A Litter pick along the Emm Brook is undertaken on the first Saturday of every month.
The next litter pick will be on Saturday 7th Septenber at 10.00 . Meet at Dragonfly Bridge to the rear of Morrisons Supermarket, Woosehill RG41 3SN at 10:00.
Please wear suitable clothing, footwear and gloves.Litter pickers and bags provided. Parking is available at Morrisons.
AGM 2024
This years AGM was held on Monday 13th May at the Rose Room, Bradbury Centre, Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XS .
05/11/ 22
BARBARA STAGLES TREE PLANTING
In recognition of the role that Barbara Stagles played during the formation of FOTEB and her works with Wokingham District Veteran Tree Association (WDVTA) an English Oak (Quercus robur) was planted in Woosehill Meadows between the Community Orchard and
the Wild Flower area.
WOKINGHAM DISTRICT VETERAN TREE ASSOCIATION (WDVTA) AGM
Wokingham District Veteran Tree Association (WDVTA)will be holding their AGM on Monday 27th March at Wokingham Town Hall starting at
19.30.
Click on the link for more details WDVTA AGM
21/10/ 22
AN UPDATE ON TW PLANS TO IMPROVE THE WATER QUALITY OF HEATH LAKE
The latest update from Thames Water can be found by clicking on the above link
BALSAM BASHING
Balsam Bashing is being undertaken on the Emm Brook a little later this year. Due to some of the team being on holiday.
The Three Amigos will walk the Emm Brook from Area 2 to Area 8 removing Himalayan Balsam as they go.
18/03/ 22
COMMUNITY ORCHARD PLANTING
FOTEB working with the charity Freely Fruity planted 82 fruit trees (Apple,Plum and Cherry) in a community orchard in Area 5 between Dragonfly and Ripplestream Bridge.
Assisted by the children from the Windmill School, Laura Buck from WBC, , Kathryn from
My Journey Wokingham(WBC) and other volunteers. Good to see it happen.
The Team from FOTEB keen to get started.Photos courtesy of Freely Fruity and WBC.
AGM
This years AGM was held on Monday 9th May 2022 at the Rose Room, Bradbury Centre, Rose Street, Wokingham RG40 1XS
02/04 /22
April's litter pick in Area's 4 & 5 to the rear of Morrisons , was completed on Saturday 2nd April . Apprxiamately 12 people helped and in 2 hours 15 bags of litter were removed from along the Brook(mostly bottles) including a safe and a couple of old road cones. Thanks to all that attended.
05/03/ 22
A litter pick in Area's 4 & 5 , was completed on Saturday 5th March . Apprxiamately 15 people helped and in 2 hours 18 bags of litter were removed from along the Brook. Thanks to all that attended.
23/12 /23
BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH 2024
Big Garden Birdwatch is fun, free and for everyone. And you don’t need a garden to take part! Counting birds from your balcony, or your local park will play a vital role in helping us understand how UK birds are doing.
Sign up for your free guide and let’s look out for birds together on 26-28 January 2024.
Click on the link for more details Big Garden Birdwatch
25/12 /21
WOOSEHILL COMMUNITY ORCHARD
FOTEB in conjunction with Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) , South East Rivers Trust (SERT) and Freely Fruity are constructing a Community Orchard in Area 5.
It would be located in the area behind Morrison’s supermarket, adjacent to where the original wildflower meadow was on the east side of the Brook
running parallel to Arthur Road.
Its location is shown here.
To contact us with any comments please click on the link
info@foteb.org.uk
MONTHLY BIRD WALKS AROUND DINTON PASTURES 2024
RSPB
A Date With Nature Monthly Saturday morning walk 1st Saturday of each month
Location: Meet in the Dinton Pastures main car park in Wokingham RG10 0TH at 09:00.
As the parking fee in the Dinton Pastures car park is £6 for 4 hours, the Local RSPB Group have arranged for participants to park for free in the car park of the Wheelwright Arms, which is close to the entrance to Dinton pastures but on the opposite side of the road. (Obviously, it would be appreciated if we give our custom to the pub RG10 0TR.)
A three and a half hour walk around Dinton Pastures and Lavell's Lake (Area 10 of the Emm Brook) , suitable for everyone of all ages and we usually see/hear between 40 and 50 species of birds. Good cafe and toilets by the car park.
Time: 9 am
Price: £2 donation to the RSPB.
LAVELL'S WETLAND TRUST
On the second Sunday of every month Lavell's Wetland Trust formally Friends of Lavell Lake (FOLL) run a guided bird walk around the park covering Area 10 of the Emm Brook. Routes will vary depending on the time of year and last up to three hours. Wear suitable clothing as at times paths can be very muddy. We meet at 9am in the car park on Sandford Lane (opposite the Dinton Activity Centre entrance) and ask for a donation of £1 with no charge for children.
For more information visit the FOLL website . Click here
Car park charges apply.
This
Month on the Emmbrook
What to look for if you are out and about in
SEPTEMBER
General
September is a time of
change as the tide turns from Summer to Autumn with the Autumnal equinox usually on the 23nd September. The
hedgerows are full of ripening berries with Hawthorn haws, Rose hips,
Sloes, Blackberries and Elderberries. However make sure that you pick your Blackberries before September 29th St Michaelmas Day . It was once believed that on the feast of St. Michael, the devil spat on the blackberries (or worse!) and it was therefore very unwise to pick and eat the fruit after September 29th. According to the old tale, when St. Michael cast Satan from Heaven, the devil landed on earth in a patch of brambles and he returns every year to spit on the plant that tortured him, breathing his foul breath over it and trampling it.
