GAINS FROM RAIN AS FOUR JOIN AND 335 FILL IN CARDS
Danson Show, Danson Park, Bexleyheath, Saturday 5 July and Sunday 6 July, 2008

Poor weather limited the numbers of visitors on Saturday morning, but did not dampen the enthusiasm of our volunteers as the showers drove families into the environmental marquee. The weather improved considerably in the afternoon and the visitor numbers increased commensurately. 175 name gathering cards were completed by an enthusiastic public encouraged by John and Jeanna Turner. The bird identification competition proved a great success with Stewart Banks encouraging children to take part (with parental consent), and then offering name gathering cards to the whole family as well as the opportunity to take part in our two bird tombolas. Sales were in the capable hands of Maureen Thompson aided by Patricia Kemball and Sylvia Say, whilst Brian Fagg provided information to the curious. Julia Maynard arrived to help at midday with name gathering and sales.

Sunday produced showery weather and a smaller attendance. The marquee only became crowded when the occasional heavy shower dropped. The name gatherers were John Turner assisted by Alan Mayes and Jeanna Turner, and only another 160 cards were completed. The sales were in the hands of Jeanna Turner assisted by Julia Maynard and Roberta Cave in the afternoon. Brian Fagg was again in charge of the dissipation of information and Stewart Banks threw himself energetically into promoting the children’s competition, while Chas Parr looked after the tombolas.

The weekend resulted in 335 name gathering cards being completed, 172 adults and 163 children, a slight decrease on last year but four new members were signed up, an increase of 100%.

A total of £173 worth of goods was sold and an additional £195.90 raised on tombolas and miscellaneous sales.

Congratulations to Jade of Sidcup for winning first prize in the bird identification competition, with Harvey of Welling winning second prize and Jade of Bexley third prize.

I should like to thank all the volunteers mentioned above for their time and efforts in raising such a good sum for the RSPB and hopefully the interest generated by the name gathering will result in some more new members.

John Turner

JOHN CARTER DIES
Tuesday 1 July 2008

JOHN CARTER, smiling as usual

Longstanding Group member John Carter died in Guy's Hospital on 26 June 2008 from pneumonia. He was 70.

John, from Maxwell Road, Welling, first attended Group meetings more than 20 years ago and will be sadly missed by his many birdwatching friends. He assisted the Group by volunteering to deliver newsletters to the homes of other members. John became a regular on Group coach outings and also enjoyed weekly car excursions to reserves with his pals.

One of his favourite reserves was Elmley where he and a group of friends volunteered to help rebuild the Spitend hide under the direction of Bob Gomes, warden at the time. John visited many reserves in England and Wales where his enjoyment of birds and good company was evident.

He was born in Brockley on 11 October 1937, attended Crofton Park School and during the war was evacuated from the family home at Lewisham to Barrow-in-Furness. On leaving school at 15 in the early 1950s he worked briefly for a tea company but moved on after a year to begin a printing apprenticeship with Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.

John spent the rest of his working life there, helping to produce Hansard, a daily report of parliamentary proceedings, and important government white papers. He took early retirement at 58 when the company was privatised. His apprenticeship had been interrupted by National Service, completed as a teleprinter operator for the RAF in Guttesloh, Germany.

John's leisure interests included cycling, walking, wildlife, genealogy and music - from the rock band Queen to opera, as long as it was played loudly!

When he first fell ill in December 2004 he was eventually diagnosed with vasculitis which resulted in the need for regular dialysis. He spent a month in Farnborough Hospital before being transferred to Guy's and a planned five week visit to New Zealand with wife Eve had to be cancelled.

Although seriously ill, John managed to win through and after being discharged enjoyed holidays in Ireland and Norfolk with Eve. But he was struck down again at the end of 2007, entering Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup, on Christmas Day before being transferred to Guy’s where he remained until being discharged on 12 January this year. He endured three trips a week to Guy’s for dialysis but seemed to be getting stronger until complaining of feeling unwell again in the early summer. Guy’s insisted on keeping him in on 10 June, diagnosed pneumonia and whisked him into intensive care.

