Urban Riverfly Training at Braywick Nature Centre

Passionate about your local river and want to help protect it? Why not train to become a citizen scientist with us? Want to help provide solutions to the river pollution challenge? The data collected by our citizen scientists are vital to drive change in local catchments. Take part in our citizen scientist event in Maidenhead on Saturday 21st March to find out more.

BOOK HERE.

Date: Saturday 21 March 2025

Venue: Braywick Nature Centre, Hibbert Rd, Maidenhead, SL6 1UU

Timings: 09:15 – 16:00 (more details are in the below table). Please note, timings are slightly flexible, so we may finish slightly earlier/later than 16:00.

Structure of the day:

09:30 – Arrivals, registration and refreshments

09:45 – Introductions, health & safety and biosecurity

10:15 – Introduction to Riverfly monitoring (RMI)

10:45 – Break (tea/coffee)

11:00 – Target groups: identification, life history & ecology

11:45 – RMI fieldwork – theory

12:15 – Lunch break

12:45 – RMI fieldwork – practical session in the river at North Town Moor

15:15 – Clean equipment and kit

15:45 – ID quiz (back inside the pavilion)

16:00 – Online database and RMI in practice

16:15 – Questions and feedback

16:30 – Finish

Getting there: The centre is a 25-minute walk from Maidenhead Station and a 2-minute walk from the Grove Academy stop (53 bus). If you’re driving, there is a car park at the centre, which is free for the day

Lunch: Please bring your own lunch with you.

Clothing: Please dress appropriately for the weather: If there is rain in the forecast, bring a raincoat. In general for riverfly monitoring, please wear long trousers and wear or bring a long-sleeved top/fleece/jumper to protect yourself from nettles or giant hogweed. Please also wear sturdy shoes for the walk to the site for the practical session.

Waders: Please fill in the waders section in the sign-up form, so I know your shoe size and 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: All equipment for the RMI practical fieldwork will be provided on the day – I 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.

Under 18s: Please note, if you are under the age of 18, you must be accompanied by a legal parent or guardian in order to attend.