We unknownly walked the Barns Trail, starting at the ship pub and finish at the Red Lion. Yes there was walking inbetween the pub craw.

There were only 4 us but we go to share the experience together along the Thames

The 4 of us meet at Hampton court where I led a wild goose hunt for the toilet. Then the walk started at the base of the palace and then we waited for the herd of school children to walk by.

Once we turned left and walked along the Thames, noticing the high tided we felt more water based, increasingly feeling like ducks ourselves. Then the rain started and we wish we could dry off quicky following the dogs way of shaking themselves dry. I'm pleased to report we dryed off with a lovey cup of coffee at Kingston bridge.

I then took the very very scenic walk back to my car tripling the KM I walked with the group.

A scorcher of an afternoon for this midweek gardening task alongside Thames Landscape Strategy. Either side of the river towpath in Ham, an interesting and invasive plant Himalayan Balsam was taking over the soil from native plants. It has alien-like bright red roots which must bind only weakly into the ground as it's really easy to pull out.

There were a lot of nettles growing near and even around the balsam, but it was far too hot for trousers, so I had to tread carefully. Of course I did not and got stung repeatedly.

A few others had joined the task including familiar face Sharon from the Friends of Ham Lands, the chair of an umbrella Ham community group and some people from the Landscape Strategy's Eventbrite listing.

I learned so much about bats and their habitat along the Thames. Thank you for a really interesting evening with a friendly bunch of fellow bat-recorders.

The three of us has a good Brainstorming session to understand how the assisted walks can continue.

As we sat by the Witches cauldron (I mean a Cactus) we had the key ingredients: - Enthusiasm - Funding Applications - Ideas for the Future

With a stirring, Researching, time and Magic, the Assisted walks will continue

That was the question on everyone's mind as they lined up on Richmond riverside, waiting to be assigned a specific bat to count. Soprano, common, nathusius pipistrelle, plus daubentons, noctule and a few other species. We set out bat detectors to their corresponding frequency and lined up on both sides of the river for the final count of the year.

After a slow start the Twickenham side crew found a hotspot at the far side of Marble Hill Park. The walk ended near the White Swan pub after we made about 20 stops every couple of hundred metres. We then marched all the way back to Richmond and convened at the White Cross where Ken very generously got two rounds in.