Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve

Newsletter

Issue 24 January 2013

Dear Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve,

Welcome to another winter edition of the Crossness

Nature Reserve Newsletter. As usual over the winter

period, we’ve been busy undertaking lots of habitat

work. This time, in addition to the hard graft, the

work has included planting rare species for the

long-term conservation of Marsh Sow-thistle, and

sowing Yellow Rattle seeds for a rare species of

carder bee found at Crossness.

We have installed 8 fingerposts across the two sites

to help visitors navigate their way across the

marshes, and we will soon have interpretation

boards too.

Plans are underway to create a new pond, together

with dipping platform; replace the old boardwalk;

and hopefully, if all goes to plan, install a posh new

bird hide in place of the existing one. It is all

very exciting.

Unfortunately, we are still having problems with

overgrazing on the Crossness Southern Marsh.

This is undermining our conservation objectives

and is more important than ever to get under

control, particularly having discovered the rare

Shrill Carder Bee at Crossness.

Our wildlife records are way down for this time of

the year. There are a number of contributing factors:

the relocation of our key recorder; the cessation of

bird ringing; and restricted access to the bird hide

before the new-build is constructed. I would

therefore urge you to enter all your records into the

log book (currently located in a box in front of the

hide) or to email them to me. Your records are

invaluable data for the reserve – thank you.

We had a wonderful ‘Bumblebee Ecology,

Identification and Conservation’ talk provided in

December. Unfortunately the ‘Seals and Cetaceans

of the south-east’ January talk had to be postponed

due to the snow. This has now been rescheduled for

Friday 22nd

March. I look forward to seeing many of

you then, if not before.

Karen Sutton – Crossness Nature Reserve Manager

Wildlife records – Oct-Dec 2012

Species No. through-out

quarter

Peak no.

recorded

Species

No. through-out

quarter

Peak no.

recorded

Arctic tern 2 2 Kingfisher 5 1

Black headed gull 2800 2500 Lapwing 600 115

Blackbird 7 7 Lesser black-backed gull 10 10

Black redstart 2 1 Lesser redpoll 48 40

Black-tailed godwit 316 100 Linnet 107 100

Blue tit 1 1 Little egret 8 2

Buff-tailed bumblebee 3 3 Little grebe 3 2

Canada goose 22 22 Long-tailed tit 5 4

Carrion crow 1 1 Magpie 1 1

Cetti's warbler 10 4 Mallard 55 30

Chiffchaff 3 1 Meadow pipit 4 2

Comma butterfly 1 1 Migrant hawker dragonfly 2 2

Common carder bee 4 4 Moorhen 70 36

Common darter dragonfly 6 6 Peregrine falcon 5 2

Common shrew (dead) 1 1 Pheasant 5 2

Common tern 2 2 Pied wagtail 3 2

Coot 1 1 Redshank 408 300

Cormorant 11 9 Redwing 11 6

Curlew 6 4 Reed bunting 5 3

Dunlin 1234 350 Robin 1 1

Dunnock 5 2 Shelduck 120 70

Egret (poss Great) 1 1 Shoveler 90 20

Fieldfare 16 16 Skylark 6 4

Gadwall 351 150 Snipe 18 9

Goldcrest 1 1 Sparrowhawk 3 1

Goldfinch 27 20 Starling 1 1

Great black-backed gull 2 2 Stock dove 4 4

Great crested grebe 3 2 Stonechat 2 1

Great spotted w/pecker 1 1 Teal 1879 330

Great tit 1 1 Tufted duck 6 4

Green sandpiper 2 1 Water rail 4 1

Green woodpecker 4 2 Wheatear 2 1

Grey heron 4 2 Wigeon 64 12

Herring gull 1 1 Woodlark 1 1

House sparrow 1 1 Wood pigeon 1 1

Kestrel 4 1 Wren 1 1

No. throughout quarter = total number of times species has been recorded during three month period. Peak no. = peak number of particular species seen at any one time (better indicator of number using the site).

