RSPB Cliffe Pools (1 Viewer)

Hi,

I went to Cliffe Pools for 2 hours with my dad on Sunday morning. This being my first visit, I was surprised to see that it was very different from many RSPB reserves that I've been to - hardly any people, no hides, and yet still a vast variety of rare and interesting birds.

Driving along the track, I saw a juvenile pheasant with no tail, which when standing upright almost made my dad think that it was a corncrake (not quite). At the first lake that we walked to, I had a look across its expanse to the far island, where I saw about 7 little egrets, and a group of 50 odd little grebes on the water! This profusion of little grebes really surprised me, having usually seen them in ones or twos.

A closer look with the scope revealed a common sandpiper and a lovely greenshank, whilst an even closer look showed a little stint (my 2nd of the year)! Very happy with our finds, we wandered on.

The next lake had nothing except for a very conspicuous ruddy shelduck, which had apparently been around for a week or so. On our way to the third lake, we were startled by two doves flying across the path and landing in a bush next to us - two turtle doves, posing superbly on top of the bush! I could not believe my luck: a little stint, greenshanks, ruddy shelduck, and now this! I wished that I had the camera, and was kicking myself when a marsh harrier gave us some of the best views that I have ever seen in my life (I add that I regularly go to Minsmere and Cley Marshes, two of the best places for harriers).

Dad noticed some movement in the shrubberies, and to my delight I found 2 very impressive whitethroats. Dad, however, had not been looking at this - instead he had noticed a superb black redstart sitting in the grass. Also, a little further along with the whitethroats, there was a female stonechat.

The final leg of the walk was less bountiful, but there were still plenty of greenshanks, a few common sandpipers, kestrels, marsh harriers, and a different ruddy shelduck, plus 2 avocets. I shall definitely return in the winter - apparently it is a haven for skuas, shearwaters, divers and grebes!

Paul Collins said:

Hi,

I went to Cliffe Pools for 2 hours with my dad on Sunday morning. This being my first visit, I was surprised to see that it was very different from many RSPB reserves that I've been to - hardly any people, no hides, and yet still a vast variety of rare and interesting birds.

Driving along the track, I saw a juvenile pheasant with no tail, which when standing upright almost made my dad think that it was a corncrake (not quite). At the first lake that we walked to, I had a look across its expanse to the far island, where I saw about 7 little egrets, and a group of 50 odd little grebes on the water! This profusion of little grebes really surprised me, having usually seen them in ones or twos.

A closer look with the scope revealed a common sandpiper and a lovely greenshank, whilst an even closer look showed a little stint (my 2nd of the year)! Very happy with our finds, we wandered on.

The next lake had nothing except for a very conspicuous ruddy shelduck, which had apparently been around for a week or so. On our way to the third lake, we were startled by two doves flying across the path and landing in a bush next to us - two turtle doves, posing superbly on top of the bush! I could not believe my luck: a little stint, greenshanks, ruddy shelduck, and now this! I wished that I had the camera, and was kicking myself when a marsh harrier gave us some of the best views that I have ever seen in my life (I add that I regularly go to Minsmere and Cley Marshes, two of the best places for harriers).

Dad noticed some movement in the shrubberies, and to my delight I found 2 very impressive whitethroats. Dad, however, had not been looking at this - instead he had noticed a superb black redstart sitting in the grass. Also, a little further along with the whitethroats, there was a female stonechat.

The final leg of the walk was less bountiful, but there were still plenty of greenshanks, a few common sandpipers, kestrels, marsh harriers, and a different ruddy shelduck, plus 2 avocets. I shall definitely return in the winter - apparently it is a haven for skuas, shearwaters, divers and grebes!

Click to expand...

Good place is Cliffe, may go there for my next outing...

paulwfromtheden said:

Good place is Cliffe, may go there for my next outing...

Click to expand...

Hi chaps,

I'm always looking for prompt write ups from sites in N W Kent for the Kos website. Please view this link:

http://www.kentos.org.uk/North West Kent/August08NWKent.htm

If I could add your blog to the website, that would be much appreciated or even better, could you email it to me?

Have a browse back through prior months as this should give you a flavour of when to visit. Obviously the more reports I get, the more useful the N W Kent site is for people wanting to view past sightings in order to plan trips.

