Beddington Farmlands: A premier urban nature
reserve for the Wandle Valley Regional Park
Beddington Farmlands is a 161 hectare (400 acre) site in the coreland of the wider Wandle Valley Regional Park. Together with the adjacent green spaces of Beddington Park and Mitcham Common, Beddington Farmlands forms one of the largest contiguous green spaces in south London.
Beddington Farmlands is an important area for wildlife and is classified a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation and Metropolitan Open Land (equivalent of Green Belt within an urban area). The site is being restored into a mosaic of important habitats for wildlife ahead of the development of a flagship nature reserve for people and nature.
“The ‘sleeping giant’ of London’s natural history world”
David Lindo, BBC broadcaster, writer and public speaker
Beddington Farm Bird Group
Beddington Farm Bird Group
Formed in 1992, the Beddington Farm Bird Group monitors breeding and wintering bird populations as well as migration at Beddington Farmlands. In addition, the bird group also carries out habitat management and restoration, working closely with site management. More »
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Incredible news on our White stork by www.birdguides.com. After spending the winter at Beddington Farmlands ‘GB35’ (also known as Henry Kravis after the Beddington Farmlands new owner) flew north last week towards Lancashire and is now in Wales .
Viridor face scrutiny about restoration delays and road map to completion at next week’s housing , economy and business committee moderngov.sutton.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=450&MId=5560&Ver=4
moderngov.sutton.gov.uk
To consider any items which, in the view of the Chair, should be dealt with as a matter of urgency because of special circumstances (in accordance with S100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972).Unfortunately the permissive path is to be closed between 2nd and 6th March for tree planting and landscaping works
#TenNewParks // Park Four
Sutton – Beddington Farmlands Nature Reserve
Beddington Farmlands is a 161 hectare site (slightly bigger than Hyde Park) at the centre of the wider Wandle Valley Regional Park. Together with the adjacent green spaces of Beddington Park and Mitcham Common, this is one of the largest contiguous green spaces in south London! 🌳
The site is currently the location of an incinerator being built by Viridor. Viridor was required to restore the surrounding area, set targets for increasing key wildlife and restore the site into a mosaic of important habitats for wildlife. Today, the incinerator is finished but the restoration plans have fallen behind... ⏳
Residents and local groups such as Beddington Farmlands and Wandle Valley Forum are campaigning for the Beddington Farmlands Nature Reserve to become a reality. They want Sutton Council, Viridor and Thames Water to put an end to the delays and work together to restore the site, deliver the promised nature reserve!
Read more about our Ten New Parks campaign 👇
www.cprelondon.org.uk/news/lets-create-ten-major-new-parks-for-london-now/
#LondonParks #LondonGreenSpace #LondonTrees #LondonNature #LondonWildlife #GreenBelt #GreenSpace4All #BeddingtonFarmlands
According to this study the Beddington Farmlands incinerator, (which was promoted as an environmentally progressive technology and therefore was permitted to be built within an important wildlife area), is actually worse than a coal fired power station
environmentjournal.online/articles/london-incinerator-produces-dangerous-co2-emissions-says-campa...
London incinerator produces dangerous CO2 emissions, says campaign group - Environment Journal
environmentjournal.online
An incinerator in Beddington, London produces the same emissions as almost 57,000 cars, according to the South West London Air Quality Monitoring Group. These findings are based on a report published ...Birdguides reports on the sad loss of our tree sparrows .
www.birdguides.com/news/south-london-site-loses-tree-sparrow-population/?fbclid=IwAR2zQQJ-zVefUOP...
South London site loses Tree Sparrow population
www.birdguides.com
The Beddington Farmlands colony has become extinct according to a new report.The 2020 Beddington Farmlands Bird and Wildlife Report is now available here: www.researchgate.net/publication/349215264_BEDDINGTON_FARMLANDS_BIRD_AND_WILDLIFE_REPORT_2020141
In summary 141 bird and 327 moths species were recorded (a record year for moths) . Highlights included Cattle Egrets (2nd record), Yellow-browed Warbler, the Twites, Black-necked Grebes, Red-crested Pochard, Goshawk, 4 records of Crossbill (second best year), a Spoonbill, the first Arctic Skua since 2002 and of course the Knepp White Stork.
On the breeding bird front Buzzards bred for the first time on site, Little Ringed Plover recolonised (2 pairs), Pochards bred and Little Grebe, Stock Dove, Linnet, Coot, Cetti's Warbler (9 territories!) and Goldfinch had their best breeding seasons ever.
12 new species of moth were recorded including the impressive looking Leopard Moth.