Birding highlights of 2011 – by John Archer Observer coverage dropped from last year’s levels, and this was reflected in the number of species recorded, which

was 150, compared with 164 in 2010. Nevertheless, there were some excellent records, including the site’s first Roseate

Terns in September, Honey Buzzard, Osprey, several Red Kites and Marsh Harriers, 2 Iceland Gulls, 4 Arctic Skuas,

2 Bearded Tits, a flock of 20 White-fronted Geese, 2 Little Stints, 3 Wood Sandpipers and a cracking summer plumaged

Spotted Redshank. All of these would be eclipsed, however, in the (perhaps unlikely) event the Marbled Duck seen in

January is accepted as a wild bird. Cetti’s Warbler established itself as a breeding species, with at least 2 successful

pairs, and Barn Owls nested successfully for the first time since 2007.

January

The year got off to an excellent start on 1st, with a drake Red-breasted Merganser flying east, 2 Greater Scaup west in

the morning, and an exceptional count of 23 Grey Plovers that included a flock of 15 flying west around midday. Up to 8

of the latter were seen on several dates throughout the month, with odd ones over the rest of the winter and early

spring. A Jack Snipe was on the foreshore on 2nd

, and a juvenile Iceland Gull off the Golf Centre on 3rd

. 40 Common

Snipe on Southern Marsh scrape on 5th was a very high count for the site. 2 Bearded Tits were in the Protected Area on

9th. A first winter Marbled Duck by the outfall on 10

th caused much debate about its origin. It was fully-winged, unringed

and very wary, but its plumage was extremely tatty. We’ll probably never know for sure, but if the BOURC ever admits

this species to the British List, this has to be a candidate London’s first record. The rest of the month was rather quiet

until 30th, when a female Brambling was trapped and Grey Plover numbers rose to 20.

February

A Ruff was by the outfall on 9th and 11

th. An unprecedented flock of 12 Avocets was in Barking Bay on 20

th, with 2 remaining

to the following day. Also on 20th, 2 adult Little Gulls flew east and a flock of 8 Rock Pipits was an unusually high number.

Another Little Gull flew east on 21st, when an adult Mediterranean Gull was also on the river. 4 Jackdaws flew north on 27

th.

March

March was a quiet month. A juvenile Iceland Gull on the Thames on 26th was the

undoubted highlight. The only other scarce species were an adult Mediterranean

Gull west on 2nd

, and a Redpoll west on 19th. The first summer visitors were 2 Northern

Wheatears on 24th, followed by a Blackcap on 26

th. An adult Red-breasted Goose on

the Sewage Works angling lake on 28th sported a yellow ring, leaving no doubt over

its origins. It reappeared at various localities around the patch during the year.

Photos: juvenile Iceland Gull (Mar 26 2011); Grey Plover (Apr 30 2011), by John Archer.

April

The start of April saw summer visitors arriving in force, with the first Common Tern,

Swallow and Sand Martin all on 2nd

.An immature male Marsh Harrier flew north-west

on 3rd

. A smart male Common Redstart was in the Protected Area on 6th. An escaped

Harris’s Hawk on Southern Marsh on 10th caused alarm briefly to the observer, and for

rather longer among the resident crows. A Wood Sandpiper on 12th was both very

early and very mobile, being seen on several flooded areas of the Nature Reserve.

A flock of 12 immaculate adult Little Gulls was a fine sight flying east on 17th,

with another adult lingering on the river. A Greenshank was on Norman Road pond on 19th, and the first Common

Cuckoo of the year was in the Protected Area the same day. 22nd

was a good day, with another Wood Sandpiper

flushed from the ditch by Norman Road Field, a Red Kite south-west, a Tree Pipit north-west, at least 2 Yellow Wagtails

over, 4 adult Mediterranean Gulls upriver (later seen at the Wetland Centre), and a drake Mallard x Gadwall hybrid by

the outfall. An Arctic Tern flew east on 25th, and there were at least 2 Hobbies that day. A Greenshank and 26 Bar-tailed

