Wilder Kent Blog

Learn more about the wildlife and wild places in Kent and beyond.

Nature Reserves Yellow hammer with lunch
©️ Val Butcher

April on Hothfield Heathlands - Highland cows and nesting birds

We are into full nesting season including the birds who nest on the ground or very low down in scrub, which is over half of Britain’s breeding species including the stonechat, robin, blackbird, skylark, yellow hammer, tree pipit and chiff chaff, not to mention the migrants such as whitethroats who will arrive from the South in May.

Nature Reserves Peacock butterfly on a leaf
Ian Rickards

March on Hothfield: Spring is in the air

It’s all happening, and unlike February, this month you can see and hear the signs, including the welcome trickling of water thanks to leaky dams and, yes, an awful lot of rain, so the squelch of mud on paths as well. Birds are calling, to defend territory, attract a mate, claim their space in roosts or just celebrate the dawn.