Here on the Peninsula we are blessed with not one but two Nationally and Internationally important RSPB reserves, add to that Lodge Hill, the former army camp and Great Chattenden Wood and we are hugely fortunate. The two reserves are of course RSPB Northward Hill an RSPB Cliffe Pools.
Both are managed all year round by two Wardens and a Site Manager, supported by interns and an army of volunteers. So what can we see? In the spring though to summer it’s all about visiting Warblers, Cuckoos and Nightingales. All four sites have good numbers of these, Lodge Hill being famous for having the largest population of Nightingales in Great Britain.
Northward Hill has many singing males, belting out from the scrub early April to the end of May. There are of course Sedge, Reed and Cetti’s Warbler all day every day, Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat are easily found in the scrub walking up to The Sweeney Viewpoint, from where the vista is breath-taking across the marsh to the River Thames and beyond into Essex. Dominating this part of the reserve is The Cooling Radio Station. Built in the 1930s during the early days of radio it allowed Churchill to talk to his American counterparts in WW2 through a complex scrambling system. Across this view Herons are seen flying back and forth with their cousins Little Egrets.
Staying in spring/summer months the iconic Cuckoo males make their way back and forth and with patience are easy to spot and if you are lucky the once heard never forgotten bubbling call of the female.
Owls are another feature of Northward Hill in particular, with Tawny, Barn and Little Owls breeding regularly.
Great Chattenden Wood was a famous Butterfly hotspot for Victorian collectors, even today Purple Emperor, White Admiral and the beautiful Silver-Washed Fritillary are easily seen at the right time of year, in fact 20 species of butterfly are regularly found here, along with Dragonflies, Damselflies and Hoverflies.
Birds at Cliffe and Northward Hill are swollen by huge numbers of water species over-wintering, Mega numbers of Lapwing over both sites, estimated at 10,000. Pochard, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Avocet, Grebe, Little, Great Crested and Black-Necked, Goldeneye, Mute Swans and Coot. Great clouds of Dunlin swirl overhead depending on the tide on the Thames onto the reserve and back again to feed off the exposed mud flats.
There are also Raptors (Birds of Prey). Common Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier. Merlin and Hen Harrier as Winter visitors.