Medway and Coastal Wetlands Volunteers - April 2022 update

The volunteers started February by cutting buddleia at Peters Pit as it has started to take over sections of the chalk grassland. Over several task days, the Wednesday and Thursday teams cut a large area, revealing a fence that was then added to “spring fencing repairs” list. Some of the buddleia was burnt and the rest was chipped.  

Areas of scrub in the southern fields at Holborough were also cut; the day began with commandeering an abandoned supermarket trolley to take the equipment along the footpath, before hopping over the fence to where we were working. Large areas of bramble were cleared to prevent the ditch becoming too shaded and overgrown, making this area better for the water voles at Holborough. We will have to wait until May for the annual water vole survey to see if the water voles are using the newly cleared areas.  

At the end of February the volunteer teams worked on a coppice plot, clearing an area of blackthorn scrub to encourage the scrub to grow back denser, creating areas suitable for breeding nightingale. The cut scrub was dead-hedged around the edge of the plot to create corridors for invertebrates and small mammals to move around. I would also like to thank trainees Jessie, Ruth and Suz for coming out with their chainsaws and clearing a large area.  

At Wouldham, the volunteers repaired the goat shelter after one of the roof panels had been damaged during Storm Eunice. Scrub at the bottom of the “goat field” was also cut, as it had become too dense for the sheep and goats to graze and is starting to encroach into the grassland. Also, because of the steep gradient, we cannot use the tractor to top these areas, so the cutting must be done with brushcutters.  

There are a few more cutting jobs to tick off before the spring, such as clearing vegetation along fence lines. There is a still a bit of reed cutting at Holborough and finishing clearing cut buddleia at Peters Pit before the long list of fencing repairs begins in the spring.  

Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers for a couple of months of excellent hard work! 

Swale volunteers have spent a lot of time this autumn and winter at Oare Marshes, the Trust’s 80 hectare grazing marsh, working on both the east and west flood. On the west flood our habitat management has focused on cutting reedbed that has developed over the central scrapes created in 2005. This was the third year they’ve had an autumn cut, and the regrowth is also being managed by our Sussex cattle who graze the reedbed in late summer. This is recreating areas of open water habitat to attract breeding and overwintering waders. The team have also been working on reducing scrub cover in those compartments with potential areas of open grassland to attract breeding waders.  

On the east flood at Oare Swale, volunteers brushcut their way through the reed to cut and clear the largest island at Oare of reed. This had become overly vegetated and could no longer be seen from the East Hide. It will be interesting to monitor species interaction with the island over the breeding season. This work will continue in autumn as we work to reveal the muddy edges at Oare that have been reduced by encroaching reedbed. The intention as always is to find a balance of habitat for the wide range of species that Oare supports, and we could not do this without our dedicated volunteers giving us their time and expertise.  

The Swale team covers many sites across the borough and includes six sites in Stalisfield Green – collectively called Wilderness Downs – that the Trust have managed for almost a decade. Several are reversion sites where grazing animals are our key conservation tool to revert previously poor arable land to neutral grassland. Volunteers spent part of the winter work schedule roaming between these sites to repair fencing, manage pond vegetation, reduce scrub and small ash trees, and get rid of hundreds of plastic tree guards. Our time in Stalisfield was not without incident – the Swale warden managed to get her truck stuck in the mud and the cattle were accidentally released to roam further than they should. We celebrated the end of the year with an epic 7 course Christmas feast outdoors.  

The Swale and Medway wardens share a dedicated group of roaming volunteers that go out on Wednesday’s. Over this winter they’ve supported the Swale area warden by surveying for water voles at Oare in autumn, reducing scrub in hard to reach parts of our South Swale reserve, at Cromer’s Wood they’ve created scallops, made and repaired infrastructure, and also at Oare worked on the west flood reedbeds as part of the wider habitat work. We’re very grateful for their energy and commitment, and patience with 3 wardens coordinating their volunteer time!