Projects

A newly discovered colony of harvest mice on Gallows Field has been reported to the Kent Harvest Mouse Survey.

Tawny owls have shown some interest in the owl boxes. So too have grey squirrels! There is fierce competition fornesting places.

Most of the waterways are brackish, a mix of fresh and salty water from the River Stour estuary fed in to the reserve by a sluice gate. When managing water levels it is aimed to hold as much fresh rain water as possible and limit the amount of brackish water introduced. This keeps the salt content lower allowing more species of water life to live in the ditches, lake and ponds. 

Reedbeds are another important feature of the wetland habitats. Most of these are small areas, or verges at the edges of ditches. The largest area of reedbed on the reserve runs a long the edge of the River Stour, an area which is secluded to provide undisturbed nesting and roosting sites. 

These areas are planned to undergo extensive improvements over the next 3-5 years as soon as funds can be raised. Clearing silt from waterways, improving water management, clearing scrub and improving the variety of plant life and habitats.

As trees are largely of a similar age management focuses on providing a range of sizes, shapes and variety of species so that as many species of wildlife can live in these areas. Improving nesting sites for birds by planting new hedgerows and restoring existing ones is a key aim in coming years. Many of the original hedges were planted very close to foot paths, the constant trimming to of these to keep paths accessible has left limited nesting areas. The new hedges will be planted away from paths, providing a wide hedge where dense growth to thrive. All hedges planted are made up of a variety of native species which also provide plenty of berries and roosting site for the winter.

As some of the existing hedges have grown older gaps emerge and weed species can dominate. Work is planned of these to fill gaps and remove those self-sown species of lesser wildlife value. Woodland plant life will also be greatly improved in conjunction with our wild flower planting programme.

A great many different kinds of wildflowers are introduced to Gazen each year. This programme adds wildlife value to all types of habitats and adds great interest for visitors. As a man-made nature reserve it gives far more opportunities to speed up the variety of plant life present without harming the natural flora. 

This is done by using seed collected from the reserve or buying British seed or plug plants. With the help of volunteers many hundreds of plants are introduced annually. The main features of this programme are to increase the profusion of springtime plants such as primroses, bluebells and wood anemones. Wetland verges respond extremely well planting on the edge of waterways and in the many very damp areas on the heavy clay soil.