Cheers and good birding,

Andy.

tittletattler said:

Hi chaps,

I'm always looking for prompt write ups from sites in N W Kent for the Kos website. Please view this link:

http://www.kentos.org.uk/North West Kent/August08NWKent.htm

If I could add your blog to the website, that would be much appreciated or even better, could you email it to me?

Have a browse back through prior months as this should give you a flavour of when to visit. Obviously the more reports I get, the more useful the N W Kent site is for people wanting to view past sightings in order to plan trips.

Cheers and good birding,

Andy.

Click to expand...

You are very welcome to use this post on your website (if that's what you meant by 'blog', rather than an actual website blog). I am actually a regular user of the kentos website, because I often go to Elmley Marshes and Dungeness. I'll email the post to you.

Sorry, I've just realised that you might have been referring to tittletattler's blog, which I had not noticed beforehand. But feel free all the same to use the trip report.

Paul Collins said:

You are very welcome to use this post on your website (if that's what you meant by 'blog', rather than an actual website blog). I am actually a regular user of the kentos website, because I often go to Elmley Marshes and Dungeness. I'll email the post to you.

Sorry, I've just realised that you might have been referring to tittletattler's blog, which I had not noticed beforehand. But feel free all the same to use the trip report.

Click to expand...

Thanks Paul. At present I don't have a 'personal blog' but I am considering it......

Cheers,

Andy.

Hi guys

Sounds like there are good birds at Cliffe Pools. I've been wondering about an autumn trip there...never been before. Can any of you tell me what the walking distances are like? I've got poorly knees and walking long distances is out for me. (Sound really old, don't I? :'D But I'm not, honestly!) Is the parking fairly close to the birdy parts? I can walk a maximum of 3 miles in total before I stop enjoying it....pathetic I know. I've also heard there are safety issues there...or am I confusing that with somewhere else?

Thanks.

joannechattaway said:

Hi guys

Sounds like there are good birds at Cliffe Pools. I've been wondering about an autumn trip there...never been before. Can any of you tell me what the walking distances are like? I've got poorly knees and walking long distances is out for me. (Sound really old, don't I? :'D But I'm not, honestly!) Is the parking fairly close to the birdy parts? I can walk a maximum of 3 miles in total before I stop enjoying it....pathetic I know. I've also heard there are safety issues there...or am I confusing that with somewhere else?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Hi,

Cliffe is pretty much WIP at the moment. My understanding is that one of the chaps who helped set up Rainham has now been given the job of sorting out Cliffe and this will be a long term project. So, at the moment the reserve doesn't look like a reserve with many of the pools being dry and probably remaining as such until the RSPB can find a way to overcome a number of issues.....

However, there is still plenty to enjoy at Cliffe at present. It is also much safer than it used to be although not 100% so. Access is via Cliffe village and as you head through the village, there is a sharp right hand bend in the road and a dirt track going off straight on in front of you. Take this and follow it, very slowly, for 500-1000 yards until you reach 'radar' pool. The north edge of radar pool is good for waders. Just beyond radar pool are the black barn pools although these are nearly all dry at present. Still worth a look though from either of the two RSPB viewing mounds. Note that you can drive up to them so no walking involved as yet.
After viewing the BB Pools, drive further along the track until you reach a gate across the track. Park to the right of it. Now walk north and view the Thames. Y L Gull is regular here. There is a lone elder by the sea wall which is a life saver when its blowy. I now call it the 'Pom elder' . It's well worth spending some time here.
If you walk west, you will reach Flamingo Pool. This pool holds alot of the waders at high tide as well as good numbers of duck. You can walk further along Flamingo Pool by heading south to 'ski' pool and 'hidden' pool which are also good for high tide roosting waders. Do check the tides before you visit. This walk (from the gate) to Flamingo Pool and back again doesn't take that long although it's worth doing slowly as there's good habitat right the way along this walk. Scan frequently for Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, SEO, Barn Owl etc.
One of the regulars kindly produced this map (page down to link).

http://www.kentos.org.uk/North West Kent/NorthandWestKent.htm

If you locate the the track on the bottom of the map that heads north to raradr pool (numbered '1') then the rest of the directions above should make sense.

