Gilleards have been on site last week replacing the roof and foundations to Dengemarsh Hide and the roofs of Christmas Dell and the Viewing Screen with a new hardwearing roof. This will help to maintain these hides into the future. More work will be needed on the hide in the coming months and years, but we now have a good idea of what we need to do and will keep you all informed of what is happening.

 Inside of Dengemarsh…

The team have spent a lot of time working in the high-water levels this month in areas across the reserve including Hookers and Dengemarsh Reedbed, clearing willow trees which are keen to outcompete the reed which our breeding bittern and marsh harriers utilise.

This clearance includes a large island which was full of willow and bramble close to Hooker’s ramp and we now hope that the reedbed will recolonise and the willow…

Visitor events

We had our first Winter Wildlife Guided Walk of 2023 led by Paul Trodd. It was a great turn out of attendees and wildlife, with sightings including greenfinches, goldeneye, great white egret, and kestrels. 

 Guided walk

The next guided walk is on the 15th February, it will be interesting to see what wildlife is spotted being a month on.

 Guided Walk

We those who took part to in the Big Garden Birdwatch this…

Birds of Prey

• Common Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier-Dengemarsh, ARC, Burrowes Pit  
• Kestrel 
• Merlin
• Sparrowhawk 

Ducks/Geese/Grebes 

• Goldeneye - Burrowes 
• Wigeon
• Shoveler
• Teal
• Mallard
• Gadwell
• Pochard
• Tufted 
• Greylag geese
• Canada geese
• White Fronted geese 
• Egyptian geese 
• Whooper swans - Burrowes 

Herons

• Grey herons
• Great white egrets
• Cattle egret
• Little egret 
• Glossy ibis-ARC 
• Cormorant
• Bittern 

Waders and Rails  

• Lapwing
• Coots
• Moorh…

Birds of Prey

• Common Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier-Dengemarsh, ARC, Burrowes Pit  
• Kestrel 
• Sparrowhawk - Burrowes pit  

Ducks/Geese/Grebes 

• Goldeneye - Burrowes
• Whooper Swan - Boulderwall 
• Wigeon
• Greylag Geese
• Teal
• Mallard
• Gadwell
• Pochard
• Tufted 
• Canada Geese
• White Fronted Geese 

Herons

• Grey Herons
• Great White Egrets
• Cattle Egret
• Glossy Ibis-ARC 
• Cormorant
• Spoonbill-Cook's Pool

Waders and Rails  

• Lapwing
• Coots
• Moorhen
• Curlew 

…

Birds of Prey

• Common Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier-Dengemarsh, ARC, Burrowes Pit  
• Kestrel
• Merlin- bird feeders by car park
• Barn Owl - Dengemarsh 
• Sparrowhawk - Burrowes pit
• Red Kite  

Ducks/Geese/Grebes  

• Whooper Swan-ARC
• Mute Swan 
• Goldeneye - Burrowes
• Wigeon
• Greylag Geese
• Teal
• Mallard
• Gadwell
• Pochard
• Tufted 
• Canada Geese
• White Fronted Geese 

Herons

• Grey Herons
• Great White Egrets
• Cattle Egret
• Glossy Ibis-ARC 
• Cormorant

Waders and…

Water levels have continued to rise at unprecedented levels since November. Despite starting off with near record lows following the dry summer, we are now approximately 10cm off the highest recorded water level on Burrowes Pit. This has led to the inundation of the new islands at ARC, but thanks to the island raising project there last summer, they should emerge from the water much earlier next year and hopefully in…

Birds of Prey

• Common Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier-Dengemarsh, ARC, Burrowes Pit  
• Kestrel
• Merlin- bird feeders by car park
• Barn Owl - Dengemarsh 
• Sparrowhawk - Burrowes pit 
• Hen Harrier-ARC

Ducks/Geese/Grebes  

• Whooper Swan-ARC
• Mute Swan 
• Goldeneye
• Egyptian Geese
• Wigeon
• Greylag Geese
• Teal
• Mallard
• Gadwell
• Pochard
• Tufted 
• Canada Geese
• White Fronted Geese 

