A Litter pick along the Emm Brook is undertaken on the first Saturday of every month.
The next litter pick will be on Saturday 4th January 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
DECEMBER
General
December 21st is the Midwinter Solstice and our shortest hours of daylight.
Plants are in their dormant stage and there are very few signs of growth at this time. It also marks the official arrival of thr winter.
This month is, of course, dominated by the run up to Christmas. It is now, perhaps more than any other time that we bring plants from the countryside into our home.
Evergreens such as Holly, with its rosy berries (only on the females plants) are used in wreaths, along with Ivy and fir cones too. The custom of decorating homes with evergreen branches dates back
to pre-Christian times. Holly,Iivy and Mistletoe were thought to have magical powers.
A European tradition states that whoever brings the first Holly into the house at Christmas will rule the house for the following year.
Birds
Cold nights and damp days make winter inhospitable for lots of insects and plants, while most amphibians and some mammals have gone into hibernation. But while the rest of the animal kingdom sleeps, the landscape is flooded with visiting and resident birds. Amongst the most likely birds to be seen in the gardens, woodlands and fields alonside the Emm are flocks of roaming Tits and Finches (such as Chaffinch and Brambling).
These are often joined by the occasional Tree creeper and Nuthatch.
With every year that passes there are more reports of Blackcaps and even Chiffchaffs over wintering; you may be lucky to see them amongst these flocks.
Rooks and Crows seem to be everywhere once out of town, and Jays and Magpies are hard to miss also. Robins are one of the first species to start singing in earnest, with the males marking out their territories in readiness for the coming breeding season
At night Tawny owls may be heard staking out territory, with both the male and the female birds creating the classic owl 'tu-wit tu-who'.
Love them or hate them, huge numbers of woodpigeons will be on the move within December. Individual flocks can number in the tens of thousands.
The movement is generally from the north to the south-west and is most obvious on clear cold days with light winds.
We aren't really sure where these birds come from or where they are going to but it would seem likely that they are moving from northern Europe and are making their way to France and possibly southern Europe.
When this migration is underway it is a very impressive sight and one that a lot of people overlook.
Insects
Very few insects can be found flying around during December. The exception may be clouds of male Gnats dancing in the hope of attracting a passing female.
Look into your shed or attic now and you may come across adult Small Tortoiseshell or Peacock butterflies waiting out the winter.
Some Slugs and Snails still brave the conditions. Their slimy trails differ in that snails trails are not continuous, unlike Slugs.
Other Wildlife
All of our local amphibian and reptile species (i.e. common toad slow-worm; common newt, smooth newt , great crested newt and grass snake)
are all hidden away under ground until spring, and sometimes together in mixed groups.
Only the common Frog chooses a different approach by hiding at the bottom of a pond.
Foxes will be making their intentions loud and clear this month as their mating season ensues. Vixens (females) wail and scream, and dogs (males) bark to find mates across the landscape.
They also become easier to spot as they search and flirt. There are more urban Foxes now than ever, so chances of seeing and indeed hearing their displays are no longer confined to fields and hedgerows.
Their cubs will be born next January / February.
Plants
& Trees
Winter evergreens provide a welcome touch of green in mid-winter. Only the female holly tree has red berries and holly berries were traditionally used in Christmas decorations. Mistletoe was always a magical plant and symbol of fertility and today is still brought into homes at Christmas for people to kiss under!
Mistletoe is actually one of our most easily recognised but least understood plant. In Britain we have just one species of Mistletoe Viscum album and the latin name refers to the berries which are white (album) and contain a very sticky, viscous fluid (Viscum). Did you know, mistletoe's name comes from Anglo-Saxon and means “dung on a twig” - not so romantic after all! Ivy may be common but it’s great for wildlife. See if you can spot woodpigeons or other birds feeding on the black berries of ivy in late winter.On chilly mornings, plants and seed heads such as teasel can take on artistic frosty forms. It’s worth keeping seed heads standing in your garden through the winter, not only for their attractiveness for us on cold winter mornings, but for birds looking for food and insects that hide inside through the winter.
Fungi
Keep an eye out after rainy days and nights as more fungi appear on rotting wood, woodland floors and grassland. Look out for fungi in all sorts of colours. There’s more to fungi than a drab, brown toadstool!
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.
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