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 18^th 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 18^th 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 18^th 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:

Francesca Barker, 07971 077095, fbarker@wildlondon.org.uk

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.

                                          The rare brown banded carder bee!

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!

Barking Riverside Volunteer Group

Volunteer for Wildlife: Get fit in 2011 and help London Wildlife Trust at Barking Riverside!

From Wednesday 26^th 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/

Check out the information of the lastest session in the local press:

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).

Successful Bird Walk at Barking Riverside

Last Saturday 13th November London Wildlife Trust ran a bird walk at Barking Riverside's Thames foreshore. A total of 28 people showed up to learn about the birds they could see here foraging on the mudflats.The weather held out and although it was cold we managed to spot 27 different species of birds (listed below), not only on the mudflats, but across the Thames at Crossness and in the scrubby habitats inland of the foreshore.

Cormorant                               about 30 on jetty and at Crossness

Grey heron                              3 at Crossness

Shelduck                                 25+

Teal                                         15+

Ringed plover                          2+ at Crossness

Lapwing                                   30+ at Crossness

Dunlin                                      5+ at Crossness

Black-tailed godwit                  19,   10+ more at Crossness

Curlew                                     1

Redshank                                6, 20+ at Crossness

Black-headed gull                   large numbers (300+) Most at Crossness

Herring gull                              30+ Most at Crossness

Lesser black-backed gull        30+ Most at Crossness

Great black-backed gull         40+ Most at Crossness

Feral pigeon                            1

Skylark                                    4+

Meadow pipit                           5+

Pied wagtail                             2

Wren                                       1

Robin                                       1

Stonechat                                1

Blackbird                                 1

Great tit                                   2

Magpie                                    2+

Carrion crow                           10+

Starling                                    40+

Linnet                                      40+

Bird Sightings from ...Barking Riverside's Birders

Birds spotted at Barking Riverside on 30th October ...

 

3 Curlew - 1 of these was at the Outfall

71 Shelduck

Water Rail - calling

1-2 Rock Pipits

9 Redshank

Green Woodpecker

Fieldfare flying over

A pair Sparrowhawks

36 Teal

14 Skylark

Around 80 Linnet

8 Meadow Pipit

Good count of Reed Bunting numbering 16 birds.

Bird Walk at Barking Riverside

On Saturday November 13^th, London Wildlife Trust will be leading a guided walk across the riverfront at Barking Riverside to witness spectacular numbers of birds feeding on the Thames mudflats.

The Thames is an important place for wildlife, especially for birds at Barking Riverside.  At low tide, the birds flock to the site as over 200m² of mud is exposed, revealing lots of delicious bugs to feed off. November is a particularly good time to visit each year as migratory birds “stop off” on their way to their winter home.

The Barking riverfront forms part of the Barking Riverside new housing development. The riverfront, has open public access, so anybody can visit any time, however the bird walk on 13^th November will provide a fantastic opportunity to get to know the site with a guide and learn more about the birds that you can find here. The walk starts at 10.30am at Barking Riverside Ltd Marketing Suite, off Renwick Road. Please contact the Barking Riverside Conservation Officer to book or find out more information on fbarker@wildlondon.org.uk or 07971 077 095. To find out more about the Barking Riverside’s wildlife see http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/Projects/BarkingRiversideConservationProject/tabid/618/language/en-US/Default.aspx and sign up to http://barkingriversideconservation.blogspot.com/