Rushmoor Community Lottery
We've launched our page on the Rushmoor Community Lottery.
Tickets cost £1 per week - we will receive 50p per ticket (and other local good causes 10p).
You could win up to £25,000!
Scan the QR code below, or click this link to go to our page. Thank you for your support.
Co-Op Local Community Fund
We are delighted to have been chosen to be part of the Co-op Local Community Fund. We're raising money to buy more tools and equipment for our volunteer work parties.
If you are a Co-Op member, please click the link below and choose us as your cause. 1% of everything you spend on selected Co-Op branded goods and services between today and 21st October 2023 will be donated to our cause:
https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/66193
Volunteer Work Parties
Our volunteer work party schedule for the next few 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 May
Richard Seargent: Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper & 2 Garden Warbler.
Steve Walsh: Little Egret.
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| (c) Gillian Bamford - Robin |
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| (c) Steve Walsh - Starling |
Tuesday 2nd May
Graham Sharples: 3 Cetti's Warbler.
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| (c) George Newton - Reed Warbler |
Wednesday 3rd May
No reports.
Thursday 4th May
Anon: Nightingale (male recorded calling near Arnhem Bridge. Last recorded 20/08/20. 114th bird species for 2023).
Mark Elsoffer: Little Egret, Wigeon, 2 Garden Warbler, 6+ Reed Warbler, 5+ Cetti's Warbler, 8+ Whitethroat, 20+ Chiffchaff, 30+ Blackcap, 20+ Swallow, 50+ Sand Martin, 20+ House Martin & 50+ Swift.
Colin Varndell: Lapwing & Canada Geese with 6 goslings.
Swifts were seen entering the Swift Tower today for the first time this year.
Mark Elsoffer: 20+ Common Blue Damselfly, 1 Azure Damselfly & 1 Beautiful Demoiselle.
Katie and I had the great pleasure of running two pond dipping sessions and scavenger hunts for 41 girls from 18th Aldershot Rainbows and 1st Aldershot Brownies this evening.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Rainbows Visit |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Brownies Visit |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Canada Geese |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Lapwing |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Buzzard |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Great Crested Grebe |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Grass Snake |
Friday 5th May
Mark Elsoffer: Wigeon.
Mark Elsoffer: 2 Common Blue Damselfly & 2 Large Red Damselfly.
Swifts were again seen entering and leaving the Swift Tower today.
Well done to the ten volunteers who built an extension to our dead hedge (Becher's Brook) this morning in very changeable weather. Once again it was a huge pleasure to be joined by the Surrey Choices Growth Team - it's so rewarding to work alongside them.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Surrey Choices Growth Team |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Female Orange-tip Butterfly |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Terns on the new tern raft |
Saturday 6th May
No reports.
Sunday 7th May
Richard Seargent: Nightingale (Tice's Wood / Bike Field area).
Rich Ment: Lesser Whitethroat.
Dina Burford: Little Egret.
A number of families enjoyed a picnic and free children's activities to celebrate the coronation today.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - Family Activities |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Large Red Damselfly |
Monday 8th May
Daniel Bridger: Nightingale (Bike Field).
Dina Burford: Little Egret, 2 Gadwall, Wigeon & Egyptian Geese with 4 goslings.
Thank you to the 30+ volunteers who turned out for our community litter pick today as part of the #BigHelpOut to mark the coronation. We cleared a huge amount of litter from the Blackwater path, housing estate & river.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Community Litter Pick |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Community Litter Pick |
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| (c) George Newton - Reed Warbler |
Tuesday 9th May
Graham Sharples: 5 Garden Warbler.
Wednesday 10th May
Richard Seargent: Wigeon.
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Canada Goose |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Fox Cubs |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Swift |
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| (c) Wild Cam - Reed Warbler |
Thursday 11th May
Paul Bamford: Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly & Banded Demoiselle.
