Northwood Hill and Shorne Marshes and The Medway

Northward Hill

More hydrological works are on-going at Northward Hill. Two more sluices have

been installed, existing rill features are being re-profiled and linked, further electric

cable is being laid to increase our pumping capacity at the very northern end of

the reserve and, of course, some good old-fashioned ditching. In the wood, the

winter work programme of scrub management and ride widening is now almost

complete.

The best bird at ‘Northward Hill’ was a brief great grey shrike at Rye Street in

October. Up to two buzzards have arrived for the winter and peregrines, merlins

and marsh harriers are also regularly seen. In the wood, long-eared owls are

occasionally seen at dusk and a tawny owl is sometimes heard, although bam and

little owls are much more regular, as are small numbers of woodcocks. The

spectacular corvid roost currently has up to 4000 rooks and jackdaws coming into

the wood at dusk (just as the owls and woodcocks are leaving!).

Shorne Marshes

At Shorne, Thames Gateway funding was secured for several projects — most of

the money went on improving the situation at Shornmead Fort and this has included

an archaeological survey, banking up the rear and constructing steps to the gun

batteries and providing interpretative material, but there was also sufficient

funding to install a series of heavy—duty gates in an effort to cut out the illegal

motorcycling activity on the seawall; as well as to pay for works to improve the

sites hydrology. These include sluices to allow more water level control, an

automated pumping station and ditching and bunding to improve our ability to

flood areas of the reserve. 

The reserve is also included as a part of a new gas pipeline, running between

Grain and Shornmead. RSPB has been very much involved in the planning process

with the engineering company AMEC where the route of the pipeline crosses

land designated for its conservation value e.g. at Stoke and at Shorne.  The good

news is that they will be directional drilling the pipeline under the marsh,

minimising the impact on the habitat and wildlife. This project has also resulted

in further cash for mitigation works that will be spent at Shorne and the other

NW Kent reserves.

General management works have included thistle topping, installation of further

gates and wings (also carried out at Cliffe, Northward Hill and Rye Street) and

increased grazing pressure. The grass sward at Shorne is now on a par with that

at Elmley.

Now if only we can get a bit more rainfall to allow us to flood the marsh — the

“wettest winter for years” that the media keeps harping on about has generally

missed out North Kent and any floods that we have are the result of pumping.

We have also carried out some management work to coppice a proportion of

the scrub around the great crested newt ponds at Shorne, to prevent them

from getting shaded out. 

At Shorne, highlights included water rails, green sandpipers and two bearded

tits in December, although 23 white-fronted geese on 21/12 were the pick of

the bunch, as they were the first reserve record. Snipe numbers have been

building up since the New Year, with a recent peak of 48 and there have also

been up to five jack snipe. Duck numbers have been un-spectacular throughout

— possibly as a result of the rather mild conditions.

The Medway

On the Medway, there was a Slavonian grebe at Motney Hill (20/12), with small

numbers of goldeneyes and red-breasted mergansers. A great northern diver

and a shag were off Burntwick Island on 12/12. Wader numbers have included

1350 dunlins, 225 avocets, 26 knots and bar-tailed godwits at Motney Hill, but

there have been much larger numbers elsewhere on the estuary. A WeBS count

at Burntwick in January saw a spectacular fly-by of 2000 knots and 3500 dunlins,

over 2000 oystercatchers and good numbers of tumstones and ringed plover.