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Around Our County Reserves

In Kent the RSPB has many reserves, perhaps the most of any county in the country, and for those members new to Kent or to bird watching I thought I would just touch on each location and what it has to offer.

Nor Marsh and Motney Hill
Nor Marsh, a large island in the Medway estuary, is leased by the RSPB and can be best viewed from Horrid Hill, a peninsula that juts out into the river at the Riverside Country Park, Gillingham. Motney Hill, to the east, is another area of mud and salt flats, In the winter, at both sites, large numbers of wildfowl can be seen including brent geese, pintails, shelducks and goldeneyes along with grey plovers, knots and avocets. In the spring and autumn look out for black-tailed godwits, breeding gulls and terns.

Elmley/Capel Raptor Viewpoint
Situated on the Isle of Sheppey this is perhaps the only reserve where you cannot hear traffic or other distracting noises and is truly a wild place in the Kent countryside. There is a two mile drive across coastal grazing marsh, managed by the Elmley Conservation Trust, to get to the reserve car park, an exciting start to your visit and a further one mile to the first of five hides It is internationally important for breeding lowland wet grassland waders and wintering waterfowl. It is also one of the best places in the UK to see birds of prey. Over the last decade it has produced many rarities including a pallid harrier in August 2002. It is also well known for its brown hares. There are toilets but no visitor facilities.

The RSPB Capel Fleet bird of prey viewpoint is an elevated mound two miles down the minor road from the B2231 (east of Eastchurch) towards the Harty Ferry Inn. The car park is open at all times. During the winter merlin, peregrine, short-eared and barn owls, buzzard and a range of other raptors can all be seen and dusk provides the spectacle of marsh and hen harriers as they gather for a large communal roost.

Shorne
Here you will find coastal grazing marsh, salt marsh and mudflats. There are always many birds to see with breeding, passage and wintering waterfowl, wintering raptors and farmland birds. Access is along the Saxon Shore Way footpath or the Sustrans cycle path.

Northward Hill
On a ridge overlooking the Thames marshes, Northward Hill includes a lovely bluebell wood where nightingales sing in spring. Over 100 pairs of grey herons nest in the trees along with one of the UK's largest and most famous colonies of little egrets, whose numbers have increased year-on-year since they first nested here in 2000.

The reserve also includes great swathes of flat marshes where lapwings, redshanks and avocets breed in the spring and, as the marshes flood at the end of the year, huge numbers of waterfowl arrive from the continent. All raptor and owl species are present.In High Halstow village two RSPB car parks are signed. The 'Woodland' car park is in the village and the 'Main' car park is located at Bromhey Farm, signposted as a left turn on the road from High Halstow to Cooling. Toilet facilities are available at the farm only.

CliffePools
This is a relative new reserve where the RSPB are in the early stages of developing visitor facilities. A large new car park is provided off Salt Lane but at present the nearest toilets are in the village close to the church. The tightly packed lagoons are perfect for water birds and the reserve is renowned for its wading birds with massed flocks moving onto the pools from the nearby Thames estuary in winter. Raptors are well represented.

Six viewing points/mounds overlook fresh pools and saline lagoons. Long and short way marked nature trails take you around the pools and to the main viewpoints. An easy trail takes you to the Pinnacle Viewpoint, which affords spectacular views of the reserve and across the River Thames into Essex.

Dungeness
If you haven't been to Dungeness, nothing can quite prepare you for this landscape, mile after mile of shingle; a wild and unique habitat. This is the oldest and perhaps my favourite RSPB reserve. It is part of the much larger National Nature Reserve. The diverse wildlife, complex landform and sheer size make it one of the best examples of a shingle beach in the world, home to many uncommon plants, insects and a great place to see migratory birds in the spring and autumn. It has an excellent Visitor Centre, toilets and nature trails lead around to a series of hides.

Blean Woods
The reserve is part of a much larger complex comprising of the largest unbroken block of woodland in the county, much of which is managed by conservation bodies. It is a wonderful place for quiet walks through beautiful ancient woodland with five trails totalling eight miles in length. In summer, look out for damselflies, dragonflies and butterflies including the rare heath fritillary butterfly. There is a car park, picnic area and information board but no toilet facilities.

Tudley
Tudley Reserve is situated off the A21, sign posted Capel, and can be divided into two distinct habitats. Walk through the newly restored heath land in search of tree pipits and woodlarks or take one of two trails through mature and coppiced woodland in search of spring migrants, woodland flowers and butterflies. More than 1,000 species of fungi are present along with orchids intermingled with an impressive carpet of bluebells and primroses in spring. The age-old practice of charcoal burning is still active in the wood and the products are sold locally.

I am pleased to report that the RSPB have recently made some further very important land acquisitions in the county and that, with the continued support of its members, we can all look forward to better protection for birds, their habitats and wildlife Despite the pressures of development, motorways and rail links Kent is still a great county for bird watching.

Richard Marchese.