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 »
Follow us on Facebook
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
Debate today at 430pm about the beddington farmlands incinerator in Parliament , organised by local MP Elliot Colburn parliamentlive.tv/event/index/bc29721c-1d40-4ce7-b085-4dc075330464
www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=beddingtonfarmlands&set=a.2935632136501714
Happy New Year to everyone in the Beddington Farmlands Group.
Here's our photo album from 2020. A fantastic year - highlights included the White Stork, a smart pair of Black-necked Grebes in Spring and the year ended with a surprise visitor from Siberia- a Yellow-browed Warbler.
141 species of bird and 347 species of moths and butterflies were recorded in 2020.
An extremely rare visitor to the farmlands from Siberia, a Yellow-browed Warbler is currently frequenting the permissive footpath.
Precise location here: www.google.com/maps/place/51%C2%B022'37.3%22N+0%C2%B009'10.4%22W/@51.37702,-0.1550837,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0!7e2!8m2!3d51.3770203!4d-0.1528953
If visiting please follow government guidelines on exercise and access to public green spaces.
Photo by Arjun Dutta
More public access is coming soon to Beddington Farmlands with new footpaths across the site
More information here:
hackbridgendg.com/2020/12/14/beddington-farmlands-community-access-proposal-to-viridor/
Beddington Farmlands Community Access Proposal to Viridor
hackbridgendg.com
In July 2020, Viridor submitted an application to vary their planning conditions with respect to access onto the Farmlands. This was eventually withdrawn. (Read more about the application) The NDG ...An update on the restoration by Councillor Ben Andrew , vice chair of the Beddington farmlands Conservation and Access Management committee.
Kestrel at Beddington Farmlands
by Andy Wasley (images 1-4) and Zach Pannifer (image 5)
The Conservation and Access Management Committee is meeting next Thursday December 10th to discuss progress on the restoration of Beddington Farmlands.
There are quite a few important points to cover.
Resident access has been a key priority for many people, and Lysanne and Norman from Hackbridge & Beddington Corner Neighbourhood Development Group have worked with the Beddington North Neighbourhood Forum to produce an excellent proposal for access to the Farmlands, which Viridor are considering. I am keen to support this proposal, as I believe are the other Councillors in the CAMC.
We're also expecting important further discussion about the habitats on site, such as the Wet Grassland and Acid Grassland, and of course about ongoing efforts to protect Lapwing and other important species.
If you have points or concerns which you would like me to raise on your behalf, please do contact me on ben.andrew@sutton.gov.uk and I will see what I can do.
We are looking for the best poem on the theme of PARKS and LOCKDOWN. Prize of £50 book token for the winners of each age category. Open to residents of the London Borough of Sutton.
We are looking for the best poem on the theme of PARKS and LOCKDOWN. Prize of £50 book token for the winners of each age category. Open to residents of the London Borough of Sutton.
WINTER DUCKS AT BEDDINGTON FARMLANDS
Visit Beddington Farmlands during the winter to see the wild ducks looking their best. During the winter wild male ducks display (dancing and singing/calling) and attract females for breeding in the spring. There are also frequent scraps between the males fighting over females.
Different species of ducks that can be seen at Beddington Farmlands include (images below of adult males), Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Pintail (rare), Mallard, Gadwall, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Shelduck.
