This autumn, EECOS (part of Essex Wildlife Trust) will be writing a management plan for the Whetmead Local Nature Reserve near Witham. This gives the opportunity to gather extra information about the wildlife using this site over the summer months (if it ever stops raining!). Knowing any specific habitat requirements can then help guide any small-scale habitat creation ideas as well as any broader management options.
As such, I'd like to invite all members to visit the site to help gather records. Invertebrate data would be most welcome, but all groups can be covered. The site lies just to the east of the A12 just opposite the Witham sewage works, down Blackwater Lane at Saul's Bridge, Witham: OS grid ref TL 830138. There is a small car park at the end of this lane, from where you can walk under the A12 to reach the site. It is an old landfill site and so has a weedy brownfield feel about it, although the vegetation is rather lush in places.
Please submit your records to myself at EECOS after which I can collate them and submit them to the Field Club database (adriank@essexwt.org.uk EECOS, Abbotts Hall Farm, Gt Wigborough, Colchester, CO5 7RZ)