Events

We run a programme of evening talks from September to June at Bishop's Park Community Centre on the second Tuesday in each month. Walks and day trips continue around the year, with a special Quiz Night in September and a Horse Racing event to brighten up the New Year.

Everyone is welcome; you don't have to be a member of the RSPB (or the local group) to come along, although it is a good idea to confirm outdoor walks prior to the event. See below for more details.

June 2012

Sun
24

Morning Walk - Marks Hall Farm, White Roding

Location: Marks Hall Farm, White Roding
Meet at Waitrose, Bishops Stortford
Postcode: CM23 2BA (Google map)

Lee has been threatening this visit for some time. Marks Hall Farm is where he was working until earlier this year - it's one of the places where he gets to watch the birds on a regular basis. This is an area of intensive arable farming, with horse paddocks nearby. Expect to see swallows, house martins, yellow wagtails, linnets, yellowhammers - and other typical farmland birds.

Time: 9.00am

Price: Free

Telephone: 01279 654346

E-mail: l.jaques@yahoo.co.uk

July 2012

Sun
15

Woodwalton Fen National Nature Reserve

Location: Woodwalton Fen National Nature Reserve, near Ramsay in Cambridgeshire [between Huntingdon and Peterborough]
Meet at Waitrose car-park, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 2BA
Postcode: CM23 2BA (Google map)

Woodwalton Fen NNR lies at the lowest and most westerly part of the East Anglian fens. The area was dug for peat until the 1920s after which scrub invaded most of the site. It's now a Ramsar site [wetland of international significance] and a Special Area of Conservation, run by Natural England. The reserve serves an important function as a flood relief facility for adjoining farm land.

The best time to visit the site is in the summer for birds, flowers and dragonflies, so we'll be there just at the right time.

Bird species found at the site include tree pipit, long-eared owl and common teal; and bittern ans reed bunting are also seen.

The Fen is home to around 900 moth species and has more rare or notable moths than ANY other reserve in the UK; just listen to the poetry of these names: lunar yellow underwing, four spotted, white-spotted pinion and silky wave. Over 1,000 beetle species have also been recorded, including about 180 of national importance.

We don't get to see many of the fen plants in our part of the world. Areas of remaining acid peat support stands of purple moor-grass, with ling, bog myrtle, tormentil and saw sedge. Flower-rich mixed fen covers a significant area of the reserve and is home to yellow flag, swamp meadow grass and great water dock. The site is also home to rare fen plants such as fen wood-rush and fen violet, and the 15 km of ditches on the site support the rare water violet and carnivorous bladderwort.

It should be a great day out. Remember to take a packed lunch. There are several hides, but no cafe and no loos. We'll stop in a nearby village on the way.

Time: 9.00am

Price: Free

Telephone: 01279 654346

E-mail: l.jaques@yahoo.co.uk