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Central & North Essex Branch Chairman:
John McCrindle The Contact address for this branch is: BNA, PO Box 5682, Corby, Northamptonshire NN17 2ZW, UK; Tel: 01536 262977. Or alternatively E-mail: centralandnorthessex@bna-naturalists.org 2008 Programme The Central and North Essex Branch is a new branch of the BNA. Below is its programme of field trips for its inaugural year in 2008. If you wish to attend please book in advance. You are welcome to bring guests. |
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Report on visiting Old Hall Marshes and Abberton Reservoir on Saturday 15th March 2008 Twelve people assembled in the car park of the RSPB Old Hall Marshes Reserve for the inaugural meeting of the Central and North Essex Branch of the British Naturalists’ Association. Included in our numbers was the National Chairman of the BNA, Roger Tabor. Old Hall Marshes is a remote peninsula at the mouth of the Blackwater Estuary. It covers over 1,500 acres and consists of grazing marsh with brackish water fleets, reedbeds and saltings. It is an SSSI site and attracts wildfowl and waders to overwinter in internationally and nationally important numbers. As we were preparing to set off, one observant person spotted two grey partridges in a nearby field and, further in the distance over in the marshes, a Marsh Harrier was seen. Walking along the sea wall adjacent to Joyce’s Saltings we made frequent stops to observe the birds and it was not long before our list of bird species sightings grew rapidly. Large numbers of Brent Geese were seen, although much reduced from the two thousand that had over wintered on the reserve this year as many had left for their northern breeding grounds. Although the tide was out we were still able to see typical saltmarsh birds such as Curlew, Redshank and Little Egret and facing inland onto the grazing marsh Wigeon and Teal were seen in good numbers. Before reaching the furthest point of our circular route better views were seen of Marsh Harrier and there was a brief sighting of a Bearded Tit by one of our party. We were informed by Roger Tabor that the thousands of ant hills on the grazing marsh were characteristic of an ancient grassland and were made by yellow ants much favoured as food by Green Woodpeckers, which proved to be the case when later on one of our party spotted a Green Woodpecker feeding on them. Heading north towards Salcott Channel a Meadow Pipit was spotted sitting on a fence post and it obliged with a demonstration of its characteristic flight. On reaching Salcott Creek we spotted on the far bank a large flock of Golden Plover. On a sunny day these birds with their golden plumage glimmering in the sunlight are quite spectacular but as it was a cloudy day we had to content ourselves with just seeing them en masse. With pangs of hunger beginning to loom we quickened our pace along the sea wall in order to get back to our cars and head off to the Essex Wildlife Trust Visitor Centre at Abberton Reservoir to have our lunch. In the afternoon we turned our attention to the birds on the reservoir. A stop on the Layer de la Haye Causeway resulted in a good view of a male Goldeneye. Despite the recent culling of Ruddy Ducks at the reservoir by DEFRA we also managed to spot some of these attractive little ducks. After satisfying ourselves that we had spotted all that was on view to us on this part of the reservoir we headed for the Layer Breton Causeway in search of the Smew that had been seen earlier by other people from this causeway. After a brief search a male and female were found in the corner of the reservoir. The male is arguably one of the most attractive of our ducks to be seen on inland water in the winter months. A fitting end to a successful first event for the group. The full list of the 57 birds
seen on the field trip is given below. |
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Date: Friday 27th June Meeting time and point: Meet at 9pm in the Essex Wildlife Trust car park at the end of Fir Tree Lane (TL 785062), Little Baddow. The walk will be around the Danbury Ridge Complex, which is a mixture of ancient woodland interspersed with small patches of heathland. Event: The Glow-worm is one of our most fascinating yet scarce insects, which has inspired naturalists for many centuries. However, many naturalists consider this beetle to be declining, with habitat destruction and fragmentation probably two of the key causes behind the decline. The Danbury Ridge Complex (managed by Essex Wildlife Trust) has one of the remaining Essex colonies and is monitored on a yearly basis using a simple transect counting procedure so that numbers can be compared between years. Come and learn more about this insect in the ancient woodland and heaths of Danbury. Please bring a torch and good walking boots as the reserve can be quite muddy even in the summer. Directions: The car park where we are meeting is situated at the end of Fir Tree Lane, which is reached from the Ridge, a road that runs between