Godwits were on the foreshore on 29th, the start of an excellent wader passage. The final day of the month saw “big day”

competition with Brent Reservoir, and turned out to be an excellent choice of day. 13 species of waders (without Lapwing,

Redshank or Curlew!) included a Curlew Sandpiper, the third Wood Sandpiper of the spring, a Ruff, 2 Turnstones, 9 Grey

Plovers and at least 24 Bar-tailed Godwits. Other good birds recorded during the day included a Tree Pipit, a Turtle Dove,

9 Black Terns and an Arctic Tern, and the final species count was 84, narrowly beating Brent.

May

The superb run of waders continued on 1st, with 2 Little Stints in Barking Bay in the morning, and a superb summer

plumaged Spotted Redshank on the Essex foreshore by the Ford works in the afternoon, the latter remaining till 2nd

.

A single Bar-tailed Godwit was also on the foreshore on 1st, with another seen on 7

th. Two Sandwich Terns flew east on

4th. A drake Mandarin Duck flying rapidly upriver on 7

th was a surprise, and the first patch record since one on Southmere

in the winter of 1983-4. A Spotted Flycatcher and a female Common Redstart were trapped and ringed on 8th. Two Sanderlings

were on the foreshore on 11th. A Rook flew south on 13

th, and the Mallard x Gadwall hybrid was back that day, and also seen

on 22nd

. Another Spotted Flycatcher was seen on 17th. On 18

th, a Little Tern flew downriver, as did 6 Sanderlings, with a

seventh Sanderling on the foreshore. A Black Redstart was singing just east of the Incinerator on 19th. Another Sanderling

was on the foreshore on 20th, with 4 more on 28

th and 2 on 30

th. The second Rook of the spring flew north on 28

th.

June A Greenshank on 4th was the only unusual bird in a typically quiet month.

July

A Sandwich Tern was on the river on 3rd

, and 2 more flew east on 30th. The first juvenile Mediterranean Gull of the

autumn was by the outfall on 11th. A Black Tern flew west on 22

nd, and 2 drake Common Scoters were on the river on

27th. A Red Kite was over the new reed bed in Island Field on 31

st.

August

A female Marsh Harrier was watched distantly over Barking Levels on 5th. An Osprey flew south on 10

th, the first on the

patch since 2006. A Garden Warbler on 13th was the first record this year. 2 juvenile Black Terns were off the Golf

Centre on 18th, the start of a moderate autumn passage which saw up to 7 on a further ten dates in August and

September. A Common Guillemot was on the Thames for about an hour over lunchtime on 23rd

before flying upriver.

This is the third consecutive year a Guillemot has been seen on the river here in late August or early September

(but never by the author, who still needs this species to fill a gap in his London list!). 2 juvenile Arctic Terns were also on

the river on 23rd

. An adult female Common Goldeneye on the Thames on 24th was unseasonal, and only the fourth

patch record, following 3 last year. 4 Sandwich, 1 Arctic and 6 Black Terns the same day were more typical for the

month. Another Sandwich Tern flew west on 27th. A Greenshank was seen on 29

th.

September

The month started surprisingly quietly. The second (and last) Garden Warbler of the year was seen on 11th. A juvenile

Bar-tailed Godwit on 13th remained on the foreshore until 16

th. The latter day was one of the best of the autumn, with 3

adult Arctic Skuas flying high south just after midday, followed 4 hours later by a pale juvenile Honey Buzzard.

The skuas were added to a Sidcup garden list a few minutes after the passed Crossness, thanks to a tip-off that they

were on the way. Other good birds on 16th included a juvenile Arctic Tern and the autumn peak count of 7 Black Terns.

A Curlew Sandpiper on the foreshore on 17th was the second record of the year, but only the third or fourth ever.

The birds of the year (unless that marbled Duck ends up on Category A) were an adult Roseate Tern feeding a first

winter by the power station outfall in the afternoon of 25th. The first record for the site, they remained till dusk, to the

delight of all the patch regulars and a number of birders from further afield. The only Garganey of the year, a juvenile,

was found on the foreshore the same day, and remained until 10th October.