He was put on a ventilator to assist breathing but continued to decline and passed away on 26 June with Eve, daughter Suzie and sister Alma at his bedside. John uncomplainingly and bravely dealt with his illness. His cheerful personality and easygoing, helpful attitude affected all who knew him, and will never forget him.

The funeral will take place at 1.45 pm on Tuesday 8 July at Falconwood Crematorium where Eve would be delighted to see any of his friends. It will be followed by a celebration of John's life at Westwood Masonic Hall, Bellegrove Road, Welling.

SPRING PLANT FAIR INCOME HIGHEST FOR THREE YEARS
Saturday 3 May 2008

The weather was kind to us this year and we were delighted to have a dry and sunny day for our annual spring event which raised £700, the largest amount for three years. After deducting expenses the surplus available to support bird welfare and conservation was £644. This figure has climbed from £608 in 2005. Total income last year was £671 - £13 up on the previous Spring Fair.

Income from plant sales actually fell for the third successive year with the £300 total £120 down on the previous year and £144 down on the 2006 figure. Admissions also fell from £57 to £50 but income from other sources increased. Our recently introduced bottle stall took nearly £100.

Other contributions were: Books £50, Birds Tombola £17, Teas £58, Bric-a-Brac £23, Donations £69 and Commission from Craft Stalls £38. A new member was enrolled to the RSPB. A super result and many thanks to all concerned.

It would be good if we could accurately forecast the weather 12 months ahead but we just have to take our chance with everybody else. Likewise, as far as our plant sales are concerned, we never know exactly what people will donate.

Many of us do our bit by nurturing some trees, shrubs or herbs in pots, usually the kinds of things we like to grow in our own gardens. The majority of these varied plants find a buyer, with the help of an enthusiastic sales person, and most of those we have left over find a good home.

If you would like to help in our fund raising efforts perhaps you could grow something for next year’s fair? We really do need your support.

Tony Banks

Tables were filled with plants grown especially for the event

Frances Banks puts the finishing touches to a display of bargain books competing for space with our popular bottle stall

MICHAEL WINSHIP DIES AT HOME
Wednesday 2 April 2008

Michael Winship has sadly died at his Sidcup home aged 67. He was found by his son Dominic who had been staying with him. The cause of death was heart failure.

Michael had been involved in a serious fire at his home in August which resulted in him being hospitalised for some six months including some weeks in ITU.

He made remarkable progress and was discharged in February and relocated to temporary accommodation, a small flat, close to his home. When I last saw Michael a few weeks ago he was in relatively good health, very upbeat and looking forward to rebuilding his life and home with Dominic who was also involved in the fire but with no serious health complications.

Others, including his son, Jeremy and daughter-in-law had seen or spoken with him as recently as Saturday evening .

Michael was Group Leader of the RSPB Bexley Local Group from July 1990 until June 1998. He also served on RSPB Council from 1993-98 and was Chairman of the Education and Membership Committee from 1994-98.

Michael's funeral will take place on Friday 18 April at 1p.m. at Christ Church, Main Road, Sidcup. The family have requested no flowers - donations to RSPB.

A full obituary will appear shortly.

Ralph Todd

CHILDREN ENJOY CHANCE TO SEE BIRDS
Saturday 26 January 2008

The group decided to encourage local participation in the nationwide Big Garden Birdwatch and attempt to influence more people in Bexley to take part.

A total of 1306 forms were received by the RSPB from Bexley last year and we hoped to increase this to 1500.

Fortunately the day dawned bright and sunny, after a period of gloomy weather. On arriving at Hall Place to set up two telescopes and our stall it was gratifying to see that the feeders, which we topped up, were being used by a variety of birds.

We started the morning with six volunteers – John and Jeanna Turner, Tony Banks, John Hawkins and Sylvia Say and Stewart Banks, and we were soon joined by Bernie Jordan and later Anthea Reynolds. After midday, Gill Page and Julia Maynard arrived.

We were able to engage with about 100 people, distributing 44 Big Garden Birdwatch record cards and a membership form and the sale of pin-badges, bird food and feeders raised £37. Publicity in two local papers, on our website and in local libraries produced results in that several people arrived specifically to collect a form or to use the telescopes. It was gratifying to see the pleasure that children and young people, as well as adults, gained by looking through a telescope at the birds on the feeders.

