Tice's Meadow Bird Group

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Tice's Meadow Bird Group

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We are the community led organisation that helps manage Tice's Meadow Nature Reserve in Badshot Lea.

27/10/2026

Messing about in the river today, undertaking a riverfly survey as part of a Department of the Environment citizen science project to monitor the heath of our rivers. Seven key indicator species are looked for to determine the general condition of the water. Reasonable results today with plenty of freshwater shrimps and caddisfly larvae (survey target species) along with 15 various damselfly nymphs and two sticklebacks. Several locations are surveyed along the river Blackwater from Tice's meadow to Moorgreen lakes Finchampstead.

25/10/2026

The first named storm of the season did not deter our volunteers from their task of removing willow between the two silt ponds! For a couple of hours, the rain more or less held off, giving us a perfect window to cut and add the willow to an existing dead hedge. 🪵
A huge thank you goes out to the hardy souls who joined us—rewarded by a great sense of achievement! 🌧️🙌

Explore Surrey's Countryside

Volunteers at work © TMBG

17/10/2026

A lovely morning spent at 𝗧𝗶𝗰𝗲'𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄 for this Saturday's volunteer task! ☀️🌾

The skies were blue, the air was still, and the warm sun shone down. We ventured into one of the reedbeds—an area usually out of bounds to the public—to do some crucial willow clearance. 🌲✂️

If left alone, the reeds would be completely lost beneath a sea of willow. Tice's Meadow would lose an incredible habitat, resulting in a direct drop in local biodiversity. On days like this, it's a win-win all round!

A massive thank you to the 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, and all the 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 for coming out and doing their bit. 🤝💚

Explore Surrey's Countryside Surrey Choices

Volunteers in the reedbed ©TMBG

09/10/2026

Continuing the willow clearance along the eastern shore of the silt pond. Six TMBG volunteer's and the Surrey CC ranger continued with the removal of large willow trees and the construction of a dead hedge using the cut timber. Still a fair bit to do, however, steady progress was made and hopefully we'll complete the task by the beginning of November.

02/10/2026

Five TMBG volunteers and the Surrey CC ranger spent a few hours starting to clear the large willows from the eastern shore of the Silt pond. With the new reed bed starting to obscure the view over the pond, we are opening up the eastern shore line to support better viewing and also increase air flow over the water and providing more light at the water edge. Many thanks to todays helpers and we will continue this work over the coming weeks. The cut willow will be used to build a dead hedge along the current fence line.

29/09/2026

Now three Pintail in the workings this evening.

28/09/2026

A Pintail was seen in the workings this evening. Apparently it has been present for three days at least. Last recorded on 2nd January 2026. Since 2012 up to four birds have been seen between September and April except in 2018.
Pintail are slightly bigger than a Mallard. The female is drab in colour but the drake is stunning in breeding plumage. They migrate south in winter from north-west Russia and Finland with many staying along the south coast of the UK.

26/09/2026

🦇 𝗕𝗮𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝘅 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗶𝗰𝗲'𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄! 🦇

Our bat boxes have been up since 2018. Funded by the Surrey Bat Group and Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust, these boxes get a thorough check and clean every September.

Bats can be picky tenants and take a few years to move in—but our patience is paying off!

This year's stats are in:
📊 𝟮𝟳 𝗯𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱
✨ 𝟭𝟯 𝗯𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀𝗲 (𝟰𝟴%!)
🦇 𝟭𝟳 𝗦𝗼𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗼 𝗣𝗶𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗻𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝟱 𝗯𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀

Even when the bats aren't home, we can confirm they've been using them by the droppings left behind (and we clear out old bird nests while we're at it to keep things tidy).

It’s amazing to see the steady increase in take-up over the years - take a look at the graph!

Thank you to everyone who helps monitor and protect our local wildlife! 💚

Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust Explore Surrey's Countryside Bat Group

Pictures:
Checking, cleaning and maintaining the bat boxes
Bat droppings
Graph showing the percentage of bat occupancy per year since 2018
© TMBG

23/09/2026

🍁𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗼’𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆!

Spotted at Tice's Meadow this morning, 5 beautiful Swallows putting on an acrobatic display, swooping low and fast to scoop up insects. 🦟✨

These incredible little birds are currently on their massive 6,000-mile migration from the UK back to South Africa for the winter. Seeing them gather like this is a classic, bitter-sweet sign that autumn is truly here. 🍂

Surrey Bird Club Explore Surrey's Countryside

Swallows © Jon Hawkins

21/09/2026

💥 RUSHMOOR 💥 TMBG 💥 LOTTERY 💥 WINNER 💥

🌟 Tice's Meadow Bird Group just had a generous donation of £25.00 from a lucky winner on the Rushmoor Lottery!🥰

Support our cause and buy your chance to win here - https://www.rushmoorlottery.co.uk/support/tices-meadow-bird-group

🙏 Thank you for all of your support!

Address

Tice's Meadow Nature Reserve
Aldershot
GU99LY

Website

http://www.ticesmeadow.org/

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