Programme of Events
Outline Programme for 2008
Further details of these events will made available to members nearer the dates in question.
- Thursday 3 April: 'Wildlife Gardeners' Question Time': Community Centre, 7.30 p.m.
- Do you want to encourage birds and butterflies to your garden?
- Are you interested in digging a wildlife pond?
- Are you looking for plants that will encourage insects?
Then come to the Conservation Group's
WILDLIFE GARDENERS' QUESTION TIME
'Gardening for Wildlife'
Thursday 3 April at 7.30 p.m. at the Woodcote Community Centre
- Come along to pose questions to our expert panel and join in the discussion
- Bring pictures or descriptions of plants or animals that you want us to try and identify
On the night we will also be launching the Village Environmental Audit. Come and add any species you have seen to our lists of wildflowers, birds, fungi, butterflies . . .
This event is free for all WCG members. A charge of £3 will be made for non-members (includes optional one-year membership.) Free refreshments. Please book in advance by emailing Helen Walkington at hwalkington@brookes.ac.uk
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Thursday 22 May: 'Woodcote Woodcock Walk': meet at Greenmoor Ponds at 8.30 p.m. We will be walking down into the local woods to witness the 'roding' display flight which the male woodcock performs around his territory at dusk. Please wear boots or stout shoes and warm clothes, and bring a torch for the return walk. (Overall walk c. 3 miles; paths can be uneven underfoot.)
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Saturday 5 July: Visit to Bix Bottom Nature Reserve for:
ORCHIDS, BUTTERFLIES and GLOW-WORMS
Visit to Bix Bottom Nature Reserve
- Meet at 2 p.m. at the Warburg Nature Reserve visitor centre (Bix Bottom) for a gentle, guided butterfly/orchid walk, led by the local warden. (Car-sharing and lifts from Woodcote Village Hall car-park at 1.30 p.m.) The walk will probably cover some rough/inclined ground, so come suitably booted.
- After the walk, at about 5.30pm, we plan to have a light meal at the Five Horseshoes pub in Maidensgrove, which is a short (1.5-mile), but steep walk from the reserve (or a 10-minute drive).
- At dusk we will descend back to the Warburg Nature Reserve visitor centre, for a glow-worm walk and to assist in the Reserve's glow-worm survey.
You are welcome to attend just one of these events if time is precious!
Please reserve your place with Phil Roberts (681159,
phil.roberts4@virgin.net) before the event.
- Saturday 2 August: Coffee Morning at the Community Centre
- Saturday 9 August: Summer 'Walking Party': meet in Village Hall car-park at 11.30 a.m.
- Friday 22 August: Moth identification evening, 8.00 p.m. onwards
Elephant Hawk Moth in a Woodcote garden
(Photo by Eric Grimes)
- Saturday 20 September: Fungus foray: meet at Greenmoor Ponds at 10.00 a.m.
The 2007 fungus foray
- Thursday 6 November: Annual General Meeting: Community Centre, 7.30 p.m.
- In addition to the above, our regular working parties take place this year on Saturdays 16 February, 12 April, 14 June, 11 October, and 13 December.
We have also agreed to coordinate two actions proposed in the Woodcote Parish Plan:
- An environmental audit of the village (making use of, amongst other things, existing records, including such things as records of garden birds, butterflies, or other wildlife that people may have kept over the years)
- Producing a guide to 'Woodcote Walks', either as a set of leaflets or as a booklet, containing walks of varying length in the countryside around the village.
Watch this space for further details!