Herons

• Grey Herons
• Great White Egrets
• Cattle Egret
• Glossy Ibis-ARC 
• Cormoran…

Birds of Prey

• Common Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier-Dengemarsh, ARC, Burrowes Pit  
• Kestrel
• Merlin- bird feeders by car park

Ducks/Geese/Grebes  

• Whooper Swan
• Mute Swan 
• Goldeneye
• Egyptian Geese
• Wigeon
• Greylag Geese
• Teal
• Mallard
• Gadwell
• Pochard
• Tufted 

Herons

• Grey Herons
• Great White Egrets
• Cattle Egret
• Glossy Ibis-ARC 
• Cormorant

Waders and Rails  

• Lapwing
• Coots
• Snipe
• Moorhen

Little Birds

• Reed Bunting
• Chaffinch
• Robin
• Dunnock
• Tree…

Another exciting year has flown by here on the reserve with lots of hard work and achievements aplenty! We thought we would summarise these again via this blog with a few things to look forward to in the coming years as well.

 

Visitor Infrastructure

The year started off with the removal of the old Firth and Makepeace Hides which had been condemned by an external building surveyor, despite the hard work of the team to…

Birds of Prey

• Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier-Dengemarsh, ARC, Burrowes Pit  
• Sparrowhawk - Burrowes pit  
• Kestrel
• Merlin-Firth Lookout area   

Ducks/Geese/Grebes  

• Whooper Swan
• Mute Swan 
• Green Winged Teal 
• Goldeneye
• Canada Geese
• Egyptian Geese
• White-fronted Geese
• Wigeon
• Great Crested Grebes
• Little Grebe
• Greylag Geese
• Teal
• Mallard
• Shoveler
• Pintail
• Gadwell
• Pochard
• Tufted 

Herons

• Grey Herons
• Little Egrets
• Great White Egrets
• Bittern- Dengemarsh…

Lydden Valley

November has been a really great month here at Lydden. Not only have we finished work on the WEG-funded Wetland Restoration project, we have really been able to see the reserve starting to come into its own with a good dose of rainfall starting to fill up the site nicely.

It’s really satisfying to see the results of all the hard work that has gone on at the site, particularly in the last few years, and we…

Reserve Work

The wet weather hasn’t stopped the team this month. Water levels have come up an astonishing 55cm on Burrowes Pit in a very short space of time. This has played merry hell with the track and in spite of repairs in November, further repair works will be undertaken in December.

The have now paused the island clearance work on Burrowes Pit having cleared a good 50% of the islands of vegetation. With wintering…

Birds of Prey

• Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier-Dengemarsh, ARC, Burrowes Pit  
• Sparrowhawk - Burrowes pit  
• Kestrel
• Barn Owl
• Merlin-Firth Lookout area 
• Hen Harrier- Hanson Hide  

Ducks/Geese/Grebes  

• Whooper Swan
• Green Winged Teal 
• Goldeneye
• Canada Geese
• Egyptian Geese
• White-fronted Geese
• Wigeon
• Great Crested Grebes
• Greylag Geese
• Brent Geese
• Teal
• Mallard
• Shoveler
• Pintail
• Gadwell
• Goosander

Herons

• Grey Herons
• Cattle Egrets 
• Little Egr…

Birds of Prey

• Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier-Dengemarsh, ARC, Burrowes Pit  
• Sparrowhawk - Burrowes pit  
• Kestrel
• Merlin-Firth Lookout area  

Ducks/Geese/Grebes  

• Pintail 
• Green Winged Teal 
• Golden eye
• Egyptian Geese
• Goosander
• Pochard Duck
• Greater White-fronted
• Wigeon
• Shoveller
• Tufted Duck
• Gadwell
• Great - Crested Grebes
• Little Grebes 
• Greylag Geese
• Mute Swan

Herons

• Grey Herons
• Cattle Egrets 
• Great White Egrets
• Little Egrets 
• Bittern- Dengemarsh…

Here is a sightings list of all the wildlife spotted at Dungeness reserve between 3/11/-24/11:

