Free
Thank you for your interest in becoming an Urban Riverfly Monitor! For more information about the Urban Riverly scheme, which was developed by the Riverfly Partnership, please click here.
Date: Tuesday 19th November
Venue: Eastbrookend Discovery Centre
Timings: 09:45 - 16:30 (more details are in the below table). Please note, timings are slightly flexible so we may finish slightly earlier than 16:30 (any time between 16:00 and 16:30).
Structure of the day:
09:45 = Arrivals, registration and refreshments
10:00 = Intros, health & safety and biosecurity
10:30 = Introduction to Riverfly monitoring (RMI)
10:50 = BREAK (tea/coffee)
11:00 = Target groups - identification, life history & ecology
11:40 = BREAK (tea/coffee)
11:50 = RMI fieldwork - theory
12:15 = BREAK (lunch)
12:45 = RMI fieldwork - practical session in the river
15:00 = Clean equipment and kit
15:45 = ID quiz (back inside the centre)
15:50 = Online database and RMI in practice
16:15 = Questions and feedback
16:30 = Finish
Parking: If you are driving, there is a car park at the centre.
Practical session site: The Chase Bridge
Lunch: Please bring your own lunch with you, or there will be time during the break to buy some from the nearby Eastbrookend Country Park Cafe. Please also bring a water bottle with you.
Clothing: Please dress appropriately for the weather - if there is rain in the forecast, bring a raincoat. Please wear long trousers and wear or bring a long-sleeved top/fleece/jumper to protect yourself from nettles or giant hogweed. Please wear sturdy shoes for the hike over to the practical site, but note that we will change into waders before approaching the river for the practical session.
Waders: Please let me know what your shoe size is ASAP so I can make sure I bring enough waders to fit everyone. I won't be able to let you keep these waders unfortunately - they will just be loaned to you for the training day. Also, please let me know if you are going to bring your own waders.
Equipment: Equipment for the RMI practical fieldwork will be provided on the day by Thames Chase Trust - we will give you/the person representing your group your monitoring kit to take home with you. This kit includes: a large net (approximately 1.5m tall so I would advise not cycling if you are the designated person in your group who is taking the net home), a 16 litre bucket, a large white tray, a nine-section divided tray, a large pipette, a couple of small pipettes, a couple of plastic spoons, a magnifying glass and a paintbrush.
Let me know if you have any questions by emailing me at jack.beard@thames21.org.uk or phoning me on 07597 576706.
Eastbrookend Discovery Centre , The Chase, Dagenham, Romford RM7 0SS, RM7 0SS
Where it's happening:
Eastbrookend Discovery Centre