October

A juvenile Greenshank on the foreshore on 9th remained until 14

th. A juvenile Arctic Skua was seen on the Thames at

Belvedere on 12th, having been seen off Rainham earlier. 2 Brent Geese flew east on 14

th, and the only Northern Pintail of

the year, a female, was in Barking Bay the same day, as was a Grey Plover. 21 Siskins flew over the same day, mostly

heading south. A Marsh Harrier was seen on 15th. 2 Redpolls flew south-west on 21

st. A Pair of Jackdaws checked out the

new owl box on 24th, raising a possible dramatic change in status from rare visitor to breeding resident, but were not seen

subsequently. A first winter Little Gull flew east on 30th, and 2 Lesser Redpolls and a Siskin flew south-west the same day.

November

16 Brent Geese flew west in 2 flocks on 6th, with 2 more the next day. A Red-breasted Merganser flew east on 8

th.

An Avocet was watched from Barking, flying towards the high tide roost by Crossness Engines, on 9th and another flew

east along the Thames on 14th. A European Golden Plover flew over the golf centre on 12

th. A male Black Redstart was

around the sea wall and paddocks from 13th to 17

th. A female Common Scoter was on the river on 17

th. A Woodcock

was flushed from the Protected Area on 25th.

December

Another Avocet was by the outfall on 8th. 11

th saw a Siskin in the Protected Area, and 3 Grey Plovers in the high tide

roost. A Short-eared Owl was in Norman Road Field on 14th. A flock of 20 White-fronted Geese were a surprise as they

flew west on 18th; over half were juveniles, suggesting a good breeding season. The only Knot of the year was in

Barking Bay on 22nd

.

Waxwings

Although not on the nature reserve, John Archer recorded and photographed these lovely Waxwings on the

nearby Thames Path near the Crossness lighthouse on 28th December 2012. Apart from the odd flyover,

these are the first Waxwings to be recorded in the Crossness area. A big thank you to John.

Photo by John Archer, used with kind permission

Student project – owl pellet analysis

Hoi-Yee Lam (pictured) is undertaking

analysis of the Crossness 2011 barn owl

pellets. This is a part of her project placement

before embarking on an MSc Environmental

Conservation course at the University of

Greenwich. Having already gained a BSc in

Forensic Science, she appears to be the

ideal candidate for the job!

This analysis, plus the follow-up site work

that she is planning to undertake, will provide

us with invaluable data regarding the

Crossness Nature Reserve small

mammal fauna. This is because the

pellets, which are regurgitated by the

owls, contain the prey remains that

the owls are unable to digest,

ie bones and fur. These bones can

be extracted and identified, enabling

us to identify exactly what small

mammals make up the owls’ diet.

Good luck with your project Hoi-Lee;

we look forward to seeing the results.

Volunteer taskday

The 19th December saw an eventful reed clearing day on Crossness Southern Marsh. Eight people

turned out despite the cold and wet for the annual reed cutting. The event was not before time;

already wet and muddy underfoot, the very next week it was all under water and clearance would have

been impossible. As it was, the boggy conditions were challenging: we raked up the cut reed into a

number of piles, but when trying to transport the piles out of the reedbed, I managed to get my truck

well and truly stuck and had to be pulled out by one of our volunteers, Roger, who, fortunately for me,

is the owner of a landrover – thank you Roger!

Many thanks to Roger, Reg, Ursula, Dorothy, Martin, Dave, Neil and Arnold for your help and also for

your patience whilst carrying out vehicle recovery! As a result of your hard work and efforts,

the health of the reedbed will continue and the biodiversity increase. Rotational reed cutting reduces

scrub invasion, removes leaf litter and subsequent drying, and it provides a mosaic of age structure

suitable for different species; reed warblers, for instance, prefer a wetter reedbed, whereas sedge

warbler favour drier conditions; a variety of reedbed-specialist moths require different conditions

also, so your efforts and patience on that bizarre day were certainly not in vain – thank you.

