I am becoming increasingly accustomed to post-lockdown travel by bus outside the SS15 postcode area following my visits during April to Lake Meadows in Billericay, Benfleet and Hadleigh Downs (Hadleigh Country Park) and RSPB Rainham Marshes.
This morning, I made my first ever visit to RSPB Canvey Wick. This is a wonderful site and I have no idea why it has taken me so long to discover it.
Canvey Wick is a former landfill site and the location of a proposed oil refinery on Canvey Island in Essex. The site closed in the 1980s and then lay derelict for years. It became a liability for the former landowner, East of England Development Agency (EEDA), and, along with Natural England, they approached the Land Trust to help find a sustainable exit strategy for the land to provide high quality open space next to land identified for commercial development.
The Land Trust subsequently established a steering group with key stakeholders, including Natural England, Castle Point Borough Council, RSPB and Buglife and secured funding from the Government to assess and prepare a "vision" for the site. The site was recognised as a priority within the Thames Gateway South Essex Green Grid Strategy and secured endowment funding from the Parklands initiative which allowed acquisition of the site.
The Land Trust helped transfer a landowner’s liability into an asset, provided expertise in sustainable land management benefiting local communities and conservation and securely invested and protected the endowment, thereby removing the risk of continued dereliction. The RSPB is the appointed managing partner with significant involvement from Buglife to advise on enhancing the habitats for the rare and endangered invertebrates.
Canvey Wick is now a well-established 93.2 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and it was designated as such on 11th February 2005, the first "brownfield" site to be protected specifically for its invertebrates. The RSPB manage 18.5 hectares of the SSSI as a nature reserve in partnership with Buglife and on behalf of the Land Trust.
It is a unique ex-industrial habitat but it also has grassland and scrub habitats plus small wooded areas and it is adjacent to the important estuarine habitats of Holehaven Creek.
It is known to be exceptionally rich in plant, insect and animal species with as many species per square metre as a rain forest and it is one of the most important sites in the UK for endangered invertebrate species (the site is home to over 1300 species of invertebrate including at least 30 on the UK "Red List" of endangered species).
More information ....
The Guardian - Canvey Wick: the Essex "rain forest" that is home to Britain’s rarest insects
Included in my visit total of 35 bird species were 5 seen for the first time this year which took my 2021 year list to 109 .... Cuckoo, Swift, Nightingale, Willow Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat.
The highlights of my visit, which were primarily summer migrants and including these year "ticks", were as follows:
Cuckoo: 1 male seen and between 2 and 4 other regularly calling males heard (it was difficult to judge numbers given how mobile this species is during the spring).
Swift: Group of 3 birds plus a single bird all flying over.
Nightingale: 4 singing males including 2 seen, especially an individual that was clearly visible singing in the open for at least 10 minutes. Here is a short mobile phone recording of the particularly showy bird at RSPB Canvey Wick although the photo is actually of a singing male from my trip to Lake Kerkini in Central Macedonia, Greece in May 2015.
Lesser Whitethroat: 7 singing males including one showing very
well in bushes by the reserve entrance (strictly speaking not a year first
since I heard an individual singing briefly during my trip to RSPB Rainham
Marshes).
Common Whitethroat: Super-abundant! .... 20 singing males seen and
another 5 singing males heard (at least).
Blackcap: 4 singing males and a single red-headed female seen and
another 5 singing males heard.
Chiffchaff: 1 singing male seen and another 5 singing males
heard.
Reed Warbler: 1 singing male seen and another 4 singing males
heard.
Sedge Warbler: Only 1 singing male heard (surprisingly scarce given
the amount of suitable habitat).
Cetti's Warbler: 1 singing male seen and another 6
singing males heard.
Swallow: Group of 3 birds plus 2 single birds all flying over.
Sand Martin: 1 seen flying over whilst waiting for the return bus at
Morrisons so not actually a Canvey Wick record.
Green Woodpcker: 2 heard calling.
Greenfinch: 2 males and 1 female seen.
Chaffinch: 1 singing male seen and another singing male heard.
Brent Goose: 6 seen on Holehaven Creek (by now they should have joined
their mates en-route to the breeding grounds in Siberia).
Curlew: 1 heard calling on Holehaven Creek.
Shelduck: c.15 seen on Holehaven Creek.
Mallard: 4 seen on Holehaven Creek.
In conclusion, I spent a very enjoyable and
productive 3 hours or so wandering around this extensive site. It was my first
visit but definitely not my last.
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