November Nature Notes · 01 December 1999
Thousands of motorists will have glimpsed Leeds Castle through the trees just beyond Hollingbourne as they passed by on the A20 or M20. Lord Conway considered that, on an Autumnal evening, when the bracken, is golden and there is a faint blue mist among the trees, Leeds Castle is the loveliest castle in the world. On an afternoon in early November I entered the grounds of the castle, on a public footpath, near the junction of the A20 with Broomfield Road. I was hoping that I would end my walk...
January Nature Notes · 01 January 1997
About a year ago a neighbour told me that he had seen what he described as a large falcon feeding on the remains of a turkey carcass he had left out for the birds. None of our resident or visiting birds of prey eat carrion and the identity of the large falcon remained a mystery. Over the following few months, however, I found in my garden the remains of two birds which appeared to have been killed by a sparrow hawk. One set of remains consisted of a headless collared dove and the other the head...
December Nature Notes · 01 January 1996
During the Christmas holidays the regular dog walkers at Darland Banks and Queendown Warren were joined by those who needed some fresh air and exercise after too much turkey and television. On Darland Banks many bushes were still loaded with the berries of this year’s warm and productive summer. Hawthorn, ivy, privet, blackthorn, spindle and dog rose berries were particularly noticeable. Rose hip are the favourites of wood (or long tailed field) mice who store them in old birds’ nests. Wood...
December Nature Notes · 01 January 1995
The beginning of the month was unseasonably mild. A red admiral butterfly was seen feeding on a mahonia bush in the garden, many ladybirds were still active and the dahlias remained unblackened by frost. Whilst helping with conservation work on Burham Down during December I came across hundreds of nut shells under the trees of a hazel coppice. Mammals had gnawed holes in many of the shells, through which the kernels had been extracted. Most of the holes had been made by bank voles and wood (or...
December Nature Notes · 01 January 1994
The orchards and fields around Hartlip are hosts to hundreds of fieldfares and redwings. They are members of the thrush family and are Winter visitors from Scandinavia. They are feeding mainly on the fallen apples but will also eat rose hips and hawthorn berries. Fieldfares resemble missel thrushes in build and flight. They have pale grey heads and rumps, rich chestnut backs and black tails. They are extremely wary birds and have a rather harsh ‘chack-chack-chack' call. Redwings are like...
1986 · 01 January 1986
'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...
1984 · 01 January 1984
A sunny day had brought out the traffic as we trundled down through Moor Street. At Hartlip Hill and turned right and, passing through the village and under the M2 viaduct, we climbed towards Stockbury. We paused briefly at Cowstead, the vantage point for our favourite view of the Medway. The sight of Halstow Creek reminded me of Lower Halstow Church and its stolen brass chandelier. I wondered whether it had been recovered. We pushed on for Stockbury. Jackdaws were hopping about on the...
1983 · 01 January 1983
The town has a royal title said to have been granted by King Alfred; a church of Saxon origin whose tower is one of the greatest in England; a fine 15th century Court Hall; the third oldest bowling green in the country, the club having been founded in 1540; and a wealth of old houses dating back to Elizabethan times. Only five miles from Rainham the town remains little known; it is Milton Regis, now part of the Western suburbs of Sittingbourne. "lt is forgetting its ancient past," says 'The...
1982 · 01 January 1982
It was with some reluctance that Kemsley forsook the comfort of his armchair from which he had intended to watch yet another repeat of his favourite film. Since the minor roads were still hard packed with snow we settled for the relatively short trip to Queendown Warren and back. On the eastern edge of Rainham we turned right off the A2 and into South Bush Lane. As we did so we glanced briefly at the artificial (but life-like) owls sitting on the openings to the cowls of the three oasts behind...