Work has been undertaken at Lade Pits this week, cutting back the bramble to create clearer pathways for our visitors. We are taking a much more active approach to the management of the site to enhance the reserve for visitors and wildlife. We ask you kindly not to fish, boat or swim at the lakes in Lade Pits to protect the habitat for the wildlife particularly through the breeding season. Signs have been put around the reserve reminding people that fishing is prohibited on the reserve.
We would like to welcome everybody to our Open Day on Saturday 23rd July where the reserve and the Sound Mirrors will be open to the public for free. Come on by between 10am and 3pm! Please see the website or drop us an email (Dungeness@rspb.org.uk) for more details of this event.
On the reserve we have been monitoring our nesting birds. We’ve had some tree sparrow and lapwing chicks fledge successfully already and common gulls and terns are nesting on our rafts. Our barn owls now have chicks in the barn behind the farm house. The little coots have fiercely held onto their nest on Burrowes pit outside the visitor centre window which is great news as there has been an ongoing battle between them and gulls for the nest the coots have worked so hard to build.
We’ve had some interesting sightings this week including cattle egrets in the hayfields, sparrowhawks, buzzards and peregrines. A red kite was seen in front of the visitor centre today! Redshank and spotted redshank have been seen by Denge Marsh. The warblers are still very vocal!
Last week we hosted the Midsummer’s Night Walk. It was a glorious evening and we saw lots of fantastic wildlife! The Nottingham catchfly plants smelled beautiful, filling the night’s air with a sweet perfume as we watched the sunset and the hobbies flying over the water catching insects.
Next weekend we have our National Meadows Day event. Pop into the visitor centre between 10am and 4pm to learn all about our wonderful meadows. There will be arts and crafts activities all day and at 11am and 2pm there will be small guided walks through our meadows. All of this is absolutely free so come on down to discover more on Saturday 2nd July!