The Easter holidays have come to an end and typically the weather has now improved dramatically. We had over 60 children take part in our annual Easter egg hunt and 10 families had a whale of a time on our Wild Family days which the weather held off for. If you missed these events we have more in the next school holidays, both half-term and the summer holidays! Join us for a week of pond dipping in May where we will be looking at the minibeasts in our pond. Discover the lifecycles of these creatures and learn some gruesome facts about our medicinal leeches!
During the last week, one of our volunteers spotted and photographed our very own Easter Bunny! This rabbit was seen on the reserve and is a rather unusual creamy colour compared to the regular brown of the rabbits on the reserve. We are unsure why this is different, perhaps a product of a wild rabbit breeding with an escaped domesticated one?
Rabbit on the reserve - Dave Clarke
Spring migrants are slowly coming in now the weather is warmer. Swallows have been sighted along with the occasional sand martin and house martin. Whitethroats and sedge warblers has been spotted and cuckoos have been seen and heard. We've recently seen whimbrel on the reserve too which are summer visitors. They pass through Dungeness on their way to the Scottish islands to breed. These beautiful waders with their long curved bills are very similar to the curlew which live here all year round.
Whimbrel feeding on a crab - Graham Parry
We had a spoonbill pop in on Friday which some lucky visitors were able to view from Denge Marsh hide. These were taken by visitors John and Jacqueline Hill:
Other things that have been waking up for spring on the reserve include our marsh frogs, toads, newts, lizards, grass snakes and the very hard to spot slow worms!
Slow worm - Graham Parry
Despite their name, slow worms are not worms or snakes, they are in fact legless lizards which feed on insects such as ants, spiders, worms and slugs. Like all lizards, they are able to shed their tails and blink their eyes which snakes cannot do. They can be found in a variety of places but particularly love a sunny spot and a compost heap!