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Kestrel |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Tern Raft |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Starlings |
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| (c) Gillian Bamford - Azure Damselfly |
Friday 12th May
Mark Elsoffer: Canada Geese with 6 goslings, Egyptian Geese with 4 goslings, Mallards with 5 ducklings & Barn Owl.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Canada Geese |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Little Grebe |
Saturday 13th May
Mark Elsoffer: Little Egret, Wigeon & Mediterranean Gull.
We had the pleasure of running an activity session for the Saturday Zone children at Parkside Aldershot this morning. We made pine-cone bird feeders, painted nest boxes for Ticehurst Care Home, and painted wooden animal shapes. Thanks Katie, Debby & Dina for helping.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Parkside Activities |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Parkside Activities |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Parkside Activities |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Banded Demoiselle |
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(c) Mark Elsoffer - Orange-tip
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(c) Colin Varndell - Swallows
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| (c) Anne Palmer - Fox |
Sunday 14th May
Sean Foote: Hobby (115th bird species for 2023).
Mark Elsoffer: Pochard, Wigeon & Spotted Flycatcher (16th record for site. 116th bird species for 2023).
Rudy Chodankar: 4 Little Egret.
Abi Foote: Hairy Hawker (first of year, 4th record for site).
Sean Foote: Clouded Mompha (Mompha langiella) & Fruitlet-mining Tortrix (Pammene rhediella) - both new moths for site.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Whitethroat |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Pochard |
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| (c) Rudy Chodankar - Swift |
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| (c) Gav Thane - Fox Cub |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Alderfly |
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| (c) Melanie Nichols - Azure Damselfly |
Monday 15th May
Mark Elsoffer: Little Egret, Pochard, Wigeon, Peregrine & Barn Owl.
Don Lemmon: Osprey (19th record for site. 117th bird species for 2023.).
Richard Seargent: Sedge Warbler.
Murray Nurse: Hairy Hawker (5th record for site).
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Banded Demoiselle |
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| (c) David Gosnell - Egyptian Goose |
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| (c) Conor Macleod - Bullfinch |
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| (c) Conor Macleod - Roe Deer |
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| (c) Conor Macleod - Fox |
Tuesday 16th May
Mark Elsoffer: Little Egret, Wigeon & Sedge Warbler.
Colin Varndell: Lapwing & Peking Duck.
Mark Elsoffer: Hairy Hawker (6th record for site).
We had the pleasure of leading a guided walk for ten members of the Runnymede U3A Birdwatching Group this morning.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - U3A Walk |
We had the pleasure of running river dipping & a scavenger hunt for 24 of the 14th Aldershot Beavers this evening. Thank you to Katie, Abbie & Dina for running it.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - Beavers River Dipping |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Blue Tit |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Lapwing |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Courting Common Terns on Tern Raft |
Wednesday 17th May
Mark Elsoffer: Little Egret & Wigeon.
Mark Elsoffer: Hairy Hawker (7th record for site).
We had the pleasure of attending a breakfast event at the Hampton Estate this morning to learn about their new 100 year management plan for Puttenham Common.
We were delighted to host 60 pupils from Alderwood School today for a geography field trip.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Female Beautiful Demoiselle |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Female Banded Demoiselle |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Hairy Hawker |
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| (c) Gillian Bamford - Small White |
Thursday 18th May
Mark Elsoffer: Little Egret, Wigeon, Raven & Osprey (20th record for site).
Mark Elsoffer: Four-spotted Chaser (first of year).
Thanks to Roger for ringing under the power lines today.
We were delighted to host 60 pupils from Alderwood School today for a geography field trip.
We had the pleasure of leading a walk for 24 Beavers from 12th Wrecclesham this evening.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Beaver Walk |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Four-spotted Chaser |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Copulating Azure Damselflies |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Reed Warbler |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Mute Swans |
Friday 19th May
Noel: Black Tern (14th record of site. 118th bird species for 2023).
Mark Elsoffer: 2 Little Egret & Wigeon.
Rudy Chodankar: Willow Warbler.
