Meet 10:30 Richmond Park, Pembroke Lodge car park (TQ197728). Nearest stations: Richmond and North Sheen (NR Waterloo). Thu. _LBC AGM & Talk_ Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne on “A Bird 24 Photographer's London - Should London be promoted as a wildlife destination?” Talk after the LBC AGM. 18:30-20:30. Burgh House, NW3 1LT. Nearest stns Hampstead U/g Stn or Hampstead Heath O/g Stn. London provides a rich variety of habitats from oak woodland to freshwater wetlands to tidal marsh. Complemented by good public transport links, a superb network of nature reserves, a first-rate visitor infrastructure and outstanding facilities for bird photographers, should wildlife enthusiasts from around the world be heading to London? The AGM will start at 18:30 and the LBC Chairman's talk will take place as soon as the AGM concludes. Everyone is welcome to both the AGM and the talk.