community.rspb.org.uk/.../Working-Party-volunteer-Poster.docx

It has long been an ambition to see (or hear) all five species of Owl on the North Kent Marshes in a day. Today I was not too far off achieving that! I went to Bromhey Farm about 4pm to see if I was required to lock the Cliffe Pools car park gate as I do ocassionaly. There I met Sam the very affable Warden from Blean and Joe one of the interns, who told me he was just about to go off to the Cherry Orchard to see a Long…

Friday morning saw the collecting of the 20 metre skip from Redham Mead gate where it has been for the last fortnight by Pindens sponsored by Medway Norse, it was a bit muddy for a vehicle of that size but the driver Steve did a sterling job in loading it onto the lorry.

This clean-up managed to remove 0.94 of a ton of plastic from the foreshore, add that to the 1.96 from the two previous clean-ups and that makes…

A week or so ago it ocurred to me that the skip we nearly filled up on the 20th of October Clean-up still had room for a few more bags of plastic and having looked at the foreshore on the northern most tip of Cliffe Creek, there were still quite a few bags to be cleared. At short notice it was going to be difficult to muster a large number to do the work considering the skip is only in situ for two weeks and due to be…

This morning 25 of us met at the spendidly timbered meeting room at The Riverside Country Park in Lower Rainham. This had been organised by Murray Orchard and other counters to, not only bring us all togetther but to discuss the future of the BTO/RSPB/JNCC joint survey and how to better improve the efficiency and coverage of this vastly important gathering of wildfowl-wader data.

I think it's fair to say the three estuaries…

Still plenty of the ever beautiful Clouded Yellow butterflies around at Cliffe Pools RSPB, mainly along the seawall skirting the River Thames, witness this (abeit slightly out of focus) photo taken yesterday the 26th of October.

The clouded yellow butterfly is a migrant species, unable to survive the winter here, in spring it flies north from its breeding areas near the Mediterranean.  Some years large numbers arrive…

So today was the final River Thames/Cliffe plastic clean-up of the year, it about this time of year I determined to remove the disgracefull amount of plastic along the southern reaches of the mighty Thames from Cliffe Fort to Blythe Sands

A journey that has taken all that time, but we have removed some three tons of plastic out of the River Thames complex.

When you work out the maths that's the equivalent of 75,000…

I can't believe it's 9 months since the first River Thames foreshore Plastic Clean-up took place in February! This Saturday (20/10) will see the final one of the year and we hope to remove another ton of plastic. I have 30 or so volunteers and could really handle another 10 to 20, so if you haven't registered don't worry just turn up at 10.30 pm on Saturday morning at Cliffe Pools RSPB Salt Lane car-park and join us in…

I can't believe it's 9 months since the first River Thames foreshore Plastic Clean-up took place in February! This Saturday (20/10) will see the final one of the year and we hope to remove another ton of plastic. I have 30 or so volunteers and could really handle another 10 to 20, so if you haven't registered don't worry just turn up at 10.30 pm on Saturday morning at Cliffe Pools RSPB Salt Lane car-park and join us in…

Here are the results of a Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) for last weekend:-

Conoco Pool, Coot 840, Tufted Duck 92, Pochard 42, Little Grebe 12, Mallard 6, Gadwall 8, Moorhen 2 , Lapwing 3, Redshank 106, and Dunlin 63.

Kingfisher Pools, Little Egret 3, Litttle Grebe 1, Mallard 2, Lapwing 5, Redshank 28, Dunlin 38. Black-tailed Godwit 49.

Radar Pool, Coot 33, Teal 26, Little Grebe 2, Great Crested Grebe 1, Little Grebe 1…

Well, what a brilliant day today at my favourite Kent RSPB reserve. Firstly I was there early to snap some images of the marshes cloaked in early morning mist, that was a bit of a failure as the mist had retreated over toward the River Thames, so I sat down at Sweeney veiwpoint and just admired the view which never ceases to amaze, a Little Owl let out a repeated 'kee ew' to my left and a brief glimpse of the feathered…

This pretty little bee has been gracing the Ivy outside the office for the last week or so. They have been only recently described  as a distinct species. Until then, they were confused with another species the very similar, the sea aster mining bee.

The females of the Ivy mining bee, Colletes hederae are on average 13 millimetres (0.51 in) long, while the males are about 10 mm (0.39 in) long, significantly larger than the…

Have you seen a House Martin this year?

Many of you will have heard of Colins' recent death, for those wishing to pay their last respects and attend his funeral, here are the details:- 

Kestrel, Sparrow Hawk, Common Buzzard and Marsh Harrier are seen on pretty much a daily basis here on the reserve and elsewhere on the Peninsular, for example over the Willows Estate, Chattenden on a sunny last Sunday four Common Buzzards were soaring and mewing on high.

On Monday driving up the Ratcliffe Highway a Peregrine Falcon flew off a field to my right, no doubt having caught and eaten or missed one of the Red…

I found this review of that well known publication, still used as a point of reference today, The Birds of the North Kent Marshes, in the RSPB magazine for Autumn 1950.

The first two are Early Bumblebees (late season bees can be hard to ID due to wear and tear and sun fading)

Followed by a Peacock and a Common Blue. Thanks once again to Luke for the images.

Mother Nature is incredible not only in her childrens intricate and complex life cycles but in the colours and shades she dresses them in

This time of year conspicuous amongst the greenery as much as the equally colourful Cinnibar Caterpillars are the Soldier Beetles, When I saw its other common name I was a little sceptical I have to say but on checking it turned out to be perfectly true! It is the 'Hogweed bonking…

This was the second time in the last couple of years or so that RSPB Medway Local Group have hosted and organised a Fun Day at Northward Hiil Reserve for local children and their families.

It has to be said the first event, in the summer of 2016 was literally a wash-out as it tipped it down almost all day.

This year after the unprecedented 50 day plus drought, it was looking good for a non-repeat of the '2016' deluge…

I spotted this blog by the RSPBs Wildlife Garden Expert Adrian Thomas and thought it should be on the RSPBs Northward Hill blog so with Adrians very kind permission I have posted it on here.

 I thought If there is one group of wildlife that responds quickly to your efforts, it has got to be the dragonflies and damselflies. All you need is to put in a pond of moderate size in a fairly sunny position and you would be very…

Some species of ants farm aphids, protecting them on the plants where they are feeding. They do this to consume the honeydew the aphids release  This is a mutualy beneficial relationship, with these 'dairying ants milking' the aphids by stroking them with their antennae. At Northward Hill Reserve a good example of this can be found on the track opposite the office where both ant and aphid can be seen in action on the thistles…

So two weeks ago we had a meeting at Northward Hill of the RSPB Medway Local Groups committee for Public Events for the planned Family Fun Day on Monday the 30th of July,

After discussing the finer points of H and S alongside refreshments and walk-leading etc we repaired to the barn to discuss practicalities ie tea urns and table layouts.

I raised the possibility of using the day to promote my two passions of plastic…