Summer on the Special Protection Area
Autumn is here and as we’ve reached the end of the 2026 bird nesting season it’s a good time to reflect on what the team has been up to over the season. A lot can happen in seven months!
1st March to 15th September is the busiest time period in the year for the Thames Basin Heaths Partnership team. The warden team entered March refreshed and ready to maximise their time on the Special Protection Area (SPA) heaths across Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire. Our Seasonal Wardens joined us and underwent a comprehensive induction period in February, supporting the year-round wardens with ensuring ground-nesting bird signs were in place across the SPA before 1st March.
Pop-ups got underway and both spring and wildfire events planned for the Easter Holidays at the end of March/beginning of April. Wildfire Awareness Week couldn’t have been timed better; as the weather became drier and warmer the heaths experienced the first wildfires of the year. Whitmoor Common and Barossa, both in Surrey, were the first to experience fires.
The warden team were super-busy popping-up all over the three counties, engaging with heathland visitors!
May saw the arrival of Nightjars back to the SPA and guided walks at Bramshill Plantation in Hampshire led by Senior Warden Kay. Watching Nightjars is such a highlight of the wildlife calendar, and we thoroughly enjoyed introducing individuals to their world!
July saw further heatwaves and getting out on the heaths early morning and late afternoon to avoid the heat of the day.
Despite the heat the team did a sterling job of creating a buzz about Heath week by handing out flyers!
Heath Week ran from Saturday 25th July to Sunday 2nd August and despite the hot weather, we successfully ran 18 events, exploring the heathland habitat and the intriguing variety of animals that call it home!
We finally felt some respite from the summer heat with some cloudy skies and rain at the end of August! Not enough to refill the heathland ponds that had been drying up but a good dampening down.
Heathland Hounds breathed a sigh of a relief at being able to return to cooler Waggy Walks! They actually got rained on during this walk at Chertsey Meads in Surrey!
You may have noticed the ground-nesting bird signs coming down again. September 18th saw us say a sad goodbye to our seasonal wardens. We are so thankful for all their hard work and enthusiasm over the season.
With the autumn equinox on 23rd September the days grow shorter but there’s still some warmth to autumn. For that reason our wildfire signs remain up on the heaths. A return to little rainfall means that the Fire Severity Index has returned to ‘high’. We are keeping everything crossed that we don’t experience any more wildfires in 2026.
It’s a lovely time of year to continue wildlife spotting, and to record the heathland wildlife that we can still see. There’s a good number of butterflies still to spot and some late dragonflies. You may even encounter common lizards enjoying a good bask in the sun!
With the year-round team remaining, we turn our thoughts to autumn events. Autumn brings the changing in colour of leaves and heather and the growth of juicy berries which provide a winter feast for some species of bird.
If you’re heading out on a family walk at a Greenspace on your doorstep, why not print an autumn spotter sheet to take with you and enjoy some connections with nature!
Nicky, Communications Officer
Thames Basin Heath Partnership