Hi folks, in the 1980's I spent a fair bit of time birding at Beddington SF, was a short bus trip from home.First visited in 1982, were lots of Short-eared Owls, Jack Snipe and Bramblings. Other highlights in the comings years were Spotted Crakes, Spoonbill, Grey Phalarope and Lesser Yellowlegs. A logbook was used by birders to report sightings. With a couple of friend's we put together a basic bird report for the farm for 1984. Managed to track it down and get some scanned copies for the record. Thought it would be of interest. From memory in '84 there were still many sludge beds, the gravel pits were being developed, but was before the landfill I think. Looking back at this I note that Tree Sparrows didn't get much of a mention, were pretty common then. with Arun Bose, Steve Dougill and Garry Messenbird
Local media report on the White Stork
insidecroydon.com/2020/10/28/white-stork-spreads-its-wings-to-touch-down-at-beddington/
White stork spreads its wings to touch down at Beddington
insidecroydon.com
Bird watchers have been flocking (sorry) to Beddington Farmlands nature reserve this week after a white stork was spotted there. White storks are associated in folklore with delivering new-born bab...The 'Save the Lapwings' petition for Beddington Farmlands is approaching a massive 15, 000 supporters! Amazing! well done everyone for sharing and raising awareness of our incredibly special local wildlife .
www.change.org/p/viridor-save-the-lapwings-at-beddington-farmlands?redirect=false
Concerns have been raised about the health of the White Stork currently at the farmlands. The White Stork Project have been informed and the situation is being monitored. Fortunately the bird's condition does seem to be improving.
The White Stork Project also provided the following information on the history of this particular individual (copied below). (Thanks to Andy Wasley (photographs), Zach Pannifer, Charlotte Weddell and Claire Williams for information and contacting the Stork Project)
He is one of the individuals from our project who originally came from Poland. He was brought to the UK in early 2018 after sustaining an injury in the wild and rehabilitated at Warsaw Zoo before coming to our satellite site in East Sussex. He was released into the wild earlier this year. He was first spotted in Dartford with 2 other storks in mid July, since then he spent some time in Somerset and Dorset before returning to East Sussex briefly on 1st September. After a few days in Surrey he was then spotted in Hampshire where he spent about 3 weeks on the Somerley Estate in the New Forest and was first spotted at Mitcham Common on 18th October.
GB35 is still young (roughly 2 -3 years old) and will not start to pair up or breed until 2021/22. Hopefully when he reaches that age he will either return to one of our sites or find a mate elsewhere.
I hope you find this information interesting.
The sightings coming in are vital for the project to learn about how these birds are behaving post release and we are monitoring their movements closely.
You can find out more about the project via our website and keep up to date on our twitter account @ProjectStork
The White Stork Project Team
Sadly according to this report featured on the Mayor of London website , the Beddington Farmlands incinerator could contribute to the deaths of 15 local residents a year.
www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/efw-plants-cause-deaths-of-15-londoners-per-year/?fbclid=IwA...
EfW plants ‘cause deaths' of 15 Londoners per year - letsrecycle.com
www.letsrecycle.com
Fifteen deaths of London residents per year are attributable to emissions from the capital’s five EfW facilities, a report claims.I was glad to catch sight of the stork yesterday. Some internet searching revealed,
"GB35 is a male who is approximately 2.5 years old, he originally came to us in 2018 from Warsaw Zoo in Poland after being injured in the wild as a juvenile and rehabilitated. He joined the other storks here in one of our satellite pens in East Sussex before being released earlier this year. He was seen near Dartford, Kent, on 24th July after spending time near the release site in East Sussex".
A fellow birders photos showed what appeared to be some injuries and bald patches where feathers were missing but after reading about his history, I started to think maybe he's just battle worn. Either way, I hope he lives out the rest of his life in good health. ❤
I was glad to catch sight of the stork yesterday. Some internet searching revealed,
"GB35 is a male who is approximately 2.5 years old, he originally came to us in 2018 from Warsaw Zoo in Poland after being injured in the wild as a juvenile and rehabilitated. He joined the other storks here in one of our satellite pens in East Sussex before being released earlier this year. He was seen near Dartford, Kent, on 24th July after spending time near the release site in East Sussex".
A fellow birders photos showed what appeared to be some injuries and bald patches where feathers were missing but after reading about his history, I started to think maybe he's just battle worn. Either way, I hope he lives out the rest of his life in good health. ❤
Latest corporate video from Viridor about the restoration progress
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSrBCkp67kE
Many thanks to our friends for their support of Beddington Farmlands Nature Reserve
