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Tuesday 11 October 2011
Wednesday 5 October 2011
Volunteer Sessions at London Wildlife Trust at Barking Riverside September - December 2011
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Friday 30 September 2011
It’s official… Guinness have said that we really have built the largest bee house in the world at Barking Riverside.
It’s official… Guinness have said that we really have built the largest bee house in the world at Barking Riverside.
After two months of waiting for Guinness to go through the evidence and check our measurements, they have confirmed that we have a Guinness World Record.
For more information, see the blog entry from 11th July 2011 below, and the article in the Observer, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/07/projects-to-encourage-solitary-bees
Wednesday 24 August 2011
New water vole footage from Barking Riverside
New water vole footage from Barking Riverside
Last week, we set up a motion sensor wildlife camera focused on a water vole hotspot. We left it running for a week and have managed to get three clips of live water voles roaming around the ditch edge.
We have now repositioned the camera so hopefully we’ll get better and longer footage in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime check out these videos on You Tube:
Tuesday 9 August 2011
The Bee Garden is buzzing!
The Backyard Bee garden, designed especially for Barking Riverside’s bees is buzzing with life.
The wildflowers are all thriving and are covered in bees of all types. Even the rare bumblebee, the brown banded carder bee has been spotted:
It’s important to provide wildflowers in your garden that flower throughout the year, Pussy Willow and fruit trees are great. The buff tailed bumblebee is one of the first bees to emerge from hibernation, so it is important to provide nectar in your garden all through the year. In the Backyard Bee garden, we have planted all sorts of trees along with herbs and other wildflowers that flower at different times in the year. We have also prepared nesting habitat in the form of a meadow, a compost heap and bare sandy south facing banks, as different bees have different nesting requirements.
We also have the largest bee hotel in the world, which was written about in the Observer on 7th August 2011:
A common carder bee was also recorded foraging in the garden:
Monday 11 July 2011
Biggest bee house in the world at Barking Riverside
Biggest bee house in the world at Barking Riverside
The world’s largest bee house in the world at Barking Riverside was opened for bee business on Saturday 18th June. Local volunteers and residents helped London Wildlife Trust and Make:Good to build the house out of wood and bamboo.
Alison Benjamin, co-author of “A World Without Bees”, adjudicated this world record attempt and confirmed that the Barking Riverside’s bee house is 16.56m2, (13.04m by 1.27m), exceeding that built by the current record holder, Kent Wildlife Trust, by nearly 5m2.
Volunteers took up the task of building the bee house three weeks ago, contributing over 750 hours of work involving the cutting over 20,000 pieces of bamboo, sawing over 200 logs, drilling numerous holes and building the housing structure. The bee house, sponsored by Barking Riverside Ltd and the Big Lottery Fund, will provide thousands of valuable nesting sites for Barking Riverside’s 30 or so solitary bee species.
The event attracted 80 willing volunteers mainly from the Thames View community in Barking, wishing to help finish the bee house to make it a Guinness World Record. The day concluded about 4.30pm, after the final log had been placed, measurements been made, and when local Scout volunteer, Owen McNaughton, shouted “we’ve got a mover-inner”, as he watched the first bee crawl into one of the bamboo canes claiming the bee house to be their new home.
The event attracted 80 willing volunteers mainly from the Thames View community in Barking, wishing to help finish the bee house to make it a Guinness World Record. The day concluded about 4.30pm, after the final log had been placed, measurements been made, and when local Scout volunteer, Owen McNaughton, shouted “we’ve got a mover-inner”, as he watched the first bee crawl into one of the bamboo canes claiming the bee house to be their new home.
Barking Riverside’s Conservation Officer, Francesca Barker said
“We have built this bee house at Barking Riverside to provide habitat for solitary bees which are in decline in Britain. It has been incredible how much support we have received. Not only have our local residents and volunteers invested a lot of their evening and weekend time to help out, but the local businesses have been very kind through providing us with all sorts of things such as roofing felt, excavators, top soil and one business even dismantled a whole floor of their scaffolding so we could use the scaffold boards for the housing structure!”
