Essex Field Club Exhibition
rings made from hazel. Alan Shearring for the Essex Wildlife Trust provided a display on its
appeal to save Stow Maries Halt Nature Reserve. It also had a selection of the Trust's latest
literature and useful items for sale. Peter Furze had photographs of a miscellany of insects and
other items from the Langdon Nature Reserve.
Each year we invite other natural history groups to join us and this year we were particularly pleased
to welcome three guest societies. The South Essex Natural History Society, represented by iris
Cotgrove and Pat Wortley, demonstrated the work of Barbara Williams fa) recording the plants on
the Belton Hills, Leigh-on-Sea and (b) logging the colonization of the new pond in Belfairs Nature
Reserve since September 2002. Another member, Betty Matson, recorded the first actual sighting
of a dormouse at Belfairs whilst carrying out conservation work. John Threadgold, for the Wakering
and District Natural History Society, displayed a village map of Wakering, together with some
original artwork, information about their website and information about past and current activities.
Nick Green of the Essex Birdwatching
Society demonstrated the current activities
of the Society with a fixture card of their
2003-4 events, recent examples of their
Annual Bird Report and their biennial
magazine Essex Birding, as well as their
recording forms. David Bloomfield
provided them with a challenge: to identify
the species using an unusually large (14 x
21 cm, internal), stick, mud-lined nest, from
a tall garden conifer, that he had brought
along. Nick and Neil Harvey (EWT) were
convinced that it could have been
constructed only by a magpie. David
verified this after the meeting by examining
a nest known to be that of a magpie.
During the year, part of the collections from Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, Chingford, was
passed to the Field Club. Mark Hanson displayed three of the items; mounted and cased specimens
of a merlin, a red-legged partridge and a crossbill. Nick Green examined the crossbill and
concluded from its bill structure and that as it was stuffed at Abergoyne (near Aberdeen), it was
almost certainly a Scottish Crossbill. These additions further underline the need for permanent
storage for the Field Club's collections and library. Martin Heywood and John Bath manned the
Field Club's display illustrating its activities and a selection of the Club's publications was on sale.
A very welcome guest was Germaine Greer, who has an active interest in the natural history of the
county. As a result of her visit, two of our members will be advising her on how to manage her
garden pond to encourage frogs and toads. Subsequently she commented on the displays and the
enjoyable but business-like atmosphere of the occasion in the Country Notes column in the Daily
Telegraph of December 13th.
A very special thank you is owed to Mary Smith for her behind-the-scenes work in organizing the
Exhibition and for the splendid spread of refreshments she provided, ably helped by her husband,
Patrick, which did so much to reinvigorate the body and set a convivial atmosphere to the afternoon.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 21 (2004)