News from the RSPB reserves in Kent

An Overview from the North Kent Marshes Reserves

by Alan Johnson, Area Manager

l have worked in North Kent under various guises for seven years now, and the

past six months have been the busiest by far! The area is now managed as a single

unit and we would like to build on its existing wildlife value and appeal to get

overdue recognition for the natural riches on our doorstep. As a general approach,

we intend to

do this by improving the habitat management of our existing reserves, acquiring

new reserves to create bigger, more sustainable blocks and improving the visitor

facilities at key sites, such as Cliffe and Northward Hill. Looking at recent activity

and future plans on the various reserves shows that we have made great progress.

Shorne Marshes

Lots going on at Shorne! Jointly funded by Ibstock Corey and Gravesham Borough

Council, we have undertaken work to improve the habitats, access and heritage.

A series of new dams, sluices and an automated pumping station mean that we are

better placed to take advantage of water coming through the system. Shorne has

the best water supply of all our Hoo Peninsula reserves and we are hoping that in

years to come will be the best site for breeding lapwing, redshank and wintering

wildfowl. The site has a history of under—grazing prior to RSPB ownership, but,

thanks to cooperation from our excellent grazier, now has a sward that looks ideal for

breeding waders. Fingers crossed for the coming spring.

We have installed access control barriers at strategic locations around the reserve

in the hope of reducing the number of motorcycles using the tracks and encouraging

quiet enjoyment of the countryside. This will not work straight away! Experience at

Cliffe shows that weak spots will be exploited by persistent bikers.

Shornemead Fort has had a much needed clean up, with damaging tree growth

removed, earth banking to the rear of the site restored and interpretation to go in

soon. This was a tricky project, as great-crested newts hibernate underneath the

rubble around the fort. We installed newt barriers to hold them back near the

breeding ponds while we constructed new hibemacula along the southern edge of

the fort. The hope is that, rather than being an eye-sore and a liability, Shornemead

Fort becomes a well visited heritage asset. At the moment it is well used by little owls!

Plans for the remainder of the year include the removal of the remaining scrub on

the east of the site (though we plan to retain scrub along the track), pumping to

create surface flooding, the building of a cattle pen to aid stock management and

interpretation for the fort. Alongside this we need to manage a project by National

Grid to install a major gas pipeline across the middle of the site. If all goes well, the

pipeline should follow a drilled hole underneath the reserve and so not impact on the

wildlife.

Higham Bight

Not much to report from this quiet, inter-tidal site (other than the usual, renowned

yellow-legged gull roost), but we have just acquired a plot of land that allows us to

link up the whole site, making control of access easier.

Cliffe Pools

A hive of activity! We have now finished the most important task of recent years;

the Restoration Plan. This details the precise ecological requirements for the

management of the saline lagoons and will form the basis of our agreement with

the dredging company that helps us create the required varied topography.

Following this we have secured funding from SEEDA and HLF, the latter to the tune

of 1.7 million. This is the starting pistol for a range of work over the next few years,

including car parking, trails, hides, interpretation, toilets and education facilities.

Don’t worry, we also have new staff on the horizon to help out! The aim is to create

a flagship reserve that will act as the first point of call on a visit to the North Kent

marshes. lf the first stage of development is successful and attracts sufficient numbers

of visitors, we will look at the possibility of taking the site to the next level, with a

visitor centre and expanded facilities.

Before all this can happen, a lot of work is still to be done on getting various

permissions and approvals, including from the local community. Small consultations

have already taken place with statutory bodies, parish councils, local farmers, local

birdwatchers and volunteers. We now intend to consult local people and the wider

community, using drop-in sessions and targeted publicity to get the message out.

ln addition to regular guided walks, the Safari Fun Day attracted good numbers of

people, mostly families, who enjoyed the wide range of activities on offer."" Our

community officer produced a walk guide, "Naughty Nuns and Nightingales", that

uses wildlife, history and humour to link local footpaths to the reserve and

encourage visits. We hope to have a car park in place before the end of March

and a new Assistant Warden starting at the same time, so improvements should be

visible on the ground very soon.

