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It is getting to the time of year where we start seeing the marsh looking like everyone supposes a marsh should look like.....very wet. With all the rain we have had over the last couple of weeks it is not surprising that the water levels have risen and all the rills and scrapes have filled up. This...

With 60mm of rain falling in just 4 days last week you can imagine that the marsh is looking extremely soggy right now! I have really noticed the wildfowl numbers starting to increase. A passing Marsh Harrier sent hundreds of Teal up into the air today from off the reservoir. It was an amazing sight...

You might notice that the pools on the flood are looking quite low...don’t panic, this is only for a short time as staff and volunteers are undertaking the enjoyable task of walking out to the islands, getting stuck in the mud (and sometimes falling into it) to complete the annual management of...

Time for another of my rather infrequent updates, as I STILL can't access the RSPB website from Elmley. We're still trying to fix the problem, but it's a slow process. Highlight of the month so far was the discovery of a grey phalarope on the Flood reservoir on Saturday night. It was still...

Another 2 weeks has passed & still no joy in getting onto the RSPB website at Elmley - a real conundrum. I have been sent another possible fix that I will try when I return to Kingshill Farm, but I'm currently at Northward Hill, hence the chance for a further up-date about what's hip &...

Having missed out on the snow that's been sweeping the country further north, Kent finally got the covering that's been on the cards for a while now. Funnily enough, there was only the one car visited the reserve today: they made it to the carpark, but didn't venture any further...

Following Rob Clements rough-legged buzzard that I missed on Monday, Phil Sharp came in on Wednesday (when I was away from the reserve) and found 2 shorelarks near to Southfleet hide. He even managed to get a photo. As far as I know, this is the first record of these fantastic northern larks at Elmley...

Our cattle grazier came to the reserve today to take the first animals back to their winter quarters. He likes his cows to calf indoors, although we've already had 2 un-expected deliveries this year on site. Fortunately, both calves have done well, but they were amongst the first load to go, along...

..as Thin Lizzy once observed. Returning tonight from the weeks shop, as I pulled up outside the farm, the unmistakable shape of a dead rabbit appeared in my headlights. "Odd" I mused, "I'm sure that wasn't there when I left". Examining the stiff, the head had almost been...