Saturday 9 April 2022

Beddington Farmlands Drop In

Popped into the farmlands on Thursday evening after work, highlights were a pair of Pintail, 3 swallows, Peregrines and a Raven. There had been a couple of Med Gulls and a Marsh Harrier (found by Zach) earlier on in the day, despite the fresh westerly conditions. 

Been doing a bit to help out with the local elections and councillor pledges related to the farmlands etc and also still trying to hand over everything we were doing in the way of local community work and citizen science to the people now being paid to do it. Big news this week in that Viridor have sold the restoration to a company called Frank Solutions Ltd - was expecting something like this as we approach the legal deadline which presumably is either streamlining  to make sure everything is completed at lightning speed over the next year or so or it's litigation ring fencing before they execute their ecocidal coup de grace.  Will see. 

The new flat is going well, Roger making good progress and even got it rented out already off plan which is great. It's quite amusing,  literally this time last year I was still in the Beddington obs, a self posted eco-socialist fighting for people and nature trying to build a flagship sustainable community and now in less than a year I've got a mini-property empire (four properties), live in a country manor and in danger of becoming a capitalist slum landlord lol. I haven't forgotten what this is all about and will provide excellent quality, environmentally friendly good value rental accommodation and will keep fighting for the farmlands and for Hackbridge and our other projects. This whole current investment drive just provides us with the money to do even more good stuff (if the universe allows- everything as always is a gnat's cock width from disaster what with war in Europe, pandemic, climate chaos, ecological meltdown and hyper inflation all going on around us) .      

Pretty steady on the tree and garden work front, got a couple of larger contracts to look at too. 

With the help of Zach and the ARRSC team now almost completed the official SPEA/Portuguese Rarities Committee Azores Bird list - latest draft HERE.  Got the next trip coming up in a couple of weeks, to Bulgaria which is just about sorted too. 

Male Pintail from Wet Grassland Hide 


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