Braywick Nature Centre

What a Success!

Braywick Nature festival was a jam packed, fun weekend for all, with all family nature activities sold out and lots of happy faces throughout the festival. Bring on next year!

We are taking part in Thames21's 2024 PLASTICBLITZ again- a simultaneous group bank-side litter pick to improve help clean local waterways and collect citizen science data on river pollution. Come and join us on Tuesday 2nd July at 1pm - meet at Braywick Nature Centre.

Check the articles below to see topical new events or features of the Nature Centre. Get in touch if you have any feedback or comments - and share our updates with your local community!

We loved hosting the Thames21 Maidenhead to Teddington Catchment Partnership meeting last week here at Braywick! Thank you to Sarah Thornley for facilitating so amazingly, and for all who attended with so many ideas for the future of the catchment.

Braywick Nature Festival is looking for stall holders and volunteers to help/marshal the event - Saturday 5th August approx 12-4. Event set-up would commence earlier in the morning.

Volunteers - It is a fantastic day with refreshments provided for volunteers. Tasks may include: Set up, marshalling, clear up, activity tables.

Stall Holders - You would need to bring your own gazebos/marques and tables if possible.

If you would like to volunteer or set up a stall/activity please contact Thomas.Hall@RBWM.gov.uk for availability and more information.

On May 20th we gathered at 4:45am here at the Nature Centre to listen together to the magic of spring birdsong - accompanied by tea, coffee and doughnuts after. Huge thanks to Brian Clews for providing expert insight and thank you to all who came! We have set a new record for Braywick bird counts with 19 different species!

Robin              Blackbird          Jackdaw

Blackcap           Canada Goose    Song Thrush

Great Tit            Wren             Goldcrest

Woodpigeon        Crow             Chiffchaff

Garden Warbler     Magpie          Ring-necked Parakeet

Jay                Raven            Stock Dove

Red Kite

Join us from 10am - 12 noon for this year's PlasticBlitz and WaterBlitz.

RBWM are currently recruiting a Natural Environment Officer.

This is a fantastic opportunity to play a key role in delivering the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead’s strategy for sustainability and climate change. You will be an important member of the Council’s growing Sustainability and Climate Change team sitting within the wider Infrastructure, Sustainability and Economic Growth service.

In this exciting new role you will take responsibility for developing and delivering projects detailed in our Environment & Climate Strategy and our newly adopted Biodiversity Action Plan. This will include writing funding applications, managing key stakeholders and monitoring project budgets.

You will support the environmental educational activities undertaken at the Braywick Nature Centre, liaising with schools and community groups and delivering engaging and informative sessions for both children and adults. We welcome new, innovative ideas on how to engage people in the natural environment.

Pollution can find its way into urban rivers via surface water outfalls (drains) as a result of misconnected plumbing. We are looking for volunteers to help conduct Outfall Safari surveys in the waterways in Maidenhead. This involves bankside surveys of stretches of the river to map and record the impact of outfalls.

The training session will take place at:

Braywick Nature Centre, Hibbert Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1UU,

on Thursday 20th April 13:30-15:30.

Register at: https://MaidenheadOutfallSafari.eventbrite.co.uk

For more information please email: sam.facey@zsl.org

Our 'Night Forest' Halloween activities for families were great fun this year. Pumpkins were carved, spooky stories were told by our own Winnie Witch round a roaring campfire, and the procession through the pumpkins lined along the woodland was the perfect way to finish the evening. Our event sold out quickly and we hope to run even more Night Forest evenings next year.