Birds of Prey 

• Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier-Dengemarsh, ARC, Burrowes Pit  
• Sparrowhawk - Burrowes pit  
• Kestral
• Merlin-Firth Lookout area  
• Peregrine Falcon - Firth Lookout
• Barn Owl   

Ducks/Geese/Grebes  

• Pintail 
• Teal 
• Wigeon
• Goldeneye
• Shoveller
• Tufted 
• Gadwell
• Great - Crested Grebes
• Little Grebes 
• Greylag Geese
• Canda Geese  

Herons

• Grey …

Here is a sightings list of all the wildlife spotted at Dungeness reserve between 3/11/-24/11:

Birds of Prey 

• Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier-Dengemarsh, ARC, Burrowes Pit  
• Sparrowhawk - Burrowes pit  
• Kestral
• Merlin-Firth Lookout area  
• Peregrine Falcon - Firth Lookout
• Barn Owl   

Ducks/Geese/Grebes  

• Pintail 
• Teal 
• Wigeon
• Goldeneye
• Shoveller
• Tufted 
• Gadwell
• Great - Crested Grebes
• Little Grebes 
• Greylag Geese
• Canda Geese  

Herons

• Grey …

New island habitat creation at the RSPB’s Dungeness Nature Reserve in Kent is set to transform the area for birds and people with two projects completed this year.

As part of this conservation work, seven islands located near Hanson Hide, ARC have been raised to varying heights and four new islands were created from scratch on Burrowes Pit to provide nesting and roosting sites for various bird species.

It is hoped…

Here is a weekly sightings list of all the wildlife spotted at Dungeness reserve between 26/10-2/11: 

Birds of Prey 

• Hobby 
• Buzzard
• Marsh Harrier 
• Sparrowhawk 
• Kestral
• Merlin 
• Peregrine Falcon 

Ducks/Geese/Grebes  

• Long-tailed duck 
• Pintail 
• Teal 
• Wigeon
• Goldeneye
• Shoveller
• Tufted 
• Egyptian geese
• Great - Crested Grebes
• Little Grebes  

Herons

• Grey Herons
• Cattle Egrets 
• Great White Egrets
• Little Egrets 
• Bittern 
• Glossy Ibis 

Waders…

It registers in all the senses, the change within the days.

The hedgerows ripening through equinox, the yellowing of leaves,

give notice of the sun’s waning.

Trees will dispense with foliage and put their faith in their roots.

 

Living things forage, with increased intensity, in the reserves of the soil or the moon-pulled tides.

Forests are dusted with the spore-burst of toadstools. Among epigeous bodies

newly arrived…

Islands

We are delighted to say that we have completed both island creation projects this summer. This means we now have 57 islands on the reserve for wildlife to use and for us to enjoy watching. These are all at varying heights to account for water level change, but we are confident they will deliver for wildlife, and we already know that the islands on ARC are a real hotspot for birds and they will be for longer periods…

Reserve Updates

With the end of the breeding season now upon us the team have been incredibly busy with a variety of vegetation management tasks such as clearing reed and other annual vegetation from in front of Hanson hide and the Viewing Screen. These new views have been very well received with incredible views of a variety of waders from glossy ibis to wood sandpiper, little stint, curlew sandpiper and even a juvenile…

 

 

Whilst evaluating the feedback from the consultation on the replacement of Makepeace Hide, it has raised the importance of improving the provision of having shallow feeding habitats in front of the hide. Initially this wasn’t considered as a possibility in the hide replacement project as it was thought to be outside of its remit. However, after many discussions, some of the plans have changed.

We strongly believe…

The islands in front of Hanson hide, ARC have long been a draw for visitors in the autumn months as they form an important feeding ground for passage waders. Aside from very dry years like this year, the islands haven't been exposed for long, if at all, given that the reserve sits on a ground water aquifer and we have no control on water levels so we are at the mercy of the elements. The table below shows the water level…

Summer is well and truly upon us and the breeding season for many of our bird species is approaching the end for the year, which means its time to start field operations within these fields to keep them in great condition for breeding, passage and overwintering wildfowl and waders. 

In early spring we keep and maintain high water levels within the fields as this is what our waders are looking for, as eggs start to hatch…