Dawn tour, beautiful calm morning, with the mist lifting to reveal clear blue skies. A highlight of the tour across the marsh was 3 Bittern, a courting pair stalking along the edge of a ditch & 2nd stunning male in the open, pale blue lores of its breeding plumage clearly seen

Oystercatchers are such amazing parents, late in the day & chicks are still being feed by one parent & brooded by the other. Sadly a third chicks was taken by juvenile lesser blackback gull this morning despite valiant attempts by the adults to drive it off. Elmley NNR

Female Merlin still about, hunting ground nesting birds like Yellow Wagtails, Meadow Pipit & Skylark over the rough pasture. It’s a very pale bird & can be mistaken for a kestrel but has a different jizz, actively scanning out from a post or low mound for prey on the wing to hunt

Run the moth trap for a couple of hours last night before the rain started, small but quality catch
2 common Quaker
1 Shuttle-shaped Dart
2 Ruby tiger
1 silver -y
1 Light Brown Apple Moth
And a spectacular Emperor Moth
Butterfly Conservation Kent & SE London KentMoths

The big skies of the marsh make it a perfect place to watch the drama of a thunderstorm. As last night’s storm raged across the north Kent coast the sound of Thor’s anger was almost drowned out by the cacophony of Marsh Frogs singing. Enjoy with the sound up

Joyful sight this morning of 4 recently hatched Oystercatcher chicks being feed by their frantic parents. #WaderWednesday #conservation #NatureRecovery

First Redshank chicks of the year, hopefully will be a bumper year as plenty of Redshank out on the marsh BTO Kent Breeding Bird Surveys

Ok the hedgerows could be better but the abundance of species growing on minor roads is impressive and a sign of what has be lost elsewhere

Theses are our biodiversity banks

Take it slow or even stop to admire them, it in most cases will be worth it

Whimbrel stopped off on migration to the Arctic Circle to refuel on the wet grassland at Elmley NNR. This wonderful habitat is alive currently with ground nesting birds and a haven for mammals such as hares & water voles.

The Swallows have arrived on mass today, definitely brightening a rather dull, damp and blustery day. Wonderful to have them zip past so close and hear their high pitched liquid chattering.

Many thanks to all those who contributed to WeBS counts in Kent. This report is the result of that effort.
But we’re losing counters due to age health/mobility etc. New counters desperately needed. Only 7 core counts needed in a whole year?….surely more can help?

4 elegant Whimbrel spotted out on the marsh, a refuelling stop on migration from wintering grounds in southern Europe or west Africa to their breeding grounds in the Arctic Circle. Similar to Curlew, but smaller with shorter bills and pronounced crown stripe. #flyway

Busy this #WorldCurlewDay , preparing for the arrival of 2024’s Curlew eggs, part of The Lowland Curlew Recovery Project. We hope birds reared & fledged here will be site faithful, returning to breed in the vast habitat of mudflats, saltmarsh & wet grassland at Elmley & Swale NNR

Elmley nature reserve will be closed this weekend, Sat 20th & Sun 21st April, to complete critical maintenance works delayed due to the bad weather. The Reserve will reopen on Wed 24th April as normal. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused, thank you for your understanding.

The dapper leucistic starling has survived the winter. Its beak now yellow, the only sign that it’s in breeding plumage. With a flock of about other 150 starlings still foraging the marsh, possibly not paired up due potentially mates not recognising or accepting its appearance

Took a few moments out of the breeding birds survey to watch a drove of boxing hares amongst the cattle.

Wonderful report today of booming numbers of bitterns (sorry!) across our wetlands. Very pleased Elmley now has several pairs and some obliging individuals across the Reserve #conservationsuccess RSPB News WWT

Wonderful to see a fall of yellow wags over the last few days. Through stewardship for ground nesting birds our breeding population has now grown to over 80 pairs of this brilliant little bird! #conservationsuccess

Bathy time for the newly arrived Yellow Wags at Elmley NNR yesterday. Bird Wise North Kent #YellowWagtail KOS