“We have built this bee house at Barking Riverside to provide habitat for solitary bees which are in decline in Britain. It has been incredible how much support we have received. Not only have our local residents and volunteers invested a lot of their evening and weekend time to help out, but the local businesses have been very kind through providing us with all sorts of things such as roofing felt, excavators, top soil and one business even dismantled a whole floor of their scaffolding so we could use the scaffold boards for the housing structure!”
Alison Benjamin highlighted the plight of our bees on Saturday saying ”The lack of foraging plants, nesting sites and the use of pesticides are having an overwhelming impact on our native bee species, however it is possible to do our bit to help through providing nesting sites, like Barking Riverside’s bee hotel, and planting the right flowering plants in our gardens.”
Solitary bees are the lesser known bees that don’t form a colony, make vast amounts of honey, or sting, but make up 90% of our bee population. They look for small tunnels or holes in which to make their individual nest cells for their larvae, and should love the bamboo sticks of the Barking Riverside Bee House. The bamboo sticks mimic dead plant stems which are a natural nesting material for certain solitary bees.
Thursday 16 June 2011
Help Build the Biggest Bee House in the World!
Wildlife charity, London Wildlife Trust, and design company Make:Good are joining their strengths to break the Guinness Record for building the world’s biggest Bee House at Barking Riverside.
We need people to help construct this record-breaking bee house on Saturday 18th June, which is being sponsored by the Big Lottery Fund and Barking Riverside Ltd.
To join in with this record-breaking attempt, come to the Barking Riverside Project Office at 2pm till 5pm on Saturday 18th June. Please contact the Barking Riverside Conservation Officer, fbarker@wildlondon.org.uk or 07971 077095 for more details.
Barking Riverside is an extremely valuable place for bees, and supports at least 37 different native species. The Barking Riverside Bee House will provide important nesting habitat specifically for our native solitary bees. Solitary bees are the lesser known bees that don’t form a colony, make vast amounts of honey, or sting, but make up 90% of our bee population. Although our solitary bees are in decline in Britain, you can help, by building them a nesting box in your garden, or by joining us at Barking Riverside on 18th June.
Solitary bees look for small tunnels or holes in which to make their individual nest cells for their larvae. So they should love the Barking Riverside Bee House, which will form a 13m2 structure consisting of hundreds of bamboo sticks of varying lengths and diameters, alongside logs with “beetle-like” bored holes. The bamboo sticks mimic dead plant stems which are a natural nesting material for certain solitary bees.
To find out more about the Barking Riverside’s wildlife see www.wildlondon.org.uk/projects/barkingriversideconservationproject and sign up to http://barkingriversideconservation.blogspot.com/ To make a one-off donation to London Wildlife Trust simply text WILDLIFE to 70007. The text will cost £3 plus your standard network rate.
Photo opportunity / For more information and pictures contact:
Monday 11 April 2011
It’s buzzing over at Barking Riverside
It’s buzzing over at Barking Riverside
London Wildlife Trust has been awarded funding to build a specially designed “bee friendly” wildlife garden at Barking Riverside. The garden will demonstrate the valuable habitat features that will attract and support our declining native bee populations, in particular the rare brown-banded carder bee.
This project, called “Backyard Bee”, is being funded by the Big Lottery Fund and will offer free workshops on bee-friendly gardening for Barking and Dagenham residents.
Barking Riverside is an extremely valuable place for bees, and supports at least 37 different species of native bees and bumblebees out of a total of 254 species in the UK. Unfortunately our native bees are in decline, the cause of this is believed to be due to habitat alterations in our landscape, climate change and intensified farming methods.
The good news is that we can all do something to reverse this decline by creating some bee-friendly habitat in our own gardens. To give residents a helping hand, London Wildlife Trust will be running regular workshops on wildlife garden at Barking Riverside, and giving away plants and seeds to get people started.
If you are interested in attending a workshop, becoming a Barking Riverside Volunteer Gardener, or just finding out more information, please contact the Barking Riverside Conservation Officer, fbarker@wildlondon.org.uk or 07971 077095. To find out more about the Barking Riverside’s wildlife see www.wildlondon.org.uk/projects/barkingriversideconservationproject and sign up to http://barkingriversideconservation.blogspot.com/ To make a one-off donation to London Wildlife Trust simply text WILDLIFE to 70007. The text will cost £3 plus your standard network rate.
