Volunteer Work Parties
Our volunteer work party schedule for the next six months. Please do come and join us if you're free - a great way to spend a morning, helping nature, working with the local community, and having some fun at the same time.
Monday 1st August
Peter Brown: 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper & 3 Yellow Wagtail.
Tuesday 2nd August
Mark Elsoffer: 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper & Little Egret.
Mark Elsoffer: Red-veined Darter.
15 families enjoyed making bug hotels and setting up footprint tunnels at our free summer activity today.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - Bug Hotel Building |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Red-veined Darter |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Emperor |
Wednesday 3rd August
Murray Nurse: 2 Green Sandpiper & Wood Sandpiper.
Thursday 4th August
25 families enjoyed two river-dipping sessions today - part of our programme of free summer activities for children.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - Pond Dipping |
Friday 5th August
Mark Elsoffer: Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper & Cetti's Warbler.
Anon: Dunlin, Yellow Wagtail & Peregrine.
Mark Elsoffer: Clouded Yellow - first of the year.
Mark Elsoffer: 2+ Red-veined Darter & Southern Migrant Hawker - new for site.
Murray Nurse: Emerald Damselfly - first record since 2019.
The first Willow Emerald Damselfly egg laying scars were found today - definitive proof of this species breeding on site.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darter |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Red-veined Darter |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Willow Emerald Egg Laying Scars |
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| (c) Gav Thane - Fox |
Saturday 6th August
Richard Horton: Wood Sandpiper & Wheatear.
Paul Mannering: Hummingbird Hawkmoth - new for site.
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Cormorant |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Juvenile Reed Warbler |
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| (c) Paul Mannering - Hummingbird Hawkmoth |
Sunday 7th August
Mark Elsoffer: Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Cetti's Warbler & Yellow Wagtail.
Anon: Wood Sandpiper.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Black-tailed Skimmer |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darters (pair, mating) |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darter |
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| (c) Gav Thane - Wasp Spider |
Monday 8th August
Colin Varndell: Cattle Egret (5th record for site, last recorded July 2020, 128th species for 2022).
Tufted Ducks have bred on site again this year.
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Cattle Egret |
Tuesday 9th August
Kevin Duncan: Cattle Egret.
John Hunt: Green Sandpiper, 3 Snipe & 2 Willow Warbler.
Colin Varndell: 5 Little Egret & Hobby.
The children enjoyed making their bird feeders at our free summer activity this morning.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - Bird Feeder |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Cattle Egret |
Wednesday 10th August
John Hunt: Green Sandpiper, 3 Snipe & Cattle Egret.
Richard Seargent: Mediterranean Gull.
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| (c) John Hunt - Wasp Spider |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Cattle Egret |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Snipe |
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| (c) Duncan Wright - Grey Heron |
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| (c) Wild Cam - Roe Deer |
Thursday 11th August
Mark Elsoffer: Green Sandpiper, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Cetti's Warbler & Peregrine.
Colin Varndell: 2 Stonechat.
Anon: 4 Snipe.
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| (c) John Hunt - Lapwing |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darter |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Cattle Egret |
Friday 12th August
S Brownhill: Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper & Cattle Egret.
Mark Elsoffer: Snipe, Little Egret, Kingfisher & Cetti's Warbler.
John Hunt: Lesser Emperor & Golden-ringed Dragonfly (11th record for site).
Mark Elsoffer: Emerald Damselfly.
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| (c) John Hunt - Golden-ringed Dragonfly |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Painted Lady |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Snipe |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Migrant Hawker |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Kingfisher |
Saturday 13th August
Richard Seargent: 2 Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, 5 Snipe & Common Gull.
Sunday 14th August
Leonard Winchcombe: 7 Black-tailed Godwit.
Richard Seargent: Wheatear, Yellow Wagtail & Arctic Tern.
John Hunt: Kingfisher.
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| (c) John Hunt - Migrant Hawker |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Black-tailed Godwits |
Monday 15th August
Kevin Duncan: Ringed Plover.
