'What shall l call
My dear little dormouse?
His eyes are small
But his tail is e - nor - mouse'
(A A Milne)
It was on an unseasonably mild December day that we headed eastwards along the High Street. At Meresborough Road we turned right. A slow cycle up the hill enabled us to keep an eye open for last season's birds' nests amongst the leafless trees and bushes. Few birds appear to nest in the surrounding orchards; the low, well pruned trees do not seem to offer enough cover. Along the road itself, however, we found nests of blackbirds, thrushes, greenfinches and goldfinches, amongst others, the favourite sites being dog rose bushes and poplar trees. We are not too fond of the monotonous rows of poplar trees, which are grown as windbreaks. But one of their redeeming features is that their upward growing branches form forks which are desirable nesting sites.
The small, coffee cup sized nest of a gold finch, made almost entirely of sheep’s wool, was the cosiest nest we came across. But the most interesting nest was that of a dormouse which we found at the top of Meresborough Road in a stretch of old mixed hedge. The globe shaped nest was made largely of thin ribbons of bark which the mouse had stripped off adjacent bushes with its teeth. The nest would have served as the nursery and the mice would now doubtless be hibernating amongst leaves at the bottom of the hedge. Dormice, which look like miniature squirrels, were once kept as pets.
We remounted our bikes and headed for Stockbury via the outskirts of Hartlip. It was brakes on as we dropped down into the Stockbury Valley. We were forced to walk up the other side of the valley as we reached the final uphill approach to SouthGreen. At the cross roads on the top of the downs we turned left. In the fields around Magpie Hall and Pett Farm we came across numbers of Swaledale sheep looking much like Dougal (of Magic Roundabout fame) in their long, twisted pile coats. Swaledale are one of the hardiest of all British sheep. So why keep Swaledale sheep in a part of the country that enjoys a comparatively moderate climate? The reason is that ewes taken off the mountains will immediately improve their lambing performance. It is customary to sell breeds such as Swaledale to a lowland farmer after three seasonn on the hills for another two seasons in better conditions. Their self sufficiency is a valuable asset to the new owner but, more valuable, is their capacity to pass on some of their hardiness and foraging ability to their offspring when mated with a ram of another breed.
We continued downhill to the Sheppey to Maidstone Road and then walked up the steep ridgeto Stockbury Church. An easy ride through Hartlip soon brought us to Watling Street. At Wakely’s farm at the junction with Seymour Road we gazed up at the barn owls surveying the passing traffic from their perches on the cowls of the oast houses. The owls are not of course reatl but it is possible that the farm is home to a live pair. For it was on our way to the Upchurch fireworks display, near the railway bridge over Oak Lane, that we saw a barn owl in the headlights of our car two years ago.
In his 'Notes on the Birds of Rainham’ written in 1894, Walter Prentice said this of the barnowl, ‘This most useful bird I am sorry to say is a victim to persecution by every pop gunner in the parish on coming, as it sometimes does. Its life after visiting our (hay) stacks once or twice is sure to be sacrificed. I have known a pair to breed more than once in our church roof, but this was a few years ago.’ Even as late as 1949 the boys of the County Grammar School Gillingham (in their Survey of Gillingham) noted that the barn owl was not uncommon in most country districts.
According to the Hawk Trust, modern farming methods and swiftly spreading towns have all but put paid to the Barn owl’s traditional haunts. In the past barn owls fed largely on farmyard rats and mice; but they have now taken to preying on the voles and shrews which are found in abundance in permanently damp grass. Thus they are increasingly being seen near river banks, marshes and wet lands. So their presence along the Medway or the Swale may not be unexpected.
Upon-reaching the bottom of Mierscourt Road Kemsley insisted on replenishing his stock of Christmas goodies at his favourite sweet-shop. It was quite some time before he eventually reappeared, arms full of everything. Having just cycled away some of his extra seasonal inches, Kemsley was about to put them all back on again!