Forthcoming Outings
Guidance for members
Members intending to join an outing are requested to contact the leader in advance so members can be contacted in the event of cancellation. The leader will provide advice about the arrangements for the visit. Please ensure that you are aware of these before travelling.
We encourage car sharing especially on longer trips in an effort to minimise carbon emissions and to ensure that non-drivers have the opportunity to participate. Please let the trip leader know if you can offer lifts or need one yourself and say where you live. We will try to help but cannot promise a lift will be available.
Passengers are expected to pay their share of fuel and parking costs. (Suggested fuel rate: £10 day or £5 half day)
Sunday 20th September Dungeness RSPB, Leader: Mike White 07981 037004
Meet Mike at ARC pits car park at 9.30am this is opposite the entrance to RSPB Dungeness. What3words: hopefully.fuse.prove Grid Ref: TR06303 19727. Toilets on the RSPB reserve open 9.00am-5.00pm Visitor centre 10.00am-4.00pm. Toilets also at the café in the RHD Railway station near the power station. We will remain flexible, checking out the ARC pits and if conditions and the birds are right we will do a seawatch, check the observatory grounds and probably finish the day on the RSPB reserve.
Wednesday 30th September (Midweek, morning) Bushy Park, Leader Thelma Caine 07527 448308.
Meet at 9.30am at the Diana Fountain car park for a leisurely walk, finishing around 1pm. There should be a variety of wildfowl on Heron Pond. Little Egret is frequently seen and Stonechats are often present in the bracken north of the pond. Birds of prey including Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard and Red Kite are all likely and resident species include Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and many more.
Wednesday 14th October Kempton Nature Reserve. Leader Mike White 07981-037004
Meet at the reserve entrance at 10.00am. The reserve entrance is on the corner of Main Street and Nallhead Rd, Hanworth. A code is required to enter, so wait if you do not have the code. If going by bus (111), there is a stop a short walk from the entrance at the corner of Green Lane and Main Street. Grid Ref TQ11693 71072. There are composting toilets on site and three hides. There should be winter ducks and depending on water levels possibly some waders. Cetti’s Warbler, Kingfisher, Reed Bunting, Egrets and raptors are all likely. Planning to finish at lunchtime.
Sunday 18th October, Farlington Marshes, Leader John Barkham 07803 295555
All day car outing to the south coast of Hampshire to see ducks, waders and birds in general. Farlington Marshes Nature Reserve is a coastal wildlife expanse overlooking the tidal mudflats of Langstone Harbour. We shall walk a 2-mile circuit around the Reserve on very uneven but level ground. In the afternoon we will visit other nearby locations dependent on recent sightings, as well as a Tea Room/Café. The day will probably end at the high tide wader roost at the nearby Hayling Island Oyster Beds. Meet Farlington Marshes at 9.30 am. From the A27, take the exit Portsmouth East (the A2030) and keep left. At the end of the slip road, take the turning immediately left on the roundabout (signed Farlington Marshes) and drive past the first car park. Park in the second, much larger, car park. Nearest postcode is PO6 1UN. Whats3Words: asleep.meant.amber. There are no toilets on the reserve, but Sainsbury’s supermarket is on Eastern Road. Bring food and drink for the day. John will co-ordinate any lifts, either offered or required. Do contact John to let him know of your attendance.
Sunday 25th October Rainham Marshes RSPB, Leader Rebecca Dunne (07879 645971)
Meet at 9.30. Bring lunch and drinks, there is nothing at the reserve Please advise Rebecca if you intend to come. Rebecca will organise lifts, if possible. Alternatively, you can easily get to Rainham on the train. It’s a 20-minute walk from Purfleet Station which is on the C2C line from Fenchurch Street. Turn right out of the station and then join the riverside path at the Royal Pub and follow the brown pedestrian signs. Cross the Mardyke Bridge to the Visitor Centre.
Rainham Marshes are a peaceful paradise for wetland birds on the outskirts of the capital, where you can spot a wide variety of species. They are a remnant of the medieval marshes which once dominated the area. They escaped redevelopment because of their former military use which you can still see traces of. Wildfowl and waders should have arrived for the winter. Species might include Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel, Peregrine, Raven, Bearded Tit, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Linnet, Stonechat, Lapwing, Shoveler, Pintail, Wigeon, Shelduck, Teal, Curlew, Little Egret, Snipe, Redshank, Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit and Corn Bunting. Our route will depend on which parts of the boardwalk are open. Sections are closed for major repair work (MDZ boardwalk and Woodland walk). However, a full circuit will still be possible if we walk anticlockwise and leave by the turnstile gate onto the Thames path. All the hides are open except for the MDZ (Kingfisher) hide.