Sadly 2020 was the first year that Tree Sparrows did not breed in over 100 years and the Lapwing breeding population declined further.
On the campaigning front the save the lapwing petition reached 65,000 signatories by the end of the year and the path (public access) petition reached over 1500 signatories.
The report also includes a section on ringed gull recoveries and there are two systematic lists for Birds and Moths which detail the all time lists and numbers of records for rarities.
2020 is the first year that we have completely digitized our bird records and the systematic list is now available on line only through hyperlinks in the report and a QR code. Using Ebird and Irecord to automate the systematic list writing we have beat our previous speed for publication. Previously the soonest we could get an annual report out was 8-9 months into the following year. In 2020 we did it in just over a single month.
Elliot Colburn MP Councillor Ben Andrew Sheldon Vestey Dave Tchil Lysanne Horrox
Caspian Gull on the Wet Grassland today.
The first video recording of the extremely elusive Jack Snipe at Beddington Farmlands by Shaun Ferguson
Jack Snipe this morning. (Sorry about the wind noise, there was no way I was taking my gloves off to put my dead cat on so you'll have to deal with it I'm afraid...)
The recent cold spell has had a big impact on the local wildlife. Rare visitors and migrant birds have arrived from the north and east escaping the conditions, local birds have struggled to find food and many birds have left the farmlands and headed south.
Highlights include flocks of Lapwings arriving, the rare Little Gull and Grey Plover visiting, Snipes and Jack Snipes showing well and fortunately our White Stork is still alive and well!
More on the Beddington Farmlands incinerator insidecroydon.com/2021/02/08/report-incinerator-is-as-polluting-as-coal-fired-power-stations/?fbc...
Report: Incinerator is ‘as polluting as coal-fired power stations’
insidecroydon.com
An investigation published by the Daily Telegraph reports that hundreds of millions of pounds of public money has been handed over to the incinerator industry based on false claims that burning was...Investigation published today in the Telegraph that uncovers ecological destruction at Beddington Farmlands and false environmental claims, back room deals with Sutton Council, hush money and bullying of the local community by Viridor/KKR & CO Inc.
www.source-material.org/blog/dirty-white-elephants
www.source-material.org
With The Telegraph. Incinerators were supposed to be a panacea, turning the UK’s 20-million-tonne-a-year waste mountain into clean energy. A SourceMaterial investigation found theBeddington Farmlands in the Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/02/04/energy-waste-plants-face-scrutiny-carbon-emissions/?fbcli...
Energy from waste plants face scrutiny over carbon emissions
www.telegraph.co.uk
Campaigners say the technology is not as green as it claims to beTimeline PhotosIt's #WorldWetlandsDay, and an opportunity to shine a spotlight on wetlands as a source of freshwater and encourage their restoration.
Here in Carshalton and Wallington, we're still waiting for the completion of the Beddington Farmlands, which includes restoring the wetlands.
A very rare visitor today from the high Arctic
I think this kestrel was as curious about me as i was about him/her. Sat for quite a while until a dog disturbed the calm.
insidecroydon.com/2021/01/27/cpre-tells-mayor-khan-to-make-farmlands-a-new-public-park/?fbclid=Iw...
CPRE tells Mayor Khan to make Farmlands a new public park
insidecroydon.com
Beddington Farmlands, the site of disused 20th-century landfill and sewage works, should be turned into one of 10 new parks for London, according to an environmentalist charity. The Campaign for Pr...The Big Garden Birdwatch is this weekend! Anyone can take part. If you live locally to Beddington Farmlands please share your sightings and photos on the Beddington Farmlands page. Sign up here:
www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/
Big Garden Birdwatch | Join the fun - The RSPB
www.rspb.org.uk
The dates are in! Join us for Big Garden Birdwatch 29 - 31 January 2021. Registration opens 9 December 2020! Find out more.Good evening. Can someone please post a brief on how to best access this site for birding. I see lots of references to the wet grasslands and south lake. I visited once last year and, unfortunately, saw some scrub, plenty of dirt bikes and a dodgy looking access point over a rail bridge, so bid a hasty retreat. I look forward to being able to explore the better side of BF. Thanks in advance.
A nice video of the White Stork flying around today in the wind. The bird seemed to struggle through the recent cold weather but fortunately back to health and flying around again now.
Video by Ian Jones
Incredible photos of Red Foxes today mating at Beddington Farmlands. The male and female got stuck together in a phenomenon called copulatory tie or copulatory lock. They were stuck together for 30 minutes before going their own ways.
More on blog here: peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/01/red-fox-copulatory-tie.html
Many thanks to our friends for their support of Beddington Farmlands Nature Reserve
