01/04/2020

Working with Essex Wildlife Trust at Fingringhoe Wick nature reserve - leading guided birdwatching walks for ladies on alternate Wednesdays 10am-12noon and 1-3pm. For further details and bookings please contact the visitor centre on 01206 729678. CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE due to Covid

23/03/2021

In line with latest Government guidelines and easing of restrictions I plan to restart guided walks (rule of 6) from 29th March.

18/05/2021

Tuesday 18th May 10am – 12 noon Wrabness EWT
(£8 per person). Meet in the reserve car park. TM167315. CO11 2TF. From the B1352 between Bradfield and Wrabness turn left into Wheatsheaf Lane, take the first left just past the bridge, and the car park is on your right (there is a height barrier). Most of the paths are tarmac/hard surface, with only one or two grassy areas.
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: sand martin, nightingale, turtle dove, cuckoo, song thrush, linnet, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat, blackcap, common buzzard.
Booking in advance is essential please.

21/05/2021

Friday 21st May 10am – 12 noon Abberton Reservoir
(£8 per person). Meet at the north (reserve) end of Layer de la Haye Causeway (there’s plenty of parking along the causeway) – B1026 - Church Road/Wigborough Road. We’ll probably view from the causeway and Wigborough Bay, depending on the latest bird news.
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: little ringed plover, great white egret, yellow wagtail, common tern, common buzzard, hobby; cattle egret and black tern possible as well as rarities (eg white winged black tern, Bonaparte’s gull and Arctic tern in recent years).
Booking in advance is essential please.

24/05/2021

Monday 24th May 10am – 12 noon The Naze
(£8 per person). Meet in the pay & display car park near the EWT visitor centre in Old Hall Lane, Walton on the Naze, CO14 8LE. TM264235. Drive through Walton and then follow Hall Lane, Naze Park Road and Old Hall Lane to the end! The car park is on the right. The walk will be approximately 2 miles; and the ground is uneven in places.
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: warblers, skylark, cuckoo, house martin, kestrel, terns offshore.
Booking in advance is essential please

27/05/2021

Thursday 27th May 10am – 12 noon Cockaynes Wood EWT
(£8 per person). Access is off Alresford Road, between Wivenhoe and Alresford – park and meet in the lane just north of the railway leading east. CO7 9JX. TM052216. (Alternative parking round the corner just south of the railway at the turning to Brett Aggregates.) This reserve is jointly managed by Essex Wildlife Trust and Cockaynes Wood Trust and has a mix of habitats – heath, grassland, woodland and ponds.
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: linnet, yellowhammer, blackcap, reed warbler, common buzzard, nightingale; also butterflies, dragonflies (eg 4 spotted chaser, scarce chaser) and mining bees.
Booking in advance is essential please.

03/06/2021

Thursday 3rd June 10am – 12 noon Elmstead Woods
(£8 per person). Meet in the village car park in Clacton Road (A133), Elmstead Market (CO7 7DA) (between the traffic lights and Beth Chatto Gardens, near the junction with Bromley Road). The walk will be approximately 2 miles, but please note that we’ll go through a cattle field where the ground is trampled and very uneven. The site includes new woodland, old woodland and a section of the Tenpenny Brook.
Species we’ll be hoping to find include: banded demoiselle (and other dragonflies); butterflies; common buzzard, warblers (including whitethroat, willow warbler and blackcap), green woodpecker, yellowhammer, house martin.
Booking in advance is essential please.

04/06/2021

Friday 4th June 1.30 – 3.30pm Manningtree
(£8 per person). Meet in the Co-op car park (near the recycling bins) in Riverside Avenue East (off the B1352, Station Road) CO11 1US. We’ll walk west along the river wall.
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: kingfisher, little egret, lapwing, avocet, hobby, marsh harrier.
Booking in advance is essential please.

08/06/2021

Tuesday 8th June 10am – 12 noon Frinton on Sea to Holland Haven
(£8 per person). Meet on the Greensward at the southern end of The Esplanade near Frinton Golf Club, CO13 9EP. There is plenty of free parking along The Esplanade and Second Avenue. We’ll walk along the seawall to Holland Haven and back via the Country Park and by the golf course (approx. 3½ miles).
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: yellow wagtail, common buzzard, whitethroat, sedge warbler, reed warbler, reed bunting, swift, avocet, terns offshore.
Booking in advance is essential please.

10/06/2021

Thursday 10th June 1.30 – 3.30pm Fingringhoe Wick EWT
(£8 per person). Meet in the reserve car park. TM041195. CO5 7DN. Access is via South Green Road or Furneaux Lane (both quite narrow!) in Fingringhoe village.
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: nightingale, warblers (eg chiffchaff, garden warbler, lesser whitethroat), common tern, avocet, cuckoo, hobby, marsh harrier, common buzzard, turtle dove possible; butterflies.
Booking in advance is essential please.

14/06/2021

Monday 14th June 10am – 12 noon Alresford Creek
(£8 per person). Parking/meet near the memorial by the ruins of St Peter’s church in Ford Lane, Alresford. Nearest postcode is CO7 8AZ. TM064206. We’ll walk a circuit across the fields to the River Stour and along Alresford Creek (approx. 3 miles).
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: yellowhammer, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat, swallow, avocet, common tern, treecreeper and nuthatch possible.
Booking in advance is essential please.

16/06/2021

Wednesday 16th June 10am – 12 noon Wrabness EWT
(£8 per person). Meet in the reserve car park. TM167315. CO11 2TF. From the B1352 between Bradfield and Wrabness turn left into Wheatsheaf Lane, take the first left just past the bridge, and the car park is on your right (there is a height barrier). Most of the paths are tarmac/hard surface, with only one or two grassy areas.
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: sand martin, nightingale, turtle dove, cuckoo, song thrush, linnet, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat, blackcap, common buzzard.
Booking in advance is essential please.

28/06/2021

Monday 28th June 10am – 12 noon The Naze
(£8 per person). Meet in the pay & display car park near the EWT visitor centre in Old Hall Lane, Walton on the Naze, CO14 8LE. TM264235. Drive through Walton and then follow Hall Lane, Naze Park Road and Old Hall Lane to the end! The car park is on the right. The walk will be approximately 2 miles; and the ground is uneven in places.
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: warblers (eg blackcap, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat, sedge warbler), skylark, cuckoo, house martin, kestrel, terns offshore.
Booking in advance is essential please.

29/06/2021

Tuesday 29th June 1.30 – 3.30pm Abberton Reservoir
(£8 per person). Meet in the EWT visitor centre car park signed off the B1026 (Church Road/Wigborough Road just south of Layer de la Haye village – approx postcode CO2 0EU). We’ll be walking the Lord Woodmouse Trail – approx 3 mile circuit via both causeways.
Species we’ll be hoping to see include: nightingale, little ringed plover, swift, cuckoo, great white egret, yellow wagtail, corn bunting, common tern, hobby, marsh harrier, scarcer species possible (eg black necked grebe, little gull); butterflies.
Booking in advance is essential please.