Our visit will include a walk along the Thames path to look over the foreshore and maybe Wennington Marsh (part of the reserve closed to the public). We may also walk over the landfill mound which can be good for Skylarks, Linnet, Meadow Pipits and Corn Bunting. A full circuit of the reserve is 2.4 miles but shorter walks near the visitor centre are possible if you do not want to do the whole loop. Rainham has a glass fronted visitor centre with plenty of seating and panoramic views over the reserve and would be a good place to spend time if you don’t want to walk too far. Purfleet Scrape and hide are also very near the visitor centre.
Meet at the RSPB Rainham Marshes car park, New Tank Hill Rd, Purfleet, RM19 1SZ Free entry to the reserve. Parking is free for national RSPB members if you display your card. Nonmembers parking charge £5. Toilets, car park, visitor centre open 9:00am – 4:30pm Hides 9:30am – 4pm
The visitor’s centre has great views of the reserve but there is no café although they are hoping to install a hot drinks machine soon! You’ll pass a Greggs at the nearby garage on A1306 Arterial Road RM19 1TS
Sunday 8th November Two Tree Island, Leader Ruth Shinebaum 07985 028861
Two Tree Island is an Essex Wildlife Trust reserve adjacent to the internationally protected Thames Estuary. The eastern section has one of the best surviving saltmarsh habitats along the estuary and is part of the Leigh National Nature Reserve, whilst the western section has a scrape which brings waders close in and winter ducks bobbing nearby when the tide is right. The whole area is a key refuge in autumn for thousands of wildfowl and waders. Our visit in November 2023 gave us 12 wader species, including Curlew, Grey and Ringed Plover, Knot, Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwit and Greenshank. and large flocks of Brent Geese and Wigeon. Depending on the level of activity, tide, weather and local birding reports, we may move on a second site early afternoon, Canvey Point or West Canvey Marsh being nearby options which have served us well in the past
Meet at 930am on Two Tree Island. It’s off Belton Way, Leigh-on-Sea SS9 2GB (Grid Ref TQ824853.) Belton Way is a confusingly signposted right turn immediately after Leigh Station. Travelling down towards the slipway there’s a golf driving range on your right, a boat club on your left and then the car park where we are meeting on the left. If you go too far you’ll find yourself at the next car park which is the slipway car park, and you would need to come back up the road to the meeting place. There are no facilities on the reserve so bring lunch and, for the price of a cup of coffee or a sandwich, you can use the toilets at the golf driving range. Travel time is about 90 minutes and you need to cross to the other side of the Thames.
Wednesday 18th November (midweek walk) Tice’s Meadow, Leader: Thelma Caine 07527448308
Meet at Tice’s Meadow Nature Reserve at 9.30am. This is located between Badshot Lea and Tongham, on the southern outskirts of Aldershot. The best area to park is on the Lower Farnham Road (B3208) near the Pea Bridge (at SU 867490) Sat Nav: GU11 3RD. Tice’s Meadow is a nature reserve on the site of the former Farnham Quarry. The habitat consists of open water, gravel islands, scrapes, reedbeds, scrub, woodland, ponds and grassland. The site has a good bird list at this time of year including various wildfowl, waders, gulls, finches, thrushes, woodpeckers and birds of prey. Please note there are no toilets on site, but facilities are nearby at Squires Garden Centre, Badshot Lea Road, GU9 9JX which opens at 9am.
Wednesday 25th November Note change of date. Pulborough RSPB. Leader Mike White 07981-037004
Meet Mike in the car park at 09.30am. Postcode RH20 2EL. Grid Ref: TQ 0627 1655 What three words: crank,enabling,velocity. Parking: Members Free. Non-members £3.00 payable by using “Pay By Phone” app or at the Welcome Hut by cash during opening hours. Remember to bring your membership card, non-members charge £5.00. The visitor centre, open from 10.00am – 4.00pm, houses the Toilets and Shop. The café has hot drinks and a limited amount of hot/cold food. The reserve is 630 acres of wet grassland, woodland, hedgerows, meadow and heath within the Arun Valley SPA & SCA. Numbers of the expected duck species should now be building with hopefully a selection of waders. Raptors should be well represented with Peregrine, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Red Kite and White-tailed Eagle all possible. Winter thrushes should have arrived and hopefully a good selection of the regular passerines, including Bullfinch, will be there for the finding.
December 6th, Sunday (all day): Rye Harbour
December 16th, Wednesday (morning): Midweek: Barnes WWT