Thursday 10 February 2011
Monitoring minks at Barking Riverside
Water Vole Update: London Wildlife Trust and Barking Riverside Ltd are working towards keeping the Barking Riverside water voles safe in the numerous ditches and creeks on site by initiating a mink monitoring programme.
Water voles are a protected species in the UK due to their rapid decline in population over the last few decades. Habitat destruction and the american mink are the main culprits of their demise in this country. The american mink in particular has been a major predator of the water vole, as the female mink are small enough to squeeze into the water voles' burrows, from where there is no escape for the water voles!
Mink monitoring is one way to reduce this decline in local areas. By setting up mink rafts in the watercourses, we can regularly check for the presence of mink in the Barking Riverside creek and ditch system. Mink believe these rafts to be burrows, and if they come across a raft they will walk through the tunnel to investigate. While wandering through the raft tunnel, they will walk over a basket of wet clay leaving their distinctive paw prints embedded in the clay. Through regular monitoring, we will find out whether mink are present in the watercourse. By this early detection, we will have a head start in controlling the mink and saving our local water vole population.
Luckily we have not had any signs of mink so far, so our water voles are safe and sound at Barking Riverside!
Water voles are a protected species in the UK due to their rapid decline in population over the last few decades. Habitat destruction and the american mink are the main culprits of their demise in this country. The american mink in particular has been a major predator of the water vole, as the female mink are small enough to squeeze into the water voles' burrows, from where there is no escape for the water voles!
Mink monitoring is one way to reduce this decline in local areas. By setting up mink rafts in the watercourses, we can regularly check for the presence of mink in the Barking Riverside creek and ditch system. Mink believe these rafts to be burrows, and if they come across a raft they will walk through the tunnel to investigate. While wandering through the raft tunnel, they will walk over a basket of wet clay leaving their distinctive paw prints embedded in the clay. Through regular monitoring, we will find out whether mink are present in the watercourse. By this early detection, we will have a head start in controlling the mink and saving our local water vole population.
Luckily we have not had any signs of mink so far, so our water voles are safe and sound at Barking Riverside!
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Barking Riverside Volunteer Group
Volunteer for Wildlife: Get fit in 2011 and help London Wildlife Trust at Barking Riverside!
From Wednesday 26th January, London Wildlife Trust are looking for volunteers to get involved with their new fortnightly conservation workdays at Barking Riverside - the perfect opportunity to honour that New Year’s resolution to get more active, while helping to conserve local wildlife at the same time!
Barking Riverside is an extremely valuable place for wildlife, providing a home for the protected water vole, rare birds and a multitude of invertebrates including the scarce brown-banded carder bee. This area forms part of the new Barking Riverside housing development which will incorporate important habitats such as the Ripple Nature Reserve, Thames mudflats, reed bed and ditches as well as others. Volunteers will help London Wildlife Trust to manage these habitats so that Barking Riverside continues to be a hub for wildlife in the future.
These volunteer days will provide a fantastic opportunity to learn new skills, become more active and meet new friends. Volunteers will be involved in all aspects of habitat management at Barking Riverside such as helping to clear scrub, surveying for wildlife and managing grasslands. No experience is necessary as full instruction will be given on the day. Teas, coffees and biscuits will also be provided. The sessions will start at 10.30am, meeting at either the Barking Riverside Project Office (off Renwick Road) or at the Ripple Nature Reserve (Renwick Road) and will continue until 2pm. Volunteers should wear suitable clothing, footwear and bring lunch and water.
Please contact the Barking Riverside Conservation Officer to find out more information on fbarker@wildlondon.org.uk or 07971 077 095. To find out more about the Barking Riverside’s wildlife see www.wildlondon.org.uk/projects/barkingriversideconservationproject and sign up to http://barkingriversideconservation.blogspot.com/
http://www.yellowad.co.uk/news.cfm?id=3285&headline=Back%20to%20nature
and The News have an article on page 7 on Issue 43 (5th February).
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