Instead of the usual reserve news from Thursley Common, I have managed to steal this slot in the newsletter to give you all a bit of news about Royal and Bagmoor Commons!  I have recently started working for the Surrey Wildlife Trust as the ranger for Bagmoor Common, and am getting involved with forthcoming work on Royal and Elstead Commons too.  I am excited to be working on Royal and Bagmoor as there is such a good mixture of habitats to work with.  We have
heathland, grassland, ponds, streams and also a large amount of mixed woodland, including many mature and veteran oaks. 
   
Over the last few days it has started to feel quite autumnal, and that means that we are just about starting the works for this winter.  We will be doing some scrub clearance and tree management work on Bagmoor Common over the coming months.  As many of you will already know, the areas of heathland on site are of a particularly high value to wildlife.  Lowland heath needs active management otherwise it will scrub over very quickly and be lost to woodland.  Don't worry though, we won't be wiping out the scrub and trees, we just want to keep them from taking over.  This management will be of benefit to many heathland species including rare birds such as the dartford warbler, woodlark and nightjar, as well as the hobby, linnet, tree pipit, meadow pipit, stonechat and redstart.  All six of the British reptile species are associated with heathland, and we know that we currently have grass snakes, common lizards, adders and sloworms.  I have started to regularly survey for reptiles and am hopeful that we may find the rarer sand lizards and smooth snakes too as they are both on Thursley National Nature Reserve. Some of the hazel coppice woods may be home to dormice; there is a record of dormice on Bagmoor from the 1990s, and I am looking forward to finding out if they are still there! 

I will be running a number of volunteer tasks on Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays, so please contact me if you are interested in helping.  These tasks will usually involve clearing small trees or gorse; we will burn up some of the branches so do bring a potato to bake in the fire!  We meet at the Royal Common entrance at 10 am, and work until about 3 pm, or whenever you would like to stop.  Even if you can only give a couple of hours of your time, it is all appreciated.  All tools, training, tea, coffee and biscuits are provided.  All you need are some old clothes, waterproofs, and sturdy boots.  The next tasks I have planned are on Monday 5^th October and Saturday 10^th October.  Details are posted on the Surrey Wildlife Trust website, and also on the recently erected noticeboard at the entrance to Royal Common off the B3001.  Do let me know about any interesting wildlife sightings on the site, and I look forward to meeting you out on the common in due course. 

This will be held on Saturday 7^th of November. The bonfire and fireworks will be on the lower level of the grounds. The firework display will start at 8 pm.

In the Barn there will be a Disco and a Barbeque will be available at the rear of the building. It goes without saying that the bar in the Barn will also be open.

Entry is open to everyone, admission - adults £2.50, children 50p (should be accompanied by an adult).