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

Programme of Activities

Reports of Activities

2010 Programme

Spring Birdwatch:
Time and Date: 10.00 a.m., Sunday 25th April 2010. Location: Meet in the car park of Essex Wildlife Trust’s (EWT) Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve. From the B1025 Colchester to Mersea Road turn east towards Fingringhoe Village and follow the signs to the reserve. Map Ref: 049 194
Leader: John McCrindle
Event: A morning walk around the popular Fingringhoe Wick Nature reserve on the Colne Estuary to see a mixture of wildfowl, waders and woodland birds. Hopefully we will see the elusive singing nightingales which should just have returned to the reserve after migrating from Africa. For those wishing to make a day of it bring sandwiches and in the afternoon we will visit another local birdwatching site such as Friday Woods, Roman River Valley or Abberton Reservoir.

Wildlife Digital Photography:
Time and Date: 10.00a.m., Saturday 15th May 2010 Location: Meet at Bateman's Tower Cafe, Promenade Way, Brightlingsea,  park either on Promenade Way or in the car park (charges apply).
Leader: Liz Artindale
Event: Following on from last years very successful wildlife photography workshop come and join Liz again and learn to improve your wildlife photography. After a short introduction over a cup of coffee we will explore the shoreline, photographing wild flowers, birds, shellfish and anything else that takes your fancy.  Weather & time permitting we may move onto The Lozenge, a small nature reserve just inland. Either bring your own lunch or alternatively Bateman's Tower Cafe is highly recommended for food. After lunch we will adjourn to Anchor Cottage, 59 Queen Street, Brightlingsea CO7 0PH where we will edit, download and retouch some of the photographs taken in the morning. Any level of photographer and any type of digital camera is welcome.

Chafford Gorges Nature Park Walk:
Time and Date: 10.00a.m., Saturday 19th June 2010
Location: Meet at the Chafford Gorges Visitor Centre on Drake Road, Chafford Hundred, Grays.
Leader: Adam Taylor
Event: A walk taking in the hidden treasures of Chafford Gorges Nature Park, a 200 acre site managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust in the heart of Grays. Lead by the warden Adam Taylor you will be able to witness an abundance of wildlife including the largest population of Man Orchids in East Anglia and the largest populations of Common Twayblade and Birds Nest Orchid’s in Essex. Along with this botanical interest the site has been voted the second most “GeoDiverse” site in the county for its wide range of geological features which includes the Lion Gorge SSSI. The site also boasts a number of rare or protected species including Bats, Badgers, Glow Worms, Sand Martins and Great Crested Newts and a range of habitats including Ancient Woodland and Chalk Grassland.

A Workshop to Learn how to Identify Grasses, Reeds and Rushes
Time and Date: 10.00 a.m.,Sunday 20th June.
Location: St. Andrews Rooms, Little Baddow
Leader: Dr. Ken Adams.
Event: The morning will consist of an indoor session where we will learn to identify some of the many different grasses that exist. There are over 60 species in Little Baddow. A Power Point presentation will be given and there will be practical sessions involving lenses / microscopes and flower dissection. You will also learn how to make use of keys to identify the plants. By the end of the morning you should be familiar with the structure of plants and the flowers which will give you the basis for identifying species. In the afternoon there will be a field walk to allow you to put into practice what you have learnt. We are very lucky to have Dr Ken Adams who is giving his time free of charge to run this workshop. He is the Wildflower Field Club recorder for Essex. To attend a workshop like this given by Ken would normally cost you in excess of £100. There will be a small charge (approx. £3) to cover the cost of the hire of the hall and Ken’s handouts. If you would like to attend this event please book a place at least 3 weeks before the event. In the event that numbers have to be limited places will be allocated on a first come basis.

Dragonflies, Grasshoppers and Butterflies Walk
Time and Date: 2.30 p.m. Sunday 25th July
Location: Paper Mill Lock, Little Baddow.
Leader : Dr.Tim Gardiner. Event: Learn to identify the dragonflies that we hope to find along the River Chelmer, the grasshoppers that Tim will catch in his net and butterflies that can be found along the footpaths we shall be walking.

