8 minute read
Spotters Guide
Spotters Guide seasonal animals
Get out in the Essex Country Parks and spot some wonderful wild animals
Now many open spaces and wooded areas are alive with the sounds of wildlife. With many of our parks being Sites of Special Scientific Interest, RAMSAR sites and much more, due to the wildlife that resides with them, you might see something on your travels. Here, we’ve come up with a mix of the more common mammals and overwintering birds that you might spot during the autumn and winter months.
Badger Fallow Deer Fox
Grey Squirrel Kestrel
Mole Redpoll Lapwing
Redwing
Siskin Water Vole Waxwing
Photography in the parks
With photographer Andrew Adams
Andrew Adams is a resident of Brentwood and a long time Essex Explorer contributor who enjoys nothing more than trekking and photographing the flora and fauna found within our amazing parks across the county. He is an experienced and multifaceted photographer with interests in wildlife, landscape and street photography.
These stunning autumn and winter images were taken at Danbury, Thorndon and Weald Country Parks. Why not get out and about and see what you can discover?
To see more of Andrew’s photography, visit his Instagram page: #andrew_d_adams or visit Youpic: www.youpic.com/AndrewAdams
Explore Epping Forest
Did you know Epping Forest is home to over 50,000 ancient trees and with some believed to have been growing since Anglo-Saxon times? Or that two-thirds of Epping Forest is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation due to the ancient trees and the flora and fauna found within its woods?
Image credit: Joy Davidson
Here you can discover a gentle meander through the forest which takes you past ponds, through woodland pathways and tarmacked tracks.
his easy four-mile walk
Tis on woodland paths and tracks and features some gentle slopes. There are no stiles to climb over, only gates, and the walk is suitable for all ages.
• Facing the King’s Oak pub turn right and keep going for 75 yards (68 metres) up to the green gates. Then turn left onto a faintly marked path and keeping the wooded fence on your left, you’ll come to a junction with a more substantial path.
Remember this as you’ll need to recognise it on your way back.
• Take this track left to a triangular junction marked with a blue arrow marker post, bear right down the track, this leads to the A104. • Take care crossing the road and then go through the car park and bear right at the blue marker post. Fork right and then turn right at the next blue arrow post and then straight on past the last blue arrow post, this track eventually leads to a road. Keep walking ahead and then left of
Strawberry Hill Pond. Keep left when passing the second larger pond and after bearing right you’ll find a wider grassy track.
• Take this track right – this takes you back to the A104, again take care crossing. Go through the narrow wooden gate and continue by taking a slight right on the substantial path to
Fairmead Road.
• Turn right and continue until you see a white topped post on your left. Turn left along this wider clearing with trees on your immediate left, and you’ll come to a junction with a more substantial track and then turn left.
• Follow this track and then cross the road and opposite you’ll come to a metal barrier which you can continue past.
• Keep on this track and when you come to the junction turn left and it’ll bring you back to your start point, the road which the
King’s Head pub is on.
This couple near Braintree had a heat pump fitted as part of the scheme and are now benefitting from lowcost and low-carbon heating.
The Sustainable Warmth Fund Helping you cut your energy bills and carbon footprint
You may be eligible for £10,000 of home improvements to make your property more energy efficient, environmentally friendly and cheaper to heat if it is has an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D or below.
If you are an Essex homeowner and your household income is below £30,000, or you receive certain benefits, the Sustainable Warmth Fund may be able to reduce your energy bills, through covering the cost of improvements such as, insulation, sustainable heating, ventilation, hot water systems, solar thermal, solar photovoltaic and lighting. Applications are currently open for the Sustainable Warmth Fund, and you can apply by completing the Sustainable Warmth Scheme application form by visiting: www.surveys.est.org.uk/s/ GreenHomesGrantSchemeLAD
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can cut your carbon footprint at home and reduce the cost of your energy bills, then read Essex County Council’s and the Essex Climate Action Commission’s advice pack. It’s for Essex residents and is full of useful climate action guidance, information and resources to help you - view the pack by visiting: www.essexclimate.org.uk/ essex-advice-pack
Are you struggling to keep up with the rising costs of energy this winter?
See the Earth from (our) space
An awe-inspiring art installation is coming to Essex for the first time this autumn when Chelmsford Cathedral hosts Luke Jerram’s spectacular ‘Gaia’. Measuring six metres in diameter and created from 120 dots per inch detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, ‘Gaia’ provides the opportunity to see the planet in its entirety as it slowly revolves in the nave of Chelmsford Cathedral, accompanied by a surround-sound composition by BAFTA award-winning composer Dan Jones.
‘Gaia’ is hosted by Chelmsford Cathedral and will open to the public on Wednesday 12 October until Sunday 30 October. It has been brought to the city with the support of the Essex Climate Action Challenge Fund and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) who will feature ‘Gaia’ as part of their first annual Chelmsford Science Festival.
‘Gaia’ will be open for visitors during the day and on selected evenings. During this time local environmental and eco-organisations have been invited to provide interactive displays to encourage us to think about ways to protect our planet. In addition, visitors will be able to enjoy live music, talks and an evening of yoga against the spectacular backdrop of ‘Gaia’.
To inspire young minds, ‘Gaia’ is open throughout half term with eco-themed craft activities taking place from Monday 24 October to Friday 28 October in association with Chelmsford City Culture. Children will be able to get involved in living art including creating tree strings and natural collages and let their imaginations run wild with sponge painting and junk modelling. Family Science Day takes place on Saturday 15 October with ARU’s Global Sustainability Institute who will be delivering a range of interactive activities around the cathedral grounds.
As Chelmsford Cathedral expects to welcome many visitors during the ‘Gaia’ installation, the cathedral will be offering timed-entry tickets. Entry during the day is free and there is a small charge to visit in the evening when ‘Gaia’ will be beautifully illuminated and the cathedral lit by candlelight.
Tickets to special events will be limited and organisers advise early booking. All tickets can be booked via the Chelmsford Cathedral website: www.chelmsfordcathedral. org.uk/gaia
For the latest information, please follow @chelmsfordcathedral on Facebook.
‘Gaia’ images by Phil Longfoot
Deepenings: A new arts project for Cudmore Grove
On the Essex coast there are places that still feel wild, places that remember when the water was lower and remember when it was higher. Here the elements sing and squabble. Doggerland feels close. Ancient spirits tell of the homes lost to the water, the hands that built them and the giant creatures that once sailed up there in the water above where our heads are now.
The Deepenings team of artists invite you to join them on an adventure that aims to illustrate poetic versions of the past, both deep and shallow, and to imagine prophetic versions of possible things to come. Three female artists collaborate to read and retell the landscape, developing experiences that will bring magic outdoors to Cudmore Grove… or transport its special landscape back home to you. Expect labyrinth building, storytelling, the collecting of memories and dreams and a new walking trail. A series of talks connected to the project, the park, its history, future and very special environment will be held this winter. Community and school workshops will be held in late autumn, winter and spring. To find out more, visit www.thedeepeningsproject.com or look out for drop-in sessions with the artists at Mersea Island Museum.