Eves Corner in Danbury and Little Baddow. If you are coming from the A12/A414, turn left at the second mini-roundabout at Eves Corner and continue for approximately 1-2 miles until you see the turning for Fir Tree Lane on your right. Drive down Fir Tree Lane until it becomes a track in the woods. The car park is situated a short distance down this track on the left hand side. There is parking for about 5-6 cars so please car share if possible. Leader: Tim Gardiner If you wish to attend: To book please e-mail centralandnorthessex@bna-naturalists.org at least one month before the event, giving your telephone number so that you can be contacted if for any reason the event has to be cancelled. Nature Walk: Date: Sunday 13th July 2008 Meeting point and Start Time: The leaders cottage – “Pandemonium”, Wimbish, Near Saffron Waldon, Essex. Arrival time 10.00 am – 10.30 am. Event: In the morning we will walk from the leader’s cottage through a small nature reserve up to a reservoir, where there are some interesting flowers including Bee and Pyramidal Orchids. On returning to the cottage we will drive to Sweetings Meadow nature reserve. This is a very small ancient meadow and boasts 7 species of orchids, 19 species of butterflies and lots more. We will spend an hour or so there before returning to the cottage for lunch. Please bring a packed lunch or make your own arrangements at a local public house. We will re-convene at 2.00 p.m and drive 2 miles to West Wood nature reserve. It is a broad leaved woodland with typical flora and fauna found in this type of woodland, including orchids of various species, wood barley and much more. The day will conclude about 4.30 pm. There will be a small charge of £3 to cover the cost of coffee and tea that will be provided during the day. Directions: From Great Dunmow take the B. 184 to Thaxted. Stay on this road for 7 miles travelling through Thaxted. Approximately 1 mile north of Thaxted Graces Fruit farm comes up on the left. Drive 75 yards past this farm and the entrance to “Pandemonium” is on the left. This entrance is easy to miss so on the day of the event there will be a sign outside directing visitors in. There is sufficient room to park 10 –12 cars in the yard, additional car parking is in the fruit farm by kind permission of the owner. If you wish to attend: To book please e-mail centralandnorthessex@bna-naturalists.org at least one month before the event, giving your telephone number so that you can be contacted if for any reason the event has to be cancelled. Leader : Barry Kaufmann-Wright Nature Walk: Date: Saturday August 16th 2008. Meeting point and Start Time: At the gate of All Saints Church, Church Rd, Brightlingsea at 10.00am [If parking on large gravel lay-by on other side of Church Road, please avoid blocking farm and barn entrances] Event: A coastal walk giving good views over the Colne estuary, and passing down though the countryside to beside Alresford Creek (opposite Fingringhoe) and along the seawall, with SSSI grazing marsh and SSSI estuary on either side. We will stop for lunch beside the beach so please bring a packed lunch. Alternatively, refreshments can be purchased at the beach café. In the afternoon we will be looking at the beach and saltmarsh wildlife as well as veteran pollard oaks and flooded gravel pits.
Above 1: Brightlingsea coast walk; 2: Brightlingsea salt marsh Directions: All Saints Church (has large tower) is on the only road (B1029) heading into Brightlingsea. If you wish to attend: To book this event please arrange if possible to e-mail centralandnorthessex@bna-naturalists.org one month before the event. Please give your telephone number so that you can be contacted if the event has to be cancelled for any reason. Leader : Roger Tabor
Fungus Foray: Date: Saturday 18th October 2008. Meeting point and Start Time: Car park (Fee £2) outside the Visitor centre at Thorndon Park North (Grid ref TQ 606914) near Brentwood at 10.30 am Event: The morning will involve collecting a minimum number of specimens before lunch, so bring your own packed lunch, followed by an identification session in a room in the centre, which we have hired for the purpose. The cost of hiring the room for the day is £40 so a small charge of £2 per head will be necessary. Please note that collecting fungi for consumption is NOT allowed in the park. Directions: From the A12 access the A1023 and drive to the junction with the A128. Turn past Brentwood school and cross Shenfield Common and the railway to a signposted mini-roundabout with traffic lights, where you turn right for about a kilometre to a sharp right hand bend. Here turn left and enter the park through a large gateway. The centre and car park are on the right hand side of this roadway. If you wish to attend: To book please telephone the leader, Tony Boniface, on 01245 266316. Leader : Tony Boniface If you are willing to organise and run a field trip for the branch in the future please e-mail: centralandnorthessex@bna-naturalists.org |
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