Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve

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Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve is a Site of Special Scientific Interest located in a former gravel-pit in the town of Sevenoaks in Kent. It covers an area of around 55 hectares, split roughly evenly between water and land, and attracts a huge variety of species thanks to its diverse array of habitats.

[edit] History

The site was converted from gravel-pit to nature reserve by the Harrison family - particularly Jeffery Harrision, after whom the visitor centre is named. As such, the site is almost totally man-made - the lakes and ponds were excavated and nearly all trees planted, and represented the first such conversion of a gravel-pit anywhere in the United Kingdom.

Large areas of gravel and sand were replaced with woodland, supporting birds such as woodpeckers, warblers and tits, as well as other migratory birds. These include siskins - a bird that comes in the winter months to feed on alder seeds.

Areas of the reserve have been left to mature and reach old age, with plenty of dead wood habitat for fungi and insects. In contrast, other sections see the trees are coppiced to create open areas and more dense woodland with its own community of plants and animals. The reserve further includes five lakes and a mixed habitat of ponds, seasonally flooded pools, and reedbed; and the combination of wetland and woodland enables the reserve to support a diverse community of plants, fungi and animals. As of 2006, over two thousand species have been identified on the site.

[edit] Operation

The water levels in the lake are managed so that specially created islands and shallows are exposed during spring and summer. These create feeding and nesting areas for a variety of waders and water fowl including the little ringed plover, lapwing, moorhen, coot and great crested grebe. Large numbers of wildfowl regularly use the open water in the winter months such as the tufted duck, greylag and Canada geese.