Bogged-down truck photo by Ursula Keene. Used with kind permission

Shreaking and shrilling at rare bee find I was indeed shreaking and shrilling, when a rare Shrill Carder Bee (Bombus

sylvarum) was discovered on Crossness Nature Reserve by Sam Page of the

Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Dr Nikki Gammans came out to undertake a bumblebee survey on 11th September.

This was very late in the year for a bee survey which meant that bumblebee

diversity and abundance was naturally low. There are few flowering plants at that

time of the year (mostly thistle spp), and you will generally only find queens and male bees. However,

the longer-tongued bee species (which include the carder bees) emerge later in the year (around May and

June) and so are active later than some of the short-tongued species. As was expected then, Dr Gammans

recorded mostly Bombus pascuorum (Common Carder Bee), but also recorded Bombus terrestris

(Buff-tailed Bumblebee) and Bombus lapidarious (Red-tailed Bumblebee) across the Crossness Southern

Marshes and Crossness Nature Reserve. These were found foraging on thistle, black horehound, ragwort,

red clover and lesser burdock.

The following day, the BCT’s Conservation Officer, Sam Page, came for a site visit and whilst, for most of our

walk, we saw good numbers of B. pascuorum, we also saw a B. sylvarum (Shrill Carder Bee) foraging on its

preferred foraging plant, black horehound, along Footpath 2 just south of the Protected Area entrance.

The Shrill Carder Bee is one of the two rarest bumblebees in the UK, and is restricted to just 6 or 7

meta-populations, one of which is in the Thames Gateway, so this was a very exciting find.

We will be undertaking management prescriptions to provide further suitable habitat for this carder bee, and will

be undertaking monitoring to monitor the presence and abundance of bumblebee species, record which

forage plants are used by which different species at different times of the year to inform future management,

and to monitor for responses to any changes in management.

In the meantime, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust kindly donated 90g of local province Yellow Rattle

seeds; we sowed these at the beginning of December in four small areas (two on the southern marshes; two in

the Protected Area of the nature reserve). As well as being a good bumblebee forage plant, Yellow Rattle is

hemiparasitic and feeds off the roots of coarse grasses. This means that it can play an important role in

grassland restoration by breaking up the dominant grasses and creating space for less competitive wildflowers

to establish. I understand that it is notoriously difficult to get established, so fingers are very firmly crossed

that we are successful with this.

The pictures below show Shrill Carder Bee and its diagnostic features for identification. Please do keep an

eye out for these and other bees, and be sure to record them in the wildlife log book. If anybody might be

interested in undertaking voluntary bumblebee monitoring, involving walking a weekly transect across the

two sites from March to September and recording findings, do please get in contact – thank you.

Overall colour is greeny-grey, with a distinct black band running

across the thorax between the wing bases. Tail is orange-red

but it is not bright or extensive.

Bumblebee presentation

On 14th January, Dr Nikki Gammans, on behalf of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and the Short-haired

Bumblebee reintroduction project, came to Crossness to give a presentation on the ecology, identification

and conservation of UK bumblebee species.

Thirteen people attended the very informative talk and even had an opportunity to buy bee-related goodies,

including ID books and charts, honey, soaps, even greeting cards and wrapping paper that I was unable to resist.

The presentation was timely in light of our exciting Shrill Carder Bee find, but Nikki wasn’t at Crossness to

talk exclusively about this one species. We were told that approximately 250 bumblebee species exist

across the world, and that the UK has 24 species (of which 6 are cuckoo species). In addition, there is 225

species of solitary bee and one species of honey bee (the latter being classified as a domesticated species).

We all know that bumblebees are in decline, but 32% of bumbles are threatened! Two species have gone

extinct, and there are 7 BAP (Biodiversity Action Plan) species, of which the Shrill Carder Bee is one.