Northward Hill

The volunteers have been hard at work in the woods, creating new rides that will

benefit butterflies and birds and new areas of regenerating scrub that will provide

a home for nightingales, lesser whitethroats and other lovers of dense, dark

vegetation. We have used aerial photographs to map the extent of this scrub, as

opposed to high forest, and there is an encouraging amount of this valuable habitat

on the reserve.

Warden Paul Hyde has been managing the grazing marsh aiming to maximising the

use of scarce water resources.

The reserve is located in a rain shadow, which means rainfall is infrequent — rather

ironic for a wetland! The works, including the installation of sluices and culverts,

bunding, ditching and rill-creation, mean that water we do get will be well used.

More of this work is planned in the lead up to the breeding season — we just need

the rain!

The long-standing lease with CSA (they manufacture antennas) was ended, meaning

an extra field for wetland management coming back into our portfolio and an

additional building, the "CSA Building" as we call it. This has some historical value,

as it was used by Churchill to communicate with Roosevelt during the war.

Numerous events for the public, including wine making, poetry and a well attended

Countryside Fair. We have more whacky events planned for 2008, including a

string quartet in the Cherry Orchard.

Medway Reserves

Much like Higham Bight, Nor Marsh and Motney Hill, our "Medway Reserves" are

inter-tidal refuges that do not require much management. We are planning to

create a shingle ridge on Nor Marsh to benefit breeding gulls and terns. Little tem

in particular is a rare and sporadic breeding bird in the Medway and needs all the

help it can get.

Elmley Marshes

Great efforts by the warden team over the last year to eke out every last bit of

habitat value at this very important site have proved successful. Lapwing numbers

were up in 2007 and, with a new water supply available from the adjacent

Windmill Creek, 2008 should be better. Lots of work has gone in to raising bunds

and stops, installing

pipes and cutting back sea—club rush to make the site look as good as it has ever

done. The grazing management is now overseen by the sharp eye of Warden Matt

May, who has an array of graphs and maps that, so he tells me, help create the

optimum short sward for breeding waders but keep the animals nice and fat to keep

the farmers happy.

Elmley has a small, long-standing, fragile but highly important population of black-

tailed godwit. If you have never seen them on their breeding grounds I urge you

to visit in spring. The wickering call and song-flight are a rare treat. The likely

tasks for the coming season are to trial electric fencing (to prevent predation of

eggs and chicks), colour ringing and radio tracking young (to build a picture that will

influence how we manage for the species) and to alter the grazing management

of some of our fields (godwit chicks like to glean insects from long vegetation,

so we will ease up on the grazing in key fields).

2007 was a bumper year for higher education visits to Elmley, with Greenwich

University in particular taking advantage of the opportunity to study best practice

wetland management.

Seasalter

This is a new site with great possibilities. Intended to be grazing marsh, Seasalter

has an excellent water supply from the nearby chalk hills. We have undertaken

some ditch management, but the main job next year will be to try and buy the

plots of land sold off to all and sundry in the l970’s. It may take five years to

acquire enough plots to make viable management units, but when complete, I am sure this will be one of the best wildlife sites in Kent.

Watch out for the guided Heritage walk in 2008, combining bird watching with

the areas fascinating history.

Capel Fleet

There are no great plans for this small viewing point, but it is worth noting that

the views over the UK’s largest bird of prey concentration is attracting ever

increasing numbers of birdwatchers. Often the car park and viewing area are

completely full! This year has been the best ever, with three rough-legged

buzzards (three!), up to one hundred marsh harriers coming into roost, hen

harriers and a bumper year for short-eared owls

Education

Outreach to schools and colleges and field teaching continue to expand on the

North Kent, Marshes. Three roadshows are now available for primary schools,

two looking at birds and a new Invertebrate show. We have also worked with

new Brompton College at Gillingham and the students there will be forming their