Anon: Common Sandpiper & 2 Green Sandpiper.
Colin Varndell: Kingfisher.
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Kingfisher |
Tuesday 16th August
Don Lemmon: 3 Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper & Ringed Plover.
Colin Varndell: Snipe, Little Egret & Kingfisher.
The children enjoyed making Len the Scarecrow today at our free summer activity.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - Len the Scarecrow |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Lapwing & Snipe |
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| (c) Melanie Nicholls - Common Blue Damselfly |
Wednesday 17th August
John Hunt: Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Snipe, Little Egret, Stonechat & Willow Warbler.
Colin Varndell: Kingfisher.
The kids had great fun making seed balls at this morning's free summer activity.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - Kids with their Seed Balls |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Cormorant |
Thursday 18th August
Peter Brown: 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Snipe, 3 Little Egret & Kingfisher.
Mark Elsoffer: 6 Snipe, House Martin, 4 Sand Martin, 3 Swallow & 6 Swift.
Colin Varndell: Hobby.
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| (c) Dina Burford - Common Sandpiper |
Friday 19th August
Leonard Winchcombe: 3 Black-tailed Godwit.
Kit Britten: 2 Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plover & Willow Warbler.
Mark Elsoffer: 6 Green Sandpiper, 2 Snipe, 2 Little Egret, Kingfisher, Wheatear, Cetti's Warbler, 12 Sand Martin, 6 Swallow & Swift.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Migrant Hawker |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Fox |
Saturday 20th August
Mark Elsoffer: 2 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper, 4 Snipe, 2 Little Egret, Kingfisher, Stonechat, 5 Swallow, House Martin, 7 Sand Martin, 9 Swift & Hobby.
Huge thank you to the 24 volunteers who turned up for our work party today. We picked litter, built log piles and dead hedges, maintained the waymarker posts,and cleared along the path to Low Lane. Well done everyone.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Work Party |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Work Party |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Work Party |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Kingfisher |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Green Sandpiper |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Hobby |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Snipe |
Sunday 21st August
Mark Elsoffer: 3 Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Egret, 2 Kingfisher, Stonechat, 3 House Martin, 14 Sand Martin, 10 Swallow & 15 Swift.
Anon: 6 Green Sandpiper.
Mark Elsoffer: Willow Emerald Damselfly - second record for site.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Willow Emerald Damselfly |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Mating Migrant Hawkers |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Grey Heron with Dinner |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Common Tern |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Kingfisher |
Monday 22nd August
John Hunt: 2 Common Sandpiper, 5 Snipe & Whinchat.
Mark Elsoffer: 3 Green Sandpiper, 3 Little Egret, Cetti's Warbler, 2 Stonechat, 4 Sand Martin, 6 Swallow & 12 Swift.
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| (c) John Hunt - Green Sandpiper |
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| (c) John Hunt - Snipe |
Tuesday 23rd August
Mark Elsoffer: 2 Common Sandpiper, 4 Snipe, 3 Little Egret, Kingfisher, Cetti's Warbler, House Martin, 12 Sand Martin, 8 Swallow, 4 Swift, Hobby & Peregrine.
S Brownhill: 4 Green Sandpiper.
Mark Elsoffer: Willow Emerald Damselfly - third record for site.
Five members of Farnham U3A Birdwatching Group enjoyed a guided tour around site today.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Willow Emerald Damselfly |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Ruddy Darter |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darter |
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| (c) Gillian Bamford - Surveying the River |
Wednesday 24th August
John Hunt: Common Sandpiper, 4 Green Sandpiper, 5 Snipe, 2 Little Egret, 2 Kingfisher, 2 Stonechat & 5 Swift.
Mark Elsoffer: Spotted Flycatcher (12th record for site, last recorded 23/05/20, 129th species for 2022).
Colin Varndell: Treecreeper.
Mark Elsoffer: Willow Emerald Damselflies - pair mating - first record of mating on site.