To demonstrate the importance of bumblebees, we were told that bees pollinate 84% of crops, 80% of

wildflowers and that they contribute £520m to the UK economy.

Nikki told us that, compared with the thousands that make up a honeybee colony, there might be only

50-400 workers in a colony of bumblebees, with approx 100 being more typical. And again, unlike honeybees,

only the queen over-winters, with the remainder of the colony dying off. The queen lives for about a year,

while workers only live for 3 months.

Bumblebees have longer tongues than cuckoo species or honeybees, but there are both short-tongue and

long-tongue species of bumblebees when you compare them with each other. The short-tongue species

tend to be doing relatively well, particularly since they emerge early in March/April and have two or possibly

three populations, but the longer-tongued species are the ones that are significantly declining. This is

primarily due to loss of foraging habitat, with a loss of 98% of our wildflower meadows over the last 60

years, and also because they emerge later (May/June) and therefore need forage in September when there

are less wildflowers present because of our hay cuts.

We were advised that some favoured foraging plants include red clover, yellow rattle and tufted vetch (for

long-tongued species), white clover (short-tongue), vipers bugloss (a firm favourite for both short and long,

and honeybees love it too), knapweed and teasel which are late-flowering species, and foxglove which is an

early source of nectar and pollen. Lavender is the best species to plant because it is favoured by short- and

long-tongued bees, as well as honeybees, butterflies and a whole range of insects.

Most bumblebees nest in existing nests created by birds or small mammals (they are particularly fond of

blue-tit boxes); they will nest under sheds, paving etc. Certain species, such as the carder bees, nest on the

ground surface in tussocky grass, and there’s even a Tree Bumblebee, which colonised the UK in 2001 from

France and is the only UK species to nest in trees. The queen builds a wax cup and lays her eggs, and the

first few months are devoted to the production of workers. Males will eventually be turfed out of the nest because

they aren’t active in tending the nest; they only live for 1-3 weeks with their sole purpose being to mate.

It’s a fascinating subject and I can well understand the energy and enthusiasm expressed

by Dr Nikki Gammans. She went on to tell us about the exciting Short-haired Bumblebee

reintroduction project that she has been championing. The species went extinct in the UK,

with the last recorded at Dungeness in 1988. They were officially declared extinct in 2000

due to habitat loss, but since 2009, the project has been reintroducing populations from

New Zealand and Sweden, and recreating suitable habitat as release sites, primarily in

southern Kent (Romney Marsh and Dungeness being particularly good), and gradually moving up into the

south-west Kent. Of the 7 rarest bumblebee species, including the reintroduced Short-haired Bumblebee,

Kent now has 6 of these species!

I would encourage you to visit the website (www.bumblebeeconservation.org) and also to take a look at

Nikki’s blog (subt.bumblebeeconservation.org) to learn more about the project and bumblebees generally;

both make for very interesting reading and will hopefully inspire you to learn more about these fascinating

creatures.

These little snippets of info came up during the presentation and also during a Q&A session at the end;

I thought it would be useful to include them here:

� STINGING: Only the queen and workers (females) sting, not the males, but neither sting unless

directly threatend

� Unlike the honeybee, bumblebees do not die after stinging

� PREDATION: Predators include badgers, field mouse, shrews, moles, stoat and fox. They predate on

the grubs, not the adults, but blue-tits will predate on adults, snipping off the abdomen, eating the

entrails and guts and leaving the shell

� SEXUAL IDENTIFICATION: A good diagnostic feature for sexing bumblebees, is the antennae. In

males it is curved and has an extra segment (13) and is therefore longer. Also, females have a sting,

and although it may not be visible when not extracted, the last abdominal segment is very pointed;

male bumbles, in contrast, have a squared-off last abdominal segment. Males have a yellow beard

which is absent in females, and males tend to have hairy legs that are not shiny (because they don’t

have to work so hard), compared with the worn, shiny legs of the female.

