Oare Marshes is a
Local Nature Reserve north of
Faversham
Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. It is owned and managed by
Kent Wildlife Trust
Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve our natural spaces" and t ...
.
It is part of
The Swale
The Swale is a tidal channel of the Thames estuary that separates the Isle of Sheppey from the rest of Kent. On its banks is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from Sittingbourne to Whitstable in Kent. It is al ...
Nature Conservation Review
''A Nature Conservation Review'' is a two-volume work by Derek Ratcliffe, published by Cambridge University Press in 1977. It set out to identify the most important places for nature conservation in Great Britain. It is often known by the initial ...
site, Grade I,
National Nature Reserve,
Ramsar Ramsar may refer to:
* Places so named:
** Ramsar, Mazandaran, city in Iran
** Ramsar, Rajasthan, village in India
* Eponyms of the Iranian city:
** Ramsar Convention concerning wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran
** Ramsar site, wetland listed in ...
internationally important wetland site,
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...
under the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds,
and
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
.
Access
Car parking is provided opposite the Watch House, near the sea wall at the end of the
Harty Ferry Road. Access is restricted to the public footpath and nature trail to minimise disturbance to roosting, feeding and breeding birds. The whole reserve may be observed from the nature trail and viewing hides. For those who need to use a car or wheelchair, there is a disabled only car park 300m from the hide overlooking the east flood. This hide is wheelchair accessible, and reached along firm level paths. There is also good viewing from the road itself, especially over the east flood. A nature trail leaflet is available on request.
Points of interest
The reserve consists of over 81 hectares of grazing marsh with freshwater dykes, open water 'scrapes', seawall and saltmarsh on the mainland opposite the
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is derived ...
. The land, which is known for its tranquil remoteness from nearby
Faversham
Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...
, was used from 1787 until 1916 for the manufacture of gunpowder and the remains of its jetty are still visible. The Harty Ferry to Sheppey previously operated from near the wild-life lookout point on the reserve. The muddy
Oare Creek forms the eastern edge of the reserve and lead inland to the village of
Oare. The Oare and
Faversham Creek
Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...
s are open for navigation at high tide. There is a history of boat building and repair of historic boats and
Thames Sailing Barges
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
in the creeks. Close to Oare village is the ''Oare Meadow'', also operated, like the Oare Marshes reserve by the
Kent Wildlife Trust
Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve our natural spaces" and t ...
.
Birds
The reserve is of international importance for migratory, over wintering and breeding wetland birds. Suitable habitat is achieved through manipulation of water levels and livestock grazing. The reserve supports an exciting and diverse range of birds. Amongst the breeding species found here are
pied avocet
The pied avocet (''Recurvirostra avosetta'') is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They breed in temperate Europe and across the Palearctic to Central Asia then on to the Russian Far East. It is a ...
,
common redshank
The common redshank or simply redshank (''Tringa totanus'') is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.
Taxonomy
The common redshank was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ...
,
common snipe
The common snipe (''Gallinago gallinago'') is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World.
The breeding habitats are marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout the Palearctic. In the north, the distribution limit extends from Iceland ...
,
northern lapwing
The northern lapwing (''Vanellus vanellus''), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tew-it, green plover, or (in Ireland and Britain) pyewipe or just lapwing, is a bird in the lapwing subfamily. It is common through temperate Eurosiberia. ...
,
water rail
The water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the Rallidae, rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are bird migration, migratory, but this species is a perma ...
,
bearded reedling
The bearded reedling (''Panurus biarmicus'') is a small, sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic reed bed, reed-bed passerine bird. It is frequently known as the bearded tit, due to some similarities to the long-tailed tit, or the bearded parrotbil ...
,
common tern
The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migrator ...
and
garganey
The garganey (''Spatula querquedula'') is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly migratory, with the entire population moving to southern Africa, India (in particular Santragachi), Banglades ...
. Migrating species include
black-tailed godwit,
ruff
Ruff may refer to:
Places
*Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
*Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community
Other uses
*Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader fami ...
,
little stint
The little stint (''Calidris minuta'' or ''Erolia minuta''), is a very small wader. It breeds in arctic Europe and Asia, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to Africa and south Asia. It occasionally is a vagrant to North America a ...
,
curlew sandpiper
The curlew sandpiper (''Calidris ferruginea'') is a small wader that breeds on the tundra of Arctic Siberia.
It is strongly migratory, wintering mainly in Africa, but also in south and southeast Asia and in Australia and New Zealand. It is a v ...
and
whimbrel. Overwintering species include
brent goose
The brant or brent goose (''Branta bernicla'') is a small goose of the genus '' Branta''. There are three subspecies, all of which winter along temperate-zone sea-coasts and breed on the high-Arctic tundra.
The Brent oilfield was named after ...
,
dunlin
The dunlin (''Calidris alpina'') is a small wader, formerly sometimes separated with the other "stints" in the genus ''Erolia''. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–1532. It derives from ''dun'', "dull brown ...
,
Eurasian curlew
The Eurasian curlew or common curlew (''Numenius arquata'') is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred t ...
,
Eurasian wigeon
The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon (''Mareca penelope''), also known as the widgeon or the wigeon, is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus ''Mareca''. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range.
Taxonomy
Th ...
,
merlin
Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
,
hen harrier
The hen harrier (''Circus cyaneus'') is a bird of prey. It breeds in Eurasia. The term "hen harrier" refers to its former habit of preying on free-ranging fowl.
It migrates to more southerly areas in winter. Eurasian birds move to southern Eur ...
,
short-eared owl
The short-eared owl (''Asio flammeus'') is a widespread grassland species in the family Strigidae. Owls belonging to genus ''Asio'' are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or ...
,
Eurasian bittern
The Eurasian bittern or great bittern (''Botaurus stellaris'') is a wading bird in the bittern subfamily (Botaurinae) of the heron family Ardeidae. There are two subspecies, the northern race (''B. s. stellaris'') breeding in parts of Europe and ...
and
twite
The twite (''Linaria flavirostris'') is a small brown passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.
It is similar in size and shape to a linnet, at long. It lacks the red head patch and breast shown by the linnet and the redpolls. It is bro ...
.
See also
*
South Swale nature reserve - covers the marshes east of Faversham
References
External links
Faversham site on Oare Marshes reserve with links about gunpowder worksOare Marshes photo group - on FlickrRSPB & Kent Wildlife Trust site on Oare Marshes Nature Reserve
{{Kent Wildlife Trust
Kent Wildlife Trust
Local Nature Reserves in Kent