Belfairs Nature Discovery Centre - EWT

Belfairs Nature Discovery Centre - EWT Essex Wildlife Trust's Belfairs Nature Discovery Centre is the gateway to the Daws Heath Woodland.
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The centre provides a space for schools, groups and families to learn about south Essex’s fantastic ancient woodlands in an interactive way. The Belfairs Woodland Centre is a partnership between Essex Wildlife Trust and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Interreg, Maxigreen project. The centre itself will be a focal point for a range of events and activities for the whole community and provide volunteering opportunities, refreshments and an education hall.

We are open as usual again! The kitchen repairs are all completed!The crowds are gathering.....
16/09/2026

We are open as usual again! The kitchen repairs are all completed!
The crowds are gathering.....

Some more stunning images of bees, flies and hoverflys.Please feel free to send your photos – we love to see them!The Sp...
14/09/2026

Some more stunning images of bees, flies and hoverflys.
Please feel free to send your photos – we love to see them!
The Spearhorn was a new one for me!
001/002 Hook-barred Spearhorn (Chrysotoxum festivum) A beautiful hoverfly seen in woodland clearings and scrub woodland.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/451465-Chrysotoxum-festivum
003/004 Buff-tailed Bee-fly, (Villa hottentotta)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/469219-Villa-hottentotta
005/006 Ivy bee (Colletes hederae) Female 006 Shows the Ivy Bee with a Honey Bee (Apis mellifera). Honey bees are variable in appearance but (generally!) have a distinct orange stripe somewhere!
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/433481-Colletes-hederae
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47219-Apis-mellifera

📷A huge thank you to Richard, once again, for sharing these with us.

Due to kitchen refurbishment we will not be serving hot food on either Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th September.Teas, coff...
13/09/2026

Due to kitchen refurbishment we will not be serving hot food on either Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th September.
Teas, coffees, cakes and boxed sandwiches will be available.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

12/09/2026

Thanks Jen!!

Bee Aware!!Some more local residents spotted about town!There is a huge variety of bees in the UK. This handy guide at B...
12/09/2026

Bee Aware!!
Some more local residents spotted about town!
There is a huge variety of bees in the UK. This handy guide at Bumblebee Conservation is really useful!
https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/learn-about-bumblebees/species-guide/
001 Common Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum) A very bright male! One of our most common bumble bees, the common carder bee emerges early in the spring and can be seen feeding on flowers right through to November. It is found in gardens, farmland, woodland, hedgerows and heaths: anywhere there are flowers to feed on. It nests in cavities, such as old mouse runs, in birds' nests, or in moss mats in lawns.
https://www.naturespot.org/species/common-carder-bumblebee
002 Ornate Bee Fox (Cerceris rybensis) Also known as the Ornate-tailed Digger Wasp, is a solitary wasp which specialises in hunting small to medium-sized mining bees!
https://www.naturespot.org/species/ornate-tailed-digger-wasp
003 Brown-banded Carder (Bombus humilis) Male. In Britain, it is limited to the coast and chalkland areas of southern England, though the species has also been found in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park!
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/337776-Bombus-humilis
004/005 Beewolf (Philanthus Triangulum) Also known as bee-hunters or bee-killer wasps, are solitary, predatory wasps, most of which prey on bees, hence their common name.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/143529-Philanthus-triangulum
006 Common carder
007/008 Red-tailed Bumble bee (Bombus lapidaries) Male. Known for its distinctive black and red body, this social bee is important in pollination. 008 shows a Queen which has no stripe.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57619-Bombus-lapidarius
009/010 Variegated Cuckoo bee (Epeolus sp.) Kleptoparasite of mining bees of the genus Colletes.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/154666-Epeolus
011 Bronze Furrow bee (Halictus tumulorum)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/127748-Halictus-tumulorum
012 Ivy bee (Colletes hederae) On flowering ivy near you! The unwitting host of the Variegated Cuckoo Bee!
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/433481-Colletes-hederae
013 Lastly, a bonus fly!
It’s a Yellow-banded grass skimmer (Paragus quadrifafasciatus). It’s normal distribution range is France and continental Europe – this is rare UK sighting!
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/469477-Paragus-quadrifasciatus

📷 Thanks again to Richard for these amazing photos.

12/09/2026

Sunday 27th September- Save the date! 📣🗓️
“My Favourite Trees” - A Walk Around Belfairs with Edd Gillan, (SCC Tree Officer)

09/09/2026

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📷 Jason Fox

A wonderful Chicken of the Woods spotted in Hadleigh Great Wood this weekend.Fungi are all around us - both seen and uns...
08/09/2026

A wonderful Chicken of the Woods spotted in Hadleigh Great Wood this weekend.
Fungi are all around us - both seen and unseen.
If you would like to know more why not join us on one of our, expert-led, Fungi Walks?
Click the link below to find out more.
https://www.facebook.com/EWTBelfairs/events

📷Thanks to Charlie (& Charlie's hat!!) 🍄

The TRUE Flies!A fly is an insect of the order Diptera, named for the single pair of wings. The hindwings have evolved i...
08/09/2026

The TRUE Flies!
A fly is an insect of the order Diptera, named for the single pair of wings. The hindwings have evolved into halteres, organs that sense rotation, giving flies precise control of their flight.
Thanks to our super-spotter, Richard, for this collection of local flies!
001 European drone (hover) fly (Eristalis arbustorum) An excellent honey bee mimic!
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/flies/drone-fly
002 Common lagoon (hover) fly (Eristalinus aeneus)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/154762-Eristalinus-aeneus
003 Long hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta) Also known as the Common Globetail.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/52964-Sphaerophoria-scripta
004/005 Hornet Mimic hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) Big – but harmless! Has increased it’s range significantly across the South.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/343983-Volucella-zonaria
006 Batman hoverfly (Myathropa florea) Also known as the Yellow-haired Sun Fly.
007/008 Buff-tailed bee-fly (Villa hottentotta) This mid-European species was first sighted in Kent in 2025! There have been a very few sightings in Essex this summer.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/469219-Villa-hottentotta
009 Common Tachinid (Tachina fera)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/52591-Tachina-fera
010 Locust fly (Stomorhina lunata) An unusual summer visitor, it lays its eggs into locust eggs!
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/326655-Stomorhina-lunata
📷 Thanks Richard

Address

Eastwood Road North
Leigh-on-Sea
SS94LR

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441702477467

Website

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