� If you see a bumble with pollen baskets, it will be a true bumblebee (not a cuckoo species) and it will

also be female (males don’t have pollen baskets); however if you see a bumble heavily dusted with

pollen it is likely to be a male because they don’t groom so much

� Big bumblebees (about 1 inch) are queens. They are more lethargic than workers and can be seen

as early as Feb/Mar. Workers are approx one-third smaller than the queen, but early workers are

smaller than the later emerging workers; males are about half the size of the queen

� SPECIES IDENTIFICATION: There are some great books available to aid with the identification of

bumblebees and the Natural History Museum website is also very good and worth checking out:

www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/bombus

� Nikki Gamman’s identification tip is to first look at the tail colour, then the thorax (between the head

and abdomen). Cuckoo species complicate things, but cuckoos have dark wings and they also have

more chitin so are more shiny; they have less fur and are bigger.

� Nikki’s tip for seeing a good variety of bumblebees: visit Dungeness, Cliffe Pools, the Thames

Estuary and North Kent Marshes.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to Dr Nikki Gammans for providing us with such a fasincating and

informative presentation, it really was inspirational – thank you!

Marsh Sow-thistle

You may recall that we reintroduced the locally extinct and nationally scarce Marsh Sow-thistle (Sonchus

palustris) onto Crossness Nature Reserve in the spring of 2012.

Well, in the Autumn, thanks to Chris Rose (vice chair of the Bexley Natural Environment Forum and

volunteer manager of the Thames Road Wetland in Crayford) who has been growing this plant from seed,

we have now planted a further 16 plugs (from three different parent plants, to maintain genetic diversity) on

the ridge and furrow reedbed. Hopefully they will grow well, and the north-westerly winds will scatter seeds

and create further colonisation throughout the reedbed within the protected area. But just in case that

doesn’t work, we also hope to take more seedlings from Chris and Mark Spencer (National History

Museum) to further the expansion of this rather special plant across the marshes.

Look out for this tall (90cm – 3m) perennial. It naturally grows in tall herb fen communities along rivers

valleys, fens and floodplains, and is now largely restricted to the Broads in East Anglia.

Control of motorbike access Motorbike access on Crossness Southern Marsh has been an ongoing problem, particularly at the east end (Belvedere)

of the site. In an effort to control this and thereby avoid accidents and habitat/wildlife damage, we have made modifications to

the kissing gate and we have also installed a motorbike inhibitor at the entrance to the pedestrian footbridge.

This means that even if motorbikes

breach the fence and continue to

get through and into Bridge

Meadow, they will be prevented

from getting onto the rest of the

southern marsh, and in particular it

prevents them from getting onto

the blind bend just beyond this

bridge where an accident could

otherwise occur.

Forthcoming site enhancements

This month will see the start of some enhancements on the nature reserve and southern marshes.

The boardwalk (located in the Protected Area reedbeds) is about to get a good revamp. Having been in

place for over ten years, many of the timbers are now rotten and in need of replacement for the structure

to remain safe. We are taking this opportunity to improve the existing structure by making it wider (the same

width as the north section added in 2010), and higher. All too often the lower section of the boardwalk is

flooded with the site’s high water levels in winter. This not only compromises the longevity of the timbers,

but can often make it impassable without suitable footwear. The new and improved structure (due to be

replaced in February) should hopefully put an end to this.

A new pond and dipping platform is to be created on the Crossness Southern Marsh this winter. This will

provide further habitat for aquatic invertebrates, including dragonflies and damselflies, and will also pro-

vide an additional education resource to the Southern Marshes.

Although currently facing some complications with design and planning, we are still hoping to install a new

two-storey birdhide in this financial year. If all goes to plan, it will be a timber split-level octagonal structure

in the same location as the existing hide. In addition to external steps up to the first floor, a fully accessible

ramp (boardwalk) will also be provided. This upper level will allow better views of the scrape, but will also

allow for some views of the West Paddock which is undoubtedly our most interesting area for birds, but

currently has restricted views. Our new structure will also be fully glazed and lined, so it will be much

warmer and cosier that our block-built hide. If all goes ahead, this will lead to some considerable disruption

for a while in the winter/spring period, but the result will be well worth your patience.