Alresford Creek Wildlife Walk
Time and Date: 10.00 a.m., Saturday 14th August 2010
Location: The Tide Mill by Alresford Creek near Brightlingsea or at the parking area at the local farm. To be confirmed nearer the date.
Leader : Roger Tabor
Event: Come and join Roger Tabor, TV presenter, broadcaster, author and BNA chairman for a morning walk to discover the wildlife along the edge of Alresford Creek. We will start at the Tide Mill and walk along the sea wall to Alresford Creek where we will pause for a packed tea and bun. We will return along the field path and a section of the sea wall.

Fungus Foray
Time and Date: 10.00 a.m., Wednesday 20th October 2010
Location: Park in the Blake’s Wood Car National Trust car park of Riffhams Chase, Little Baddow. Map Ref: TL 775 064.
Leader : Tony Boniface
Event: A joint event with the Essex Field Club. The morning will involve collecting a minimum number of specimens before lunch, so bring your own packed lunch, followed by an identification session in St. Andrews Hall which we have hired for the purpose. To cover the cost of hiring the room there will be a small charge of approximately £2 per head. Please note that to attend this event you should contact Tony Boniface direct on 01245 266316.

Unless specifically stated in the event description, to attend any of the events above please e-mail: centralandnorthessex@bna-naturalists.org at least 2 weeks prior to the event giving your telephone number so that you can be contacted if the trip has to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

We welcome both experts and people with no knowledge of natural history who want to learn about the natural world. All events are free unless stated otherwise. Non-members of the BNA are most welcome to attend three events but after that time will be asked to join the BNA. Members attending events are covered by an insurance taken out by the BNA. Non-members are not covered by this insurance and attend at their own risk and on the basis that they are responsible for their own safety at all times. The BNA or individual leading the event accepts no responsibility for any accidents to individuals attending events.

If you are willing to organise and run a field trip for the branch in the future please e-mail: centralandnorthessex@bna-naturalists.org

Branch Report – Church Bat Watch onThursday 27th August 2009

The Bat Watch was held at All Saints Church in Brightlingsea, Essex. The evening got off to a great start at 7pm as a good range of refreshments and wine were served, including rather appropriately for a bat evening, “squashed fly” biscuits! Then the BNA Bat Specialist John Dobson armed with bat detector was introduced to a packed church by BNA chairman Roger Tabor and by Miss Girling on behalf of Friends of All Saints Church. This was a joint event with Friends of All Saints Church to help raise funds for bat-friendly repairs to the fabric. John spoke about the range of bats that we might detect, and their different habits, and how the bat detectors work.

As sunset was approaching at 8pm, the church lighting which had been kept minimal was turned down as we awaited to see how many species of bat we would be able to find in and flying around the medieval church.

John found bat droppings in the porch which he identified, and very shortly the detectors began to rattle out staccato sounds as bats wheeled over our heads. There were bats flying around in the tower below the belfry! John pointed out how we could tell whether a bat was flying towards us or away from us by the way the sounds changed on the detectors.

As the choir was used to soprano voices, it came as a pleasant surprise to most that the church was not only home to pipistrelles but also to the soprano pipistrelle bats! Then in and around the south porch chattering away was a Natterer’s bat. Numerous of the Friends said to the BNA members what a revelation it was to realise from the detectors that bats were flying around inside the church, and yet they had not seen them! When the bats set off on their night foray from the church they were spotted leaving by some of the group going over the west door of the tower by some of the group.

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.
Marsh Harrier, Pheasant, Brent Goose, Shelduck, Long-tailed Tit, Heron, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Little Egret, Wren, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Curlew, Coot, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Mallard, Canada Goose, Pochard, Cormorant, Tufted Duck, Greylag Goose, Stock Dove, Great Crested Grebe, Bearded Tit, Meadow Pipit, Black-tailed Godwit, Skylark, Mute Swan, Carrion Crow, Starling, Goldfinch, Grey Plover, Lesser-black Backed Gull, Golden Plover, Herring Gull, Magpie, Green Woodpecker, Grey Partridge, Dunlin, Common Gull, Robin, Moorhen, Dunnock, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Little Grebe, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Pied Wagtail, Goldeneye, Blackbird, Ruddy Duck, Woodpigeon, Common Sandpiper, Smew.