Today I went up onto the newly named 'Sweeney Viewpoint' with its magnificent vista to the the marshes, Thames and onto Essex. It was bitterly cold and I was already wishing I'd put on more layers. Down at Gordons' hide there was little evidence of the recent vandalism.
The only difference was the leader board hadn't been up-dated since the 29th of January, a visitor questioned as why that was. How can a marker pen be left in the hide when some idiots will use it to deface it! But not to dwell on the negative, the ponds were brimming with birds, including an amazing 84 Coot, 47 Teal, 302 Widgeon, 3 Mute Swan, 56 Black-tailed Godwit, 150 Lapwings with smaller numbers of Shelduck, Gadwall, Mallard and Shoveller.
Further out, Marsh Harriers quartered putting up flocks as they went. Northward Hill is not just, like some reserves all about water birds, there were Meadow Pipits, Kestrel and Dunnock around and a lot of corvids, both commoner Woodpeckers were in the scrub-land, where in just over two months the splendid, magnificent, iconic, melodious Cuckoo and the Nightingale will enchant us once again with their timeless song. It will be then that we will unveil the official signage latest named viewpoint.
We are planning events around the fantastic Nightingale to highlight their uniqueness and help those who have never had the privilege maybe, of actually hearing them, there will be further announcements of these free events closer to the time.
The North Kent Marshes are a very special area and worth preserving at all cost.