Hope this helps and good luck. I'll await your report!

Can you get there easily by public transport? (The RSPB website mentions a bus stop but doesn't tell you what bus...)

Tom

TomSmith said:

Can you get there easily by public transport? (The RSPB website mentions a bus stop but doesn't tell you what bus...)

Tom

Click to expand...

I'm sure that there must be a bus service to Cliffe village (from Gravesend?) but it must be very irregular.

Best bet is to search the internet, I reckon, for bus services. The nearest train station is at Higham and it's then a 5 mile-ish journey to Cliffe from there.

Just received this from the RSPB:

RSPB Cliffe Pools Project Bulletin : Summer 2008

This bulletin is to keep people with a close interest in the development of the Cliffe Pools project up to date with progress. If you would prefer not to receive this email, please reply to Sally Jennings. If you know of people who you think would like to receive this, please also pass their email details to Sally at [email protected] <outbind://56/[email protected]>

Welcome to our latest bulletin about the progress being made towards our aims at Cliffe Pools. One of the awkward things with a project such as this is that, for all the detailed and complex negotiations (and hair-pulling!) behind the scenes, there can seem little movement on the surface. Why don't we just build a visitor centre, end of story?!

I hope that the news items below give you some idea of the hoops we are jumping through, from multiple planning consents to complex funding packages. All this behind the main goal of creating a nature reserve that is fit for visitors while never compromising the special wildlife that is already here. So far, so good - and we thank you for bearing with us.

Sarah Cooper, Project Manager

Project management

Major funding bid submitted

We have just submitted a bid for £2M to Communities & Local Government (CLG), the Government department responsible for giving out Thames Gateway money. We will find out in October if we have been successful. Such bids take a huge amount of time and effort, but would represent a huge boost and would result in substantial work on the ground in early 2010. This funding bid comes as the next major step after the 'pump-priming' Heritage Lottery Fund Stage 1 grant we secured in February.

Planning application for Cliffe Pools car park. We have revised our planning application to alter the road approach to the car park from the end of Salt Lane. This is to increase the safety of the approach for visitors. We want to build a new road that runs separate and parallel to the current road which runs from the foot of Salt Lane to the Thameside Terminal (the old Conoco depot). We intend to put the application to Medway Council in August with works to start from October 2008.

Planning application for clay 'gift'. We have received an offer from several thousand tonnes of clay, the spoil from the gas pipeline at Grain. This material would be very useful for building up one of the causeways that will form one of the planned visitor routes through the Pools. We are seeking planning permission to stockpile the material on what is known as the 'events field', north of the end of Salt Lane, until it is used. The material would be brought in by road over a ten-day period in early September.

Proposed route of nature trail. The RSPB's senior ecologists have been to the site to assess the proposed route of the nature trail across the northern pools. We needed to be certain that the route could be made without compromising the conservation value of the pools. Work on this trail is not due to start for several years, but we need to have a funding plan in place so that this work can be part of a coherent long-term programme.

Consultants sought for Reception Building. We have started the complex tendering procedure seeking consultants to deliver our Reception Building and Step 1 visitor infrastructure (nature trails, hides etc). This initial tendering will take all summer due to our obligation to follow strict European procedures. If you would like a summary of the consultant brief, please contact Sarah.

Cliffe Creek Sluice. Cliffe Creek is very important in the management of the Pools as it allows us the intake of river water through a sluice, which pushes water around the Pools and back out of the sluice. This allows us to maintain the salinity and water levels of the Pools, and hence its wildlife. However, Cliffe Creek is silting up, which is threatening the long-term viability of the existing sluice, so we are in discussions with the Environment Agency with a view to replacing the sluice with one that will be functional in the long-term.

On the reserve

New bollards on the Black Barn track. We installed some new bollards on the track leading from Pond Hill to the Black Barn track to curb fly tipping. However the middle bollard only lasted three days before it was taken, so a much more substantial bollard will now be installed. Other work at Cliffe Pools in recent weeks has included keeping the footpaths and viewing areas clear from overgrowing vegetation.