Birds seen at various times on the feeders were blue tit, great tit, ring-necked parakeet, house sparrow, greenfinch, chaffinch and goldfinch, while on the ground were blackbird, robin, starling, dunnock and woodpigeon. Other birds seen in the vicinity were mistle thrush, carrion crow, magpie and moorhen, with feral pigeon and black headed gull flying over.

We thought the day was successful and enjoyable and thanks are due to all volunteers who helped on the day.

John Turner

What’s happening on the North Kent Marshes?

How did the RSPB come to inherit a building used by Winston Churchill during the War and how will a £1.7million cash injection be spent? RSPB Area Manager Alan Johnson explains work in progress and projects planned to improve the marshes for birds

Shorne Marshes
A series of new dams, sluices and an automated pumping station mean we are better placed to take advantage of water coming through the system. Shorne has the best water supply of all our Hoo Peninsula reserves and we are hoping that in future it will be the best site for breeding lapwing, redshank and wintering wildfowl. We have installed access control barriers around the reserve to try and reduce the number of motorcycles using the tracks. Experience at Cliffe shows that weak spots will be exploited by persistent bikers and repairs will be required. Persistence at Cliffe has worked, but I expect Shorne to take longer because of its proximity to Gravesend. We have already had the first instances of vandalism near the rail crossing.

Shornemead Fort has had a much needed clean up, with damaging tree growth removed and earth banking restored. This was tricky as great-crested newts hibernate underneath the rubble around the fort. We installed newt barriers to hold them back near the breeding ponds while we constructed new hibernacula along the Southern edge of the fort. The hope is that, rather than being an eyesore and a liability, Shornemead Fort becomes a well visited heritage asset. It is well used by little owls!

Plans for the remainder of the year include removal of scrub on the East of the site, pumping to create surface flooding, the building of a cattle pen to aid stock management and interpretation for the fort. We also need to manage a project by National Grid to install a major gas pipeline across the middle of the site.

Cliffe Pools
We have secured funding from SEEDA and HLF, the latter to the tune of £1.7 million. This is the starting pistol for work over several years, including car parking, trails, hides, interpretation, toilets and education facilities. New staff will help create a flagship reserve to act as the first point of call on a visit to North Kent marshes. If the first stage of development is successful and attracts sufficient numbers of visitors, we will look at the possibility of taking the site to the next level, with a visitor centre and expanded facilities. We hope to have a car park and a new Assistant Warden in place before the end of March.

Northward Hill
Volunteers have created new rides that will benefit butterflies and birds and new areas of regenerating scrub that will provide homes for nightingales, lesser whitethroats and other lovers of dense, dark vegetation. Warden Paul Hyde has been managing a project on the grazing marsh aimed at maximising use of scarce water resources. The works, including the installation of sluices and culverts, bunding, ditching and rill-creation, mean that what water we do get will be well used.

The long standing lease with CSA ended, meaning an extra field for wetland management coming back into our portfolio and an additional building, the "CSA Building." This has historical value, as it was used by Churchill to communicate with Roosevelt during the war.

Elmley Marshes
The warden team have managed over the last year to eke out every bit of habitat value at this site. Lapwing numbers were up in 2007 and, with a new water supply available from adjacent Windmill Creek, 2008 should be better. Lots of work has gone in to raising bunds and stops, installing pipes and cutting back sea-club rush. Upcoming tasks are to trial electric fencing (to prevent predation of eggs and chicks), colour ringing and radio tracking young (to build a picture that will influence how we manage for the species) and to alter the grazing management of some of our fields (godwit chicks like to glean insects from long vegetation, so we will ease up on the grazing in key fields).

Seasalter
We have undertaken ditch management, but the main job over the next year will be to try and buy the numerous plots of land sold off to all and sundry in the 1970s. It may take up to five years to acquire sufficient number of these plots to make viable management units, but when complete, I am confident this will be one of the best wildlife sites in Kent.