Wilder Kent Blog

If December was a merry berry month for humans celebrating mid-winter festivities, January and February are serious berry months for birds and mammals aiming to survive winter...

In this guest blog, member Joanna Boult talks about what membership means to her and her family.

We have had the driest spring since 1956, with river and stream flow already well below average for the time of year, a worry for everyone. Area Manager Ian Rickards reports that “this crazy weather has been beneficial for some insects, but the vegetation is already struggling, which will have a knock-on effect other insects later in the year. Water levels are dropping dramatically, with ponds and water bodies drying out very quickly.” The livestock have water troughs but the thin layer of peat in the bogs can dry out easily and be eroded by wind when exposed as plants adapted to damp conditions wither. The successive broods of nestling birds mostly eat insects and larvae, which provide moisture as well as protein, so they are also at risk.

Volunteer, Margery Thomas, explores winter on Hothfield Heathlands - one of Kent's last four valley bogs and one of its few remaining fragments of open heath.

At Kent Wildlife Trust, our volunteers are one of our most precious resources in the journey to create a #WilderKent. Without their passion, dedication, and tireless efforts, so much of what we achieve wouldn’t be possible.

A run down and overgrown medieval churchyard in Sandwich has been restored to a beautiful wildlife haven by a group of local volunteers who live locally and are part of the congregation at the church. In this amazing story, you'll hear from the people who brought this churchyard back to life and find out what they discovered when you peeled the ivy back from the tombstones.

By August, floral glory has passed from the orchids (heath spotted, southern marsh and a few large hybrids) to the heather or ling. As ever, we hope for a protracted display of purple in the heathy areas, which is likely if the cool nights persist. Orchid seed is now ripening. Dust-like, dispersed on the wind, the seed contains no nutrients to support germination so needs a mycorrhizal fungus to supply nutrients from the soil to its roots. From seed to flowering takes three years or more.

The annual pinnacle of Kent Wildlife Trust’s ‘Wilder Volunteering Recognition Programme’ is the Wilder Kent Volunteer Awards that we are proud to host in partnership with the Marsh Charitable Trust.