Breeding season highlights. It has been an exceptional year for Redshanks, one of our key wading birds, which increased from 25 pairs to 34. Numbers of pairs of Lapwings and Oystercatchers held steady, but the eighteen Avocets failed to breed - their success should improve as the restoration of the reserve continues. Five pairs of Common Terns tried to breed, with two chicks seen in early June, but they haven't yet taken to the new rafts on Elf Pool. A small Black-headed Gull colony is forming on Conoco Pool, with ten nesting pairs produced eight fledglings.

It has been a bumper year for Nightingales, which have jumped from five singing males in 2006 to nine last year and 16 this. With 50 singing Whitethroats, nine pairs of Stonechat, and fifteen of Linnet, Cliffe Pools is proving how great it can be for smaller birds as well as the attention-grabbing wetland birds.

Open Day, Safari Fun Day, Wildlife & Country Fair. Recent events at RSPB Northward Hill have included an elderflower champagne cookery class, and 'Hooters and Screechers', a celebration of owls where visitors enjoyed spectacular views of hunting barn owls over the reserve. Northward Hill remains the focus of our events programme until the car park is in place at Cliffe Pools. Over 200 people turned up, despite appalling weather, to the Cliffe Pools Open Day, and over 500 for the Safari Fun Day there on 6 August, we are now gearing up for the annual Wildlife & Country Fair at Northward Hill on 31 August.

Wildlife Explorers group set to open. We are planning to launch a new Wildlife Explorers group, to be based initially at Bromhey Farm, Northward Hill. The Wildlife Explorers is the RSPB's youth membership, which boasts over 150,000 members nationwide. Children will be able to take part in weekend wildlife activities. It will launch on 13 September, and will meet monthly.

Education news. Among our continuing programme of school visits and outreach work, we ran a day of road shows at Holy Trinity School (Gravesend) 'Green Day', and hosted a visit to Cliffe Pools from St Johns Catholic school (Gravesend) Y10 pupils who, despite a very wet day, managed to dip in the pools, and have a BBQ after walking there and back! We are about to start working with Greenwich University, Medway Campus, at Cliffe Pools, following a visit from a group of students. We will be helping one student to produce a dissertation on saline invertebrates.

Moon View arts project comes to Cliffe Pools. An important part of our work at Cliffe Pools will be to engage with the cultural and heritage aspects of the reserve, as well as the wildlife. We are already North Kent Local Arts Authority Partnership has joined forces with the RSPB to create an innovative art project. Over 28 days in July and August, artist Stephen Turner used infrared photography and text to record the moon and nightlife at Cliffe Pools, Elmley Marshes and the Dell in Gravesend. These will be added daily to www.moonview.org.uk <http://www.moonview.org.uk/> and the project will be launched at Cliffe Pools on Monday 15 September from 7.30 - 9.00pm, including laser projections of wildlife art, poetry readings and moon food. With poet Katherine May, Stephen will also work with local people to create line drawings and haiku poems during evening workshops at Cliffe Pools. All will be shown at Moon View exhibitions in the autumn

Paul Hyde
Warden (North Kent Marshes)
The RSPB
Bromhey Farm
Eastborough
Cooling
Rochester, Kent, ME3 8DS
Tel: 01634 222480 Fax: 01634 222489
Mob: 07715371850

The RSPB speaks out for birds and wildlife, tackling the problems that threaten our environment. Nature is amazing - help us keep it that way. Click here to join today www.rspb.org.uk/join <http://www.rspb.org.uk/join>

'The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654

It sounds like you have an absolutely fantastic day. Black Redstart, I bet that was exciting, a bird I have yet to see.

I get to Norfolk quite a lot, and feel right at home. I went about a month back, and stopped off to see a family of Montagues Harriers and apparently there were Turtle Doves in the vicinity yet sadly I didn't see them. I would agree with you that Cley is fantastic for Marsh Harriers, I have never failed to see one in the past 17 years. Fantastic photo opportunites at Cley.

Tittletattler:

Thanks for those directions. I'm planning an autumn trip to Cliffe and have printed them out. Sounds like great things are in progress to turn Clifffe into a premier RSPB site.:t:

Joanne

I used to get the train to Higham and then cycle from there. I wouldn't want to walk it and I doubt there are any bus services to speak of. Like many good bird sites, rubbish public transport.