I’ve spent most of yesterday on Romney Marsh – visiting two very contrasting places. I ended up at Dungeness where I met Keith Taylor MEP to show him around our nature reserve – but more of that later.
I set off ridiculously early (pre-dawn chorus early) so that I could fit in my early visit to an ordinary looking chunk of farmland that is ‘my’ Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) square. I say ‘mine’ but in reality the only difference between this 1km x 1km square of farmland and any other is that a decade ago the BTO’s computer randomly picked a square of Romney Marsh and we’ve been together ever since.
It’s not much to look at – but our random acquaintance has revealed a hidden beauty. And it was there today, yellow wagtails chasing and displaying and the males punctuating the green of the wheat and the blue of the sky with vivid yellow.
The tree sparrows now seem well established – they weren’t around when I started, corn buntings hit rock bottom last year with just one record, but I’m pleased to report a recovery, in part, to four birds. The ditches had been slubbed (love that word, means they’ve been cleaned out) so the re-growth of reed was still sparse probably explaining why there were no reed warblers, there’s still time and they may be there on my second visit in a month or so.
Over the last decade my square has provided some extra treats, a calling quail, a ring ouzel passing through on his way to breeding grounds further north and today a male marsh harrier, he’ll go down as a fly-over, but one to watch for the future.
If you can spare three mornings a year and fancy a blind date with a square – do have look at the BBS, here.
Onward to Dungeness, I was sufficiently early to be able to go for a walk – marsh frogs quarrelled from the pools and reed warblers sang from deep cover. A distant bird of prey added birding glamour as it was a black kite, a very rare bird that sadly didn’t hang around as it headed north.
The reason for my visit wasn’t to fill my boots with spring wildlife – that was a bonus – I was hosting a visit by Keith Taylor MEP. Dungeness is one of the most significant wildlife sites in Europe, and it comes with a full set of wildlife designations and Keith was interested in finding out more about the place its wildlife, history and some of the issues it faces.
Here we are showing off a plaque celebrating the European status of Dungeness, which we both signed. The Special Protection Area (for birds) and the Special Area of Conservation (for everything else) puts the peninsula in the top draw of wildlife sites.
But designations are only a start – getting special places, like Dungeness, at the heart of a vision for the whole landscape, cherished by local communities and valued by visitors to the area has to be the bigger aim. So I was able to tell Keith about the RSPB’s Futurescapes programme which aims to link the futures of special places with the most enlightened management of the wider countryside.
My day of two places; one, a square of ordinary farmland, the other one of Europe’s most special places for wildlife. Both are crucial to the future of nature, the hot spots and the wider countryside richer in nature.
Their needs are different – but the one without the other is a vision of a poorer world.
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