The children enjoyed making dragonflies and butterflies during our free summer activity today.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - Kids with their Butterflies |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Willow Emerald Damselflies Mating |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Spotted Flycatcher |
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| (c) John Hunt - Snipe |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Common Sandpiper |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Treecreeper |
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| (c) Paul Habgood - Common Darter |
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| (c) Paul Mannering - Snipe |
Thursday 25th August
Mark Elsoffer: 2 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Egret, Pochard, Stonechat, 8 Sand Martin, 6 Swallow, Tawny Owl & Hobby.
Kit Britten: Whinchat.
Anon: 7 Snipe & 2 Kingfisher.
A great evening of nocturnal activities on the mound with Katie & her summer activity families. Thanks Steve for running the moth trapping, the kids loved it. Great to see so many bats feasting on the moths. And nice to see Saturn’s rings and some of Jupiter’s moons through the scope.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - Moth Trapping |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Snipe |
Friday 26th August
Mark Elsoffer: 3 Common Sandpiper, 4 Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, 5 Snipe, 2 Little Egret, 2 Kingfisher, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 7 Swallow & 2 Raven.
Peter Brown: Wheatear.
Dave Baker: Oystercatcher.
Gillian Bamford: Clouded Yellow butterfly.
We had the great pleasure of working alongside 8 members of the Surrey Choices Growth Team today, clearing scrub & trees from along the path to Low Lane. A very rewarding experience, working with disabled people to enhance the nature reserve & help them develop life skills.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Surrey Choices Team |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Common Sandpipers |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Common Sandpiper |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Reed Bunting |
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| (c) Gillian Bamford - Small White |
Saturday 27th August
Mark Elsoffer: 2 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, 4 Snipe, 4 Little Egret, 3 Pochard, Common Tern, 2 Kingfisher, 20+ House Martin, 200+ Sand Martin, 100+ Swallow, 2 Swift & Hobby.
Our programme of free summer children's activities drew to a close today with a family picnic. Well done Katie for organising such a well attended and enjoyed series of events.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - Kid's Picnic |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darter |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Migrant Hawker |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Fly |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Ladybird |
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| (c) Clare Dell - Small Copper (aberrant) |
Sunday 28th August
Mark Elsoffer: 2 Common Sandpiper, 5 Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, 5 Snipe, 3 Little Egret, 3 Pochard, Common Tern, 2 Kingfisher, Stonechat, 12 Sand Martin, 20+ Swallow & Peregrine.
Kevin Duncan: Whinchat.
Richard Seargent: White Wagtail.
Leonard Winchcombe: Willow Emerald Damselfly.
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| (c) Ralph Clark - Snipe |
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| (c) Ralph Clark - Lapwing |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Willow Emerald |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Grey Heron with Dinner |
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| (c) Rups Limboo - Kingfisher |
Monday 29th August
Richard Horton: Ruff (16th record for site, last recorded 07/09/21, 130th species for 2022).
Colin Varndell: Spotted Flycatcher.
Mark Elsoffer: 3 Common Sandpiper, 6 Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, 2 Snipe, 3 Little Egret, Common Gull, Kingfisher, 2+ Yellow Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, 3 Stonechat, 15 Sand Martin, 20+ Swallow & Hobby.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Ruff |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Little Grebe |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Blue Tit |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Kingfisher |
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| (c) Andy Glencross - Grass Snake |
Tuesday 30th August
John Hunt: Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Snipe, 2 Little Egret, Black Swan (escape), Yellow Wagtail, Stonechat, House Martin & Peregrine.
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| (c) John Hunt - Black Swan |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Lapwing |
Wednesday 31st August
John Hunt: Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, 3 Little Egret, Black Swan (escape), 2 Kingfisher, 2 Stonechat & Peregrine.
Peter Brown: 5 Green Sandpiper & 3 Snipe.
Gillian Bamford: Clouded Yellow butterfly & Willow Emerald Damselfly.
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| (c) John Hunt - Green Sandpiper |
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| (c) John Hunt - Lapwing |
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| (c) John Hunt - Sparrowhawk |
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| (c) Gillian Bamford - Small Copper |