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| (c) Rudy Chodankar - Black Tern |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Black Tern |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Large Red Damselfly |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Banded Demoiselle |
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| (c) Gillian Bamford - Blue-tailed Damselfly |
Saturday 20th May
Mark Elsoffer: Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plover (119th bird species for 2023), 3 Little Egret & Wigeon.
Richard Seargent: Sedge Warbler.
Anon: Hobby.
Thanks to the 27 volunteers who attended today's work party, including a team from Surrey Choices. We painted the feeding station, cleaned the feeders, maintained the shelter, finished a dead hedge, and did a number of other jobs on site.
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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 |
Sunday 21st May
Mark Elsoffer: 2 Lapwing, Little Egret & Wigeon.
Richard Horton: Common Sandpiper.
Geth Tillin: 2 Rook.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Blue Damselflies |
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| (c) Gav Thane - House Sparrow |
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| (c) Rebecca Haskell - Slow Worms |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Great Tit |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Red Kite |
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| (c) Conor Macleod - Bullfinch |
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| (c) Conor Macleod - Common Sandpiper |
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| (c) Conor Macleod - Starlings |
Monday 22nd May
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| (c) Hilary Dickson - Stag Beetle |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Whitethroat |
Tuesday 23rd May
Dina Burford: Nightingale (Bike Field) & Little Egret.
Richard Horton: Common Sandpiper.
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Fox |
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| (c) Dina Burford - Kestrel |
Wednesday 24th May
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Coot Family |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Magpie |
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| (c) Hankie Wong - Swift |
Thursday 25th May
Mark Elsoffer: Little Egret, Wigeon, Nightingale (Bike Field) & Yellow Wagtail.
Hannah C: Marsh Harrier (14th record for site. 120th bird species for 2023.).
Dina Burford: Lapwing.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Beautiful Demoiselle |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Azure Damselflies |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Yellow Wagtail |
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| (c) Gillian Bamford - Small Copper |
Friday 26th May
Murray Nurse: Nightingale (Bike Field).
Mark Elsoffer: 3 Lapwing.
Mark Elsoffer: Hairy Hawker (8th record for site - 5th in past fortnight).
Thanks to the 14 volunteers who attended our work party this morning, including the Surrey Choices Growth Team. We strimmed the nettles along the paths to the Bat Lake, Tice’s Wood & Horton’s Mound, & cut back along the path across the island, around the reptile tins & waymarkers.
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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 - Red-eyed Damselfly |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Banded Demoiselle |
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| (c) Andrew Lock - Fox Cub |
Saturday 27th May
Simon Stacey: Nightingale (male singing in Bike Field).
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Whitethroat |
Sunday 28th May
Rudy Chodankar: Ringed Plover, Lapwing, 2 Little Egret & Goldcrest.
Dina Burford: 9 Greylag Goose.
Colin Varndell: Tench (Tinca tinca) - new species for site.
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Banded Demoiselle |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Bullfinch |
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| (c) Jon Hawkins - Starlings |
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| (c) Wild Cam - Four-spotted Chaser |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Grey Heron eating Tench |
Monday 29th May
Mark Elsoffer: Hobby.
A Hairy Hawker was seen ovipositing today - further proof of breeding on site for the first time - the 21st odonata species recorded breeding on site.
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Blue Damselflies |
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| (c) Mark Elsoffer - Azure Damselfly |
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| (c) Wild Cam - Juvenile Coot |
Tuesday 30th May
Colin Varndell: Lapwing & 6 Gadwall.
Twenty four children and parents enjoyed the free river dipping session Katie & Abbie ran this afternoon.
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| (c) Katie Hunt - River Dipping |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Gadwall |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Lapwing |
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| (c) Paul Mannering - Blue Tit |
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| (c) Michael Snow - Starlings |
Wednesday 31st May
Dina Burford: Redshank, 3 Lapwing & Little Egret.
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| (c) Hankie Wong - Reed Bunting |
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| (c) Gillian Bamford - Brown Argus |
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| (c) Gillian Bamford - Small Heath |
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| (c) Colin Varndell - Starlings |
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