The leaves of the trees are just starting to change to the reds and golds of Autumn and Winter as bird migrants start to appear.
When is the first day of autumn?
It depends on whether you are referring to the astronomical or meteorological autumn.
We often talk about it beginning to feel like autumn when the nights start to draw in and temperatures start feeling cooler.
There are two separate dates which could be said to mark the start of autumn in calendars. One is defined by the Earth's axis and orbit around the sun and the second is a fixed date which is used by meteorologists for consistent spacing and lengths of the seasons.
Meteorological season
The meteorological autumn begins on the 1st of September and ends on 30th of November .
The meteorological seasons consists of splitting the seasons into four periods made up of three months each. These seasons are split to coincide with our Gregorian calendar making it easier for meteorological observing and forecasting to compare seasonal and monthly statistics. By the meteorological calendar, the first day of autumn is the 1 September.
The seasons are defined as Spring (March, April, May), Summer (June, July, August), Autumn (September, October, November) and Winter (December, January, February).
Astronomical season
This astronomical autumn began on the 22nd September and ends on the 21st December .
The astronomical calendar determines the seasons due to the 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth's rotational axis in relation to its orbit around the sun. Both equinoxes and solstices are related to the Earth's orbit around the sun.
Earth's axis and seasons
Solstices and equinoxes are considered to be the astronomical transition points between the seasons and mark key stages in the astronomical cycle of the earth. In a year there are two equinoxes (spring and autumn) and two solstices (summer and winter). The dates of the Equinox and Solstice aren't fixed due to the Earth's elliptical orbit of the sun. The Earth's orbit around the sun means that in early January, the sun is closest (known as perihelion) and in early July it is most distant (aphelion).
On the autumn equinox, day and night are of roughly equal length and the nights will become increasingly longer than the days until the spring equinox when the pattern is reversed.
It also marks the time of year when the northern hemisphere begins to tilt away from the sun resulting in less direct sunlight and consequently the cooling temperatures.
Birds
Keep an eye
out for Jays.
These birds are more noticeable at this time of the year as they stash
acorns away for the winter by burying them in the ground. Gathering Swallows & Martins herald the beginning of the great intercontinental shift as northern breeding birds head south.
Insects
Insect numbers decline massively as adults of many species die to leave the caterpillars or pupae to survive the winter; however certain insects are more noticeable at this time of year.
Around the time of the harvest in August onwards the Craneflies (or Daddy-long-legs) appear in their greatest numbers. September really wouldn.t be the same without one of these clumsy charecters hanging around your porch light.On cold autumn mornings you suddenly realise how many spiders there are! Take an early morning walk and spot spider webs outlined in dew on hedgerows, in meadows and even on house windows and car wing mirrors. Spider silk is truly amazing
Other Wildlife
Squirells become more noticeable again hunting for and hiding acorns for the winter.
Plants
& Trees
By September the Horse-Chestnut trees (conker trees) have been showing signs of the changing season for several weeks,
already with their large palmate leaves browning at the edges like they have passed too near to a naked flame.
The Horse-Chestnut also yields up its seeds this month in the form of conkers which drop to the ground in their spiky green cases.
Other tree species such as Ash, Beech and Sweet Chestnut are also turning with tinges of yellow, orange and light green tinges.
Ivy is one of the few late flowering plants and the nectar forms an important food sources for bees and wasps. There are seven different wasp species in Britain. Common and German wasps seemingly suddenly appear in September but this is because their pattern of obtaining food has changed. Their summer past time of killing insects to feed to the larvae in the nest has come to an end (the larvae provide a sweet saliva in return). This is because their queen has now stopped laying eggs and the food incentive has gone. As a result they then move onto other sweet substitutes, such as the sugars of fallen fruit or the jam in your picnic sandwiches. Unfortunately it is now that wasps, with their ability to sting and not die, become particularly unpopular in the garden.
It was once believed that on the feast of St. Michael, the devil spat on the blackberries (or worse!) and it was therefore very unwise to pick and eat the fruit after September 29th. According to the old tale, when St. Michael cast Satan from Heaven, the devil landed on earth in a patch of brambles and he returns every year to spit on the plant that tortured him, breathing his foul breath over it and trampling it.
Many plants have or are setting seeds. Rosebay willow-herb plants are sending out fluffy seed umbrella like structures to carry the seed by the wind to a new location.
Fungi can be found throughout the year but a damp September and October will give rise to a multitude of fruiting bodies yielding billions of spores to spread the species far and wide.
Emmbrook Weather
Bernard Burton has been recording the weather alongside the Emm Brook since 1976. His weather station originally situated at Emmbrook Secondary School till 1996 and now at Emmbrook Junior School daily monitors the weather. For a more detailed anaylsis of the previous month's weather visit this link.
Emmbrook Weather
For todays Emm Brook sunrise and sunset times
Click here
Newsletters
At their meeting in November 2010 the FOTEB management committee took the decision to discontinue the printed newsletters for members. This decision was not taken lightly since there is of course a tradition of keeping members informed of events and sightings by way of regular printed newsletters. However, knowing that the majority of members have internet access and are regular visitors to our website - and having received an increasing number of representations from members expressing a wish to receive literature in an electronic format - your committee felt that the time had come to cease the time-consuming and costly production of regular printed newsletters and replace them with an online noticeboard on our website.
Click on Archive page at the top of the screen to view one of the previous News letters.
.jpg "Community Orchard")
