The importance of volunteering.

The Northward Hill RSPB reserve and CliffePools, not to mention really the whole of the North Kent Marshes complex would be hard-pressed to manage such a large area without the massive input of RSPB Local Groups. Not only for fund-raising and local awareness, but for hands-on practical husbandry of the vast swathes of diverse habitat we are privileged to inherit from our forebears in relatively untarnished condition.

An area that stretches from Gravesend to Whitstable. As a human that is a huge area. As a small bird, hundreds of times smaller, it is a world.

It is important to pay tribute to the hardworking staff based at Bromley Farm, but also the interns with their endless enthusiasm and equally the army of volunteers, some of who have given years of dedicationa and sheer hard graft.

Some have 'vollied' on a regular basis for decades even, as mentioned in past blogs.

Encouraging Mother Nature and, as importantly, holding her back is an essential part of the management of any reserve.

The more I have become involved at Northward Hill the more I realise that getting the mix of marsh, water, plant, bird, mammal and insects right is a hugely intricate task, that requires the knowledge and skill only a handful of people possess.

Here is an email I received from Emma which illustrates the on-going carried out on the reserves on a daily basis:-

Here’s a few photos of our two work parties that got involved in sapling planting last Monday and Tuesday. 

'We planted 825 saplings on three separate plots – alongside the cherry orchard, along the edge of the entrance track and up next to the turtle dove cover crop in The Sanctuary.  The trees were all native deciduous species: oak, rowan, field maple, hawthorn, blackthorn and dog rose.  These were chosen for their suitability in creating hedgerow and scrub for turtle dove nesting habitat, and will be tended to closely over the next 3yrs to give them a good start.

All the guys had great fun and worked damn hard, digging and heeling in all the trees.

Anyway, it’s my last day today  so I won’t be sending any more pics for now.

I’m off to NZ very soon and will be out there for about 2months, so more adventures to be had!!'

We wish her the best of luck and hope to see her on her return.

So if you are inspired to become a 'volly' if only for a few hours a year, ring the reserve on 01634 222480 and speak to the staff to register your interest.

A few Honey Bees were out yesterday in the sunshine fograging on the emerging Gorse.

Also of note was a flock of couple of hundred gulls, on counting,  a hundred and forty-three were Common Gulls,( they start to move back north and east in March). As we are pretty much used to seeing them in in ones or twos or threes, that is a huge amount.