Friends of Foots Cray Meadows has launched a new website. The Friends is a group of volunteers who work with Bexley Council and others to care for the meadows. Membership costs £4 a year per household. The new site at footscraymeadows.org gives information and news about the meadows and about events taking place.

Learn the ancient art of woodland coppicing with the Lesnes Abbey Conservation Volunteers on November 28. Anyone who wants to take part should meet by the information centre next to the abbey ruins at noon, wearing suitable clothes. Under-16s must be accompanied. Call 020 8317 3748 for details.

Bats are in decline in the UK but bat boxes, artificial roosting sites, can encourgae them to roost and breed. Easily built, the boxes can be placed on a tree or on the side of a building. They are similar to bird boxes but bats gain access through a slot at the bottom of the box. To find out more go to bats.org.uk

Funding from the EU has enabled Transport for London (TfL) to buy three more hydrogen buses to help improve the capital’s pollution levels. TfL alread has five hydrogen buses coming into service later this year. The 5.67 million euros to fund the buses comes from the EU’s Cleaner Hydrogen in Cities project.

The RSPB is urging people not to cut their hedges until the last berries of autumn have disappeared. It says a sudden influx of waxwings from Scandinavia could be due to the poor berry crop there this year. They have been spotted everywhere from parks to supermarket car parks with their distinctive crest and black “mask” around the eyes and yellow-tipped tail.

Author and photographer David Boag will give an illustrated talk to the Bexley RSPB on The American Project, at Hurstmere School, Hurst Road, Sidcup, on Friday 19 November at 7.30pm. Admission is £4.50 for non-members.