18th March, 2026 The pair on the small mere in front of the David Feast hide at Stodmarsh are starting to nest build and also starting to court. They never quite reach the weed carrying climax of their intricate display but they come together often to dance and preen together, and briefly mate on a…
Tag: Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve
Stodmarsh – hunting hen harrier
St Patrick’s Day In the bright afternoon, a female hen harrier flies low over the ground and always into the sun to ambush the teal and snipe near the Marsh hide. She never manages a kill but comes very close; the snipe screech and take off and the teal flock splashes into the middle of…
Spring butterflies in Kent
The local butterflies seem more abundant than last year and the recent, warm weather has only helped them along. The photos were all taken in Kent on trips to Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve, Shellness in the Swale National Nature Reserve, Mereworth Woods, and Fackenden Down Kent Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve.
Kent – 13th May 2023
Saturday was a grand tour of some of Kent’s finest places. The day was bright and breezy and confirmed that May, the month of many weathers, is the best month of the year for wildlife (and possibly gardens). Sissinghurst We checked the plant species in the cottage garden where the colours are always burning hot…
Drain the swamp…
Magpies are unmistakable and noisy, with a repertoire of abrupt, harsh calls. Sharp-eyed and intelligent, they are an efficient predator of the nest contents of smaller birds; and, as a consequence, they are disliked by many people. In the suburbs of towns and cities from Ankara to Bristol and across every type of farmland they build their familiar nest high…
Stodmarsh
In the late afternoon, the warm wind blows from the west and the sun shines over the wide, grazing marshes and rare, reed bed remnant of the Stour valley. The mere at the east end near Grove Ferry is full of moulting teal and shoveler and lapwings, gulls and starlings. Some of the ducks splash and dive into…