Wildlife Events

13th March 2019 7.30pm

Wild Gardens launch

Bring your boots, wrap up warm, and go wild in our wild garden.
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20th February 2019 7.30pm

Bumble Bees – Adrian Doble

Hope you’re not too buzzy to come, we recommend you arrive early in case there’s a hive of activity.
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Past Wildlife Events

Wild Gardens launch on Wednesday March 13th at 7.30
Bumble Bees - Adrian Doble on Wed February 20th 2019 at 7.30
Make your own Bird Box - Sat Jan 19th 2019 10am -12noon
Insect talk - 7 November 2018
Veteran Tree talk 27 Sept 2018
A talk about veteran trees, particularly oaks, and how to record them.
Bat talk 21 August 2018
A talk about bats and how to detect and record them.
Know your Dragons and Damsels - Wednesday May 2nd 2018 at 7.30

Most people will be familiar with at least some of the birds and butterflies that flit around our gardens and countryside. But equally dramatic is a family of metallic-like insects which many will admit to knowing little about – our dragonflies and damselflies. Yet they are a fairly varied group of creatures, with a specific window of opportunity to find them, between May and October. Brian Clews’ talk will look at the lifestyles and behaviour of these fascinating insects and lay the foundation for potential survey work of a couple of the scarcer species which are known to inhabit the waterways around the Cookhams.

Come and get Wild about Gardens - Thursday April 12th 2018

Cookham’s Wild About Gardens Awards was launched in April. The aim of the Awards is to help people value the contribution of wildlife in their gardens – and to do that across our whole community. It’s a pilot for a Borough-wide initiative so it’s Cookham’s chance to lead the way!

Giving the scheme its initial boost at this meeting was Hilary Phillips, Living Landscapes Community Engagement Manager with Bucks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). She gave tips on how to create a garden that welcomes wildlife and touched on some of the things that we can do across Cookham to promote biodiversity. There was interest for everyone, whether or not you are participating in the Awards. Plus there were other experts on hand and all the information you need about the Awards to allow you to put your garden forward for a Gold, Silver or Bronze Award.

No charge for attending but donations welcome

Swan Upping and the Swans of the Thames - Sat Feb 17th 2018
David Barber, the Queen’s Swan Marker, told us all about the life of the Swan, its historical link with our river Thames, and the monitoring of their welfare each year.
Build your own bird nesting box - Sat Jan 20th 2018
Bird nesting boxes were built under the guidance of Bob Keene from Bisham Barn Owl Nest Box Group (BBONB). Now is the perfect time to start putting up nesting boxes to allow the birds to discover them before the Spring breeding season starts. Suitable for families and children as we will be assembling pre-cut kits (there will be no cutting of wood). If you can please bring a light hammer and a crosshead screwdriver. If you don’t have these, some will be provided. £10 covers the cost of the materials for each box and we appreciate additional donations for WildCookham and BBONB. Tea, coffee, soft drinks and biscuits provided.
Bat Talk and Walk - Wednesday 23 August at 7.30
Following the past years wonderful events where we met a rescued bat and also created an orchestra with our bat detectors along the banks of the Thames, Simon Holmes from Berks & South Bucks Bat Group returned with another rescue bat and his detectors.  In better weather than last year we walked down to the river and detected pipistrelles, soprano pipistrelles, noctule and dawbenton bats.

Making bug boxes - Sunday April 9th at 11.30
Around 12-15 people made bug and butterfly boxes with Mike Tucker’s supervision and instruction.  https://www.meetup.com/Cookham-Wildlife-Supporters/events/past/#upcoming
Our local butterflies - Monday March 20th
David Fuller gave a very informative talk about our local butterflies and when and where we are likely to see them, as well as how we can encourage them to prosper.