Member photos

Do you have photos taken at Crossness that you could contribute to future newsletter issues?

Pied wagtail at Southmere Lake, by Ursula Keene Wheatear on West Paddock 6th Oct 2012, by James Hudson

An arty shot of dewy moss. Photo by Ursula Keene, used with kind permission

Forthcoming events 2013

Crossness Nature Reserve

Date Event Meeting details

Fri 22nd March

19:00 – 21:00

INDOOR PRESENTATION – Seals and cetaceans in the south-east by

Jon Bramley. Jon is a mammal expert and chaired the Kent Mammal Group

for years. Since discovering that the installation of offshore windfarms in the

south-east were not adequately taking account of the impacts on marine

mammals due to a complete lack of sufficient data, Jon and his team have

worked tirelessly to rectifiy this. They have carried out weekly monitoring and

identified many new locations for marine mammals, such as repeatedly-used

haul-out points for common seal; as such, they have contributed enormously

to the biodiversity records of these species. This presentation will discuss the

work being done to monitor seals and cetaceans. And if you get nothing else

from this fascinating talk (but you will!), you will learn the best and easiest

way to tell apart, from a distance, the common seal from the grey seal –

a great identification technique. Light refreshments will be provided.

PLEASE BOOK YOUR PLACE ON THIS EVENT (This is the rescheduled

event that was postponed in January. I will contact those that were

booked onto the January event to see if you would still like to hold your

booking for the revised date)

19:00 at the Crossness Sludge Powered Generator

ground floor meeting room. The address is Crossness

Sewage Treatment Works, Belvedere Road,

Abbey Wood, SE2 9AQ. I will email more detailed

directions upon booking.

Due to the volume of capital works taking place on the nature reserve and southern marshes over the next few months, I have not

planned any outdoor events for this period. I will however, put a revised events programme together for the April newsletter.

Panoramic shots of the Island Field reedbed just after the January snow, 23rd

Jan 2013.

Crossness Nature Reserve

Viewing platform Kissing gatesWind pump

Bird hide

Sand Martin wall

Bat cave

Wader scrape & shingle islandStiles

Protected area

Site access Site features

Trees/scrub

WaterbodiesPublic footpath

Path in protected area

Reedbed

Boardwalk

Public footpath & cycleway

EAST PADDOCK

PARSLEY FIELD

WEST

PADDOCK

Thames Pathwayto Erith

Thames Pathway to Thamesmead

River Thames

ISLAND FIELD

Norm

an R

oad

Eastern Way (A2016)

GREAT BREACH LAGOON

NORMAN ROAD

FIELD

LAGOON FIELD

SEA WALL

FIELD

STABLE

PADDOCK

Great Breach Dyke North

Great Breach

Dyke East

Great Breach

Dyke West

Power lines

Wader Scrape

Reedbed Dyke

Hide Dyke

Education pond

Mini-beast area

Great Breach

Pumping Station North Dyke

Lay-by with potential for 1–2 parked cars

West Paddock Ditch

Horse

Head

Ditch

180 401 601

Buses

Crossness Southern Marsh

Ditches

Reedbed

Permisive footpath

Fencing

Contractor access gate

Public access gate

Wader scrapes

Culvert ditch crossings

Footbridge

Ponds/horse drinking pools

Viewpoints

Belvedere Road

GREAT BREACH

PADDOCK

SOUTH DYKE

PADDOCK

MAIN PADDOCK

LITTLE PADDOCK

POND MEADOW

LONG MEADOW

Existing public footpath

leading to Crossness

Nature Reserve

& Thames Pathway

Eastern Way (A2016)

Eastern Way

Dyke East

Eastern Way

Dyke West

Erith Marsh

Dyke West

Belvedere Road

Path Ditch

THE WETLAND

Erith Marsh

Dyke East

Erith Marsh

Dyke South

SALINE MEADOW

Hedge