Sunday 11 September 2022

Great Big Green Weekend

We are delighted to be hosting a Great Big Green Weekend of free events at Tice's Meadow Nature Reserve, in support of the Climate Coalition's Great Big Green Week.


Friday 23rd September

Bat walk led by Steve Bailey of the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership. 19:00 till 21:00. Booking required via Eventbrite.


Saturday 24th September

Pond dipping for families, led by Katie from the TMBG. 10:00 till 11:30. Booking required via Eventbrite.


Sunday 25th September

Blackwater Valley Friends of the Earth's Great Big Green Bike Ride. Further details here.


Sunday 25th September

Work party in the river for World Rivers Day. 10:00 till 14:00. No booking required. Further details here.




Tuesday 6 September 2022

Monday 1st August to Wednesday 31st August

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.

(c) Katie Hunt - Bug Hotel Building

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Red-veined Darter

(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.

(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.

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darter

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Red-veined Darter

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Willow Emerald Egg Laying Scars

(c) Gav Thane - Fox


Saturday 6th August

Richard Horton: Wood Sandpiper & Wheatear.

Paul Mannering: Hummingbird Hawkmoth - new for site.

(c) Colin Varndell - Cormorant

(c) Colin Varndell - Juvenile Reed Warbler

(c) Paul Mannering - Hummingbird Hawkmoth


Sunday 7th August

Mark Elsoffer: Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Cetti's Warbler & Yellow Wagtail.

Anon: Wood Sandpiper.

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Black-tailed Skimmer

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darters (pair, mating)

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darter

(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.

(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.

(c) Katie Hunt - Bird Feeder

(c) Colin Varndell - Cattle Egret



Wednesday 10th August

John Hunt: Green Sandpiper, 3 Snipe & Cattle Egret.

Richard Seargent: Mediterranean Gull.

(c) John Hunt - Wasp Spider

(c) Colin Varndell - Cattle Egret

(c) Colin Varndell - Snipe

(c) Duncan Wright - Grey Heron

(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.

(c) John Hunt - Lapwing

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darter

(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.

(c) John Hunt - Golden-ringed Dragonfly

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Painted Lady

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Snipe

(c) Dina Burford - Migrant Hawker

(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.

(c) John Hunt - Migrant Hawker

(c) Colin Varndell - Black-tailed Godwits


Monday 15th August

Kevin Duncan: Ringed Plover.

Anon: Common Sandpiper & 2 Green Sandpiper.

Colin Varndell: Kingfisher.

(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.

(c) Katie Hunt - Len the Scarecrow

(c) Colin Varndell - Lapwing & Snipe

(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.

(c) Katie Hunt - Kids with their Seed Balls

(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.

(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.

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Migrant Hawker

(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.

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Work Party

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Work Party

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Work Party

(c) Colin Varndell - Kingfisher

(c) Colin Varndell - Green Sandpiper

(c) Colin Varndell - Hobby

(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.

Peter Brown: 4 Snipe.

Anon: 6 Green Sandpiper.

Mark Elsoffer: Willow Emerald Damselfly - second record for site.

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Willow Emerald Damselfly

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Mating Migrant Hawkers

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Grey Heron with Dinner

(c) Colin Varndell - Common Tern

(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.

(c) John Hunt - Green Sandpiper

(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.

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Willow Emerald Damselfly

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Ruddy Darter

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darter

(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.

(c) Katie Hunt - Kids with their Butterflies

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Willow Emerald Damselflies Mating

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Spotted Flycatcher

(c) John Hunt - Snipe

(c) Dina Burford - Common Sandpiper

(c) Colin Varndell - Treecreeper

(c) Paul Habgood - Common Darter

(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.

(c) Katie Hunt - Moth Trapping

(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.

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Surrey Choices Team

(c) Dina Burford - Common Sandpipers

(c) Colin Varndell - Common Sandpiper

(c) Colin Varndell - Reed Bunting

(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

Kevin Duncan: Wigeon.

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.

(c) Katie Hunt - Kid's Picnic

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Common Darter

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Migrant Hawker

(c) Jon Hawkins - Fly

(c) Jon Hawkins - Ladybird

(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.


(c) Ralph Clark - Snipe

(c) Ralph Clark - Lapwing

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Willow Emerald

(c) Dina Burford - Grey Heron with Dinner

(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.

(c) Mark Elsoffer - Ruff

(c) Dina Burford - Little Grebe

(c) Colin Varndell - Blue Tit

(c) Colin Varndell - Kingfisher

(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.

(c) John Hunt - Black Swan

(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.

(c) John Hunt - Green Sandpiper

(c) John Hunt - Lapwing

(c) John Hunt - Sparrowhawk

(c) Gillian Bamford - Small Copper