BIRDING HIGHLIGHTS
White Stork- bird of the year (top picture by David Campbell)
Siberian Chiffchaff in January
The first record of breeding Greylag Goose
Redstart in the hand
Honey Buzzard over the hide
A good selection of gulls including several Iceland Gulls and the recent Glaucous Gull (below)
Black Terns from the obs
Plum-headed Parakeet in the Obs garden (a new escape species)
A pair of breeding Barn Owl was one of the year’s highlights. Dissection of the pellets revealed a diet of rodents- indicating a healthy rodent population.
OTHER WILDLIFE
Acrobasis repandana- a new one for the site.
Anania perlucidalis- a first for the farmlands.
Dewick’s Plusia- a handful of records again
Ash-bud moth- new for the farmlands
Brown Argus- a local scarcity
Black Arches
A great year for Six-spotted Burnets
A record year for Marbled Whites with up to 50+
Boxworm Moth- a first for the site
2016 will be remembered for the massive influx of Diamond-back Moths- there could have been up to 1.5 million on site!
Great Burnet- a first for the farmlands
Full details of the State of Nature at Beddington Farmlands is published annually in the Yearly Report. The on going species inventory and other information can be found on the website
CONSERVATION
Several areas of the grassland habitats were seeded with sacrificial crops and flowering meadows
Regular public and associate member walks through the year
The new Shelduck boxes
Hackbridge Volunteers maintaining the entrance
CAMPAIGNING
Unfortunately 2016 was another year of ecological crisis at the farmlands (see links below for more details)
A new Conservation and Access Management Committee was set up in 2016 which will hopefully assist in meeting the challenges ahead.
To highlight the issues local community groups and the bird group continued the campaign to raise awareness of the challenges and the need for necessary reforms and coordinated activism to assist in the delivery of a commitment to the reserve development.
Stop the Incinerator Protest in Summer
Paradise Lost by Peter Alfrey on Scribd
An article in Pulse, the newsletter for the Prestiguous Linnaean Society, outlines the main issues
The Tree Sparrow Population at the farmlands has a collapsed- only 2-3 pairs remaining from one of the largest strong holds in the UK. A Tree Sparrow Management Plan and the Conservation Management Plan was never implemented despite planning conditions.
Private Eye exposing the ecological collapse and on going issues
Myself and David Lindo on BBC Winterwatch
