I am lucky enough to have Northward Hill only a five minute drive from my house, so in lockdown I can quite legitimately utilise it for my daily hour exercise. Today meeting the Warden Will in the car-park for a quick catch up. He told me the week had been quite difficult out in the open exposed to the elements and the sub-zero temperatures of the past few days. I told him I could relate to that after working for 6 years on the Dunstable Downs, high on The Chilterns in the late 60s, early 70s. It was so cold up there, I remember it snowing one year in the first day or so of June.
There was still a fair bit of snow around as I made my way to Sweeney Viewpoint, the water levels were still high out there. It was amazing to see the huge numbers of wildfowl. At a distance with binoculars, it is always difficult to pick out individual species, it is much easier with a telescope and tripod for faraway identification. even so I managed to ID several 100 Coot, they are pretty easy to pick out, plump and black and white, good numbers of Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Mallard and a lot of Gulls. Tomorrow I will return with my scope and have a really good look through the flocks and give a far more accurate assessment of what is present on the reserve.
The North Kent Marshes are a very special area and worth preserving at all cost.
"I am lucky enough to have Northward Hill only a five minute drive from my house..." so it's only 10 minutes on a bike or 20 minutes walk, which allows me to produce no carbon dioxide and to set a good example to other people. And I hope you frequently do one of those things.