1 Registered Charity No 207076 THE ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS BEXLEY LOCAL GROUP RSPB NEWSLETTER No.76 Autumn & Winter 2016 Dear Member, Welcome to this edition of our newsletter. For some of you this will be the first newsletter that you will have received and maybe wondering why you have received it. We at the Bexley Local RSPB Group do not have a separate membership. If you are a member of the RSPB within our catchment area you are automatically a member of our group. What do we do as a group? We hold regular indoor meetings on a range of topics where you can meet other like minded people who may be Don’t forget our annual able to answer any questions you may have or buy your bird food. We hold regular field trips both locally and distant and we also raise money Autumn Fair for the national RSPB. SATURDAY If you read my annual report you will see that last year was our best for many years in so many 19 November 2016 ways; we had our highest average attendances at our indoor meetings for many a year, our Xmas 10am – 1pm raffle brought in the highest income for years, attendances were up at our two fairs, coach trips were full on most occasions and our 200 club At the Freemantle Hall attracted more members than ever. All this High Street, Bexley. meant that we were able to send over £3000 to the RSPB our highest total for quite some time. RSPB Sales Goods – The challenge for the group is to at least equal Xmas Cards, Calendars, Gifts. that or even better it. How can we do it? By supporting our fund raising efforts such as our Xmas raffle by selling that extra ticket to a Craft Stalls, Plants, friend or neighbour, joining our 200 club, Bird Feeding Supplies, attending our fairs and quiz nights and White Elephant Stall, continuing to support our field trips. In order to have a successful fair we, as always Cakes & Preserves, need donations of books, white elephant goods, Tombola, Refreshments etc. plants and bottles of any description which we can use in our bottle tombola. If you have any Admission….30p items you wish to donate please contact Stuart Banks on 0208 854 7251 who will make arrangements to collect the items near the date Children Free of the fair. Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the RSPB 2 Registered Charity No 207076 Although I have thanked people in my annual Working Parties report for their help throughout the year I would Our Group has been providing practical assistance like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the North Kent RSPB reserves for many years, once again for all your help. tackling a variety of practical tasks designed to To some people the word volunteering sends a improve habitats for wildlife including birds and cold shiver down their spines but without water voles. volunteers we would not be able to do all the Work at your own pace, no previous experience things we do. Volunteering for us may only be necessary, tools and instruction provided. two days in a year helping to run a stall at our Meet at Northward Hill RSPB Reserve indoor fairs, delivering our newsletter or even Saturday mornings putting the labels on our newsletters. If you 17 Sep. 16 21 Jan. 17 would like to add your name to our list of volunteers please contact Stuart Banks. 15 Oct. 16 18 Feb. 17 Within this newsletter you will see our 19 Nov. 16 18 Mar. 17 forthcoming field trips for 2017. I would suggest For more details call – you book your seats as soon as possible as I Bob Parker on 01322 665849 expect them to sell out quickly. In addition you will see we are planning a long weekend trip to the Devon area following the QUIZ NIGHT success of our two previous long weekends to AT JOHN FISHER CHURCH HALL Yorkshire and North Wales. These long SATURDAY 22 OCTOBER 7:00 – 10:00 weekends sell out very quickly so if you wish to go please get in contact with Stuart Banks soon. TABLES OF SIX at £5 PER PERSON I would like finally to thank the group for re- The bar will be open. Bring your own nibbles. electing me as your leader at our AGM. Call STUART BANKS on – 0208 8547251 Happy birding Stuart Banks 15% discount at Cotswold The national chain of stores selling outdoor clothing, footwear and camping equipment are still offering a 15% discount to members of our Group at all their outlets. Our nearest Cotswold store is at Nugent Shopping Park, Cray Avenue, Orpington. The full 15% discount is only available to Bexley Local Group RSPB members quoting Account number AF-BRSPB-D5. If you say you are an RSPB member you will only receive 10% discount. You may also order by phone (Tel. 01689 885560) or online at www.cotswoldoutdoor.com We have specimen catalogues for you to browse at indoor meetings. The level of discount offered depends on the amount of sales against our account number during the year, so do consider taking advantage but DO NOT PASS IT ON TO NON BEXLEY MEMBERS. Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the RSPB 3 Registered Charity No 207076 BEXLEY BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH 2016 The house sparrow seen in 61.5% of gardens has regained top spot in the 2016 league table from the starling seen in 54.5% of gardens. The wood pigeon has retained third spot while the parakeet has disappeared from the top ten altogether. The newcomer to the top ten at number ten is the carrion crow. The goldfinch and long tailed tit which broke into the national top ten with much publicity appeared just outside the Bexley top ten at 11 in 18.9% of gardens and 13 in 15% of gardens respectively. Other interesting records include lesser spotted woodpecker, bullfinch, siskin, redpoll and pheasant. Unfortunately the number of Bexley participants decreased from 1176 last year to 944 in 2016 a considerable drop from 1785 in 2013. We managed to improve our position to fifth among the London Boroughs being beaten by Hillingdon (1131), Croydon (1203), Havering (1323) and Bromley with a massive total of 2027. The total of all the London boroughs was 39963. Our neighbouring county of Kent achieved a total of 15259 (not including Medway with 1533) which is the leading county total outside London. John Turner Rank 2016 In % of gardens Rank 2015 1 House sparrow 61.5 2 2 Starling 54.5 1 3 Woodpigeon 89.8 3 4 Blue tit 71.5 5 5 Feral pigeon 39.0 4 6 Magpie 65.5 7 7 Blackbird 74.3 6 8 Great tit 52.8 10 9 Robin 80.0 9 10 Carrion crow 34.8 ? CROSSNESS SPRING REPORT Spring migration got underway at Crossness Nature Reserve, with the first swallow and wheatear of the year arriving on 30th March. Sunday 3rd April saw more early migrants. Our first, and earliest, sedge warbler, was captured as part of the Dartford Ringing Group’s bird monitoring activities for the national BTO scheme (our earliest ringing record for sedge warbler prior to this was 13 April in 2009). Along with blackcaps, a willow warbler put in an appearance on the same date, singing in the willow tree near the dipping platform in the Protected Area. The last time we had one this early, was five years ago, when a willow warbler was captured at Crossness on the very same day: 3rd April 2011. Skylarks have been doing display flights over the Cory Fields since March and meadow pipits were displaying over the same fields on 3 April. From late April, ringed plover were nesting on Cory Field North. Little ringed plover were frequently seen on the West Paddock at the start of spring, pheasants were pairing up early and the ‘odd couple’ (Canada goose and greylag goose) claimed their nesting spot on the wader scrape island. House martins were recorded over Crossness Sewage Treatment Works on 6 April and swifts returned at the end of the month. A female ring ouzel and a redstart were recorded on Island Field on 10 April. Other recent appearances at Crossness include some enhancements. We now have an artificial kingfisher bank, a new elevated wildlife viewing screen which overlooks the reed beds in the Protected Area and sand martin nesting barrels on both the nature reserve and Crossness Southern Marsh. Karen Sutton Membership of the Bexley Local Group is automatic for RSPB Members 4 Registered Charity No 207076 HALL PLACE AND CRAYFORD ROUGH HALL PLACE is a Grade I listed Tudor mansion, built for a former Lord Mayor of London, Sir John Champneys, in 1537 using second- hand stone probably from dissolved monastic buildings. It was extended in 1653 by Sir Robert Austin using red bricks creating a central courtyard. The barn was built to store grain and flour from Hall Place Mill. In June 2005 Bexley Heritage Trust received a £2 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop and improve the site for the benefit of visitors. This grant enabled the construction of the Riverside Cafe alongside the River Cray, and a new visitor centre. Attached to the visitor centre is the Stables Gallery, another building funded by the grant, which displays works by local artists. Hall Place also has 65 hectares of landscaped gardens and grounds including a topiary lawn, herb garden, tropical garden and long herbaceous cottage garden-styled borders.