Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve

Flower garden at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve
with the visitor centre in the background. 14 August 2011.

On Sunday I drove down to Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve for a moth morning, when a moth trap would be emptied and its contents tallied.

This is another place I had never been to. I will post some moth photos later, when I have gone through them properly. But this place was not set up for moths. It is essentially a series of lakes and seems to be mostly designed for bird watchers.

The lakes were formed by digging for gravel and sand. Now there are water birds, with permanent hides placed here and there around the banks. I am not a bird person, but it is quite beautiful. The paths are lined with interesting plant life and some care has been taken to encourage all sorts of inhabitants, as you can see from the wall of blocks with holes for solitary bees.

Bird ringing group showing us a bullfinch.
Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve, 14 August 2011.

The flower garden near the visitor centre is also very attractive, with a good mix of garden and wild species. Even at 7:30 am it was full of insects; bumblebees, damselflies, hoverflies and fly flies. before our start time, and after the moths were decanted, I wandered around the area, and there may be more photos from that later, too.

A bird ringing exercise was going on just opposite the visitor centre. A small group had a collection of bags, each containing a small bird; I didn't find out how they had been collected, but what came out when they put in their hands was a surprise each time. I saw a dunnock and a bullfinch being brought out and examined.

The birds were handled firmly and gently and with great confidence. They didn't seem to be worried at all, which I certainly would be in similar circumstances!

These photos were all taken with an Ixus 100.

Bee wall with homes for solitary bees, opposite the visitor centre at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve.  14 August 2011.

One of the lakes, with Purple Loosestrife.  Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve, 14 August 2011.