NE Conservation advisor working with farmers to protect and restore habitat in the Weald of Kent and East Sussex Beult, Teise, E. Rother and Brede catchments
Kent and East Sussex
Joined July 2020
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Ben Thompson retweeted
Today is the 70th anniversary of the declaration of England’s first National Nature Reserves. @NaturalEngland is proud to mark this moment with the declaration of a major new NNR at the Somerset Wetlands - 61 KM2 of wetland, heath , grassland & more theguardian.com/environment/…
Ben Thompson retweeted
Merlin, sparrowhawk and buzzard sheltering in the lea of the hedgerows during heavy rain and wind this morning.
Ben Thompson retweeted
The Swanscombe Peninsula in Kent is now confirmed as England’s newest SSSI.
It is home to:
🐛 over 1700 species of invertebrate
🌾 5 nationally scarce plants
🦅 a large variety of important birds
Find out more: gov.uk/government/news/swans…
Farmers spreading green hay from a SSSI Lowland Meadow out onto correctly managed adjacent land, is exactly what we want to be seeing! Creating future nature recovery networks and restoring our lost lowland meadows with very local provenance seed. 🌼
A Young Farmer lends a much-needed hand for COP26, spreading hay from Marden Meadow SSSI on a new site. Wildflowers/pollinators will increase again and CO2 locked in. Not exactly Global Britain but better than a concrete one. @KentWildlife @NESussexandKent #COP26Glasgow
Ben Thompson retweeted
Here's a trap cam image of 13 Green Sandpipers at a Walland marsh (private site). I monitor in the hope to encourage a future extension to this small scrape.
Visited large 8Ha field put into the CS last year near Smarden to see how its doing. Cultivated to a fine tilth annually and then natural regen + no inputs. Great for turtle dove feeding and annuals. PROW going through middle, could use some monitoring on TD usage now 🕊️👂👀
Farmers delivering for nature. Thank you for your efforts @PureKent
Juvenile turtle dove #2 seen on 2nd farm yesterday. Surrounded by several purring birds this morning on a 3rd farm @PureKent where photos taken. Marden landowners’ & volunteers’ hard work is paying off. What will the weekend bring? @NESussexandKent @SaveTurtleDoves @NicoleKhan19
Always good to see so many positive things happening for nature on the other side of the Low Weald too.
Thank you @KneppSafaris @isabella_tree @CharlieBurrell_ for hosting such a helpful & productive discussion today with so many potential & actual allies for Nature recovery at landscape scale. @NaturalEngland we are looking forward to being fellow travellers in next steps.
Ben Thompson retweeted
Four turtle doves caught on trail cam at a Marden feeding strip. Three new pairs reported last week on other sights too. Are we looking at a good year? Spotted flycatchers up on last year too. 🤞
The network around Marden continues this year with more and more farmers joining in with nature recovery. Supported by farm cluster and 1 to 1 advice.
Cant wait to see the effects this brings for rare wildlife in the coming years. @No1FarmerGuy
Building a #NatureRecovery from the ground up. Working with farmers, targeting turtle doves, red listed birds, protected sites and water quality. 214 Hectares of Pollen/Nectar option going into the ground this Autumn around one town! #togetherfornature @KentLnp
Hats off to farmers in Marden using 2020 Stewardship to create landscape scale turtle dove paradise. Species rich grassland creation/restoration + scrub creation too. Centered around Marden Meadow SSSI, delivering #naturerecoverynetwork in an arable landscape. Exciting!
2/2/ Expanding the rare biodiversity of Marden Meadow SSSI continues this years new CS application- Farmer giving arable field to species rich grass creation using green hay spreading from the SSSI, working with
@KentWildlife Farmers creating #naturerecoverynetworks
1/2 Marden Meadow SSSI is one of the best examples of Kent lowland meadow . We are working with farmers to bring adjacent fields into favorable management, expanding out rare biodiversity. Here through a CS Mid Tier that started 2019. Already orchids + ATF showcasing. 🌼🌷
ALT Landscape scale expanding out the biodiversity of Marden Meadow SSSI and making a Nature Recovery Network
ALT Marden Meadow SSSI in all its glory
ALT Green Winged Orchids already showing in favorably managed Mid Tier scheme adjacent to Marden Meadow. Receiving green hay from SSSI thanks to partnership work with Kent Wildlife Trust.
ALT Adders Tongue Fern already showing in favorably managed Mid Tier scheme adjacent to Marden Meadow. Receiving green hay from SSSI thanks to partnership work with Kent Wildlife Trust.
Beautiful Turtle Dove watercolor used with permission by Charlie Gardener Art instagram.com/charliegardene…
New page to showcase the fantastic work farmers are doing to deliver #naturerecovery at a landscape scale in the Low and High Weald of Kent and East Sussex.