A round-up from Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

Laura Ross

Communications Officer, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

Over the last year, our Land Management team have been responsible for one of the largest and most important wildlife sites in the country. With over 435 hectares to manage (that's 600 football pitches) the 'to-do' list is never-ending. So what made it onto their shortlist of highlights for 2024?

Matt Rich, Ranger

I started the year by refreshing my first aid skills and clearing brambles from the fences, getting everything ready for the new fence posts to be installed by contractors. As spring arrived, I worked with an incredibly hardworking group of volunteers, focusing on tackling invasive species like Red Valerian, digging out their massive tubers. After the new posts were installed, we replaced the insulators ensuring the electric fences were strong enough to keep predators out.  With a significant portion of Red Valerian under control, I turned my attention to removing Ragwort, being very careful not to disturb any plants with Cinnabar Moth caterpillars. We are in the process of reviewing our Ragwort policy, to ensure we only control it when essential, to ensure the benefits it provides to wildlife are maximised. The wet summer made some tasks, such as clearing pathways, quite challenging, but we managed to catch up on all the work. Now, I'm energised and ready to focus my efforts on 2025.

Claire Oughtred, Trainee Ranger

One of my personal highlights of 2024 has been working with volunteers and the Rangers to build a new boardwalk. This project helped me gain a variety of practical skills, while fostering a strong sense of teamwork and conservation. Another highlight was learning to chainsaw, which has proved invaluable in my role. Over the past few months, I’ve been clearing willow from the reedbed, working alongside volunteers to cut, clear, and burn the willow. It’s been incredibly rewarding to contribute to habitat restoration and witness the positive impact of our efforts on the landscape.

Dave King, Ranger

For many years the Sussex Wildlife Trust, in partnership with the Leysdown Conservation Trust, has offered a very successful apprenticeship for two people to learn the ropes about work on the reserves and take part in education events for a year. During that time, they are trained to use a wide array of equipment and tools and most end their apprenticeship to start a career in professional conservation works, mostly as a Warden or Ranger.

Claire Oughtred, our 2024 trainee, started working with us in July last year, and was almost exclusively based with the Land Management team at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. She has proved to be a willing and quick learner and has done really well. We are pleased to announce that she has been awarded a post as a permanent Ranger, working for a small charity in the middle of Hampshire. We wish her well for the future.

Paul Tinsley-Marshall, Site Manager

A personal highlight was in May, when a high-pressure system covered England and Wales bringing clear and settled weather. This coincided with a large solar flare on the 10th that led to the aurora borealis being visible across the entire UK, with many spectacular images recorded in the local area. Experiencing this from the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House was a magical experience I will never forget.

Little Tern breeding numbers appear to be increasing following bird flu, with 14 pairs this year. This is higher than the ten-year average of 10, though lower than the long-term average since 1970 which is 24. Productivity (the number of chicks a pair needs to raise to fledging, to maintain a stable population), needs to be higher than 0.74 chicks per pair. It has exceeded this for the last four years, with 11 chicks raised to fledging in 2024 (a productivity of 0.79). The number of breeding pairs of Common Tern is gradually increasing following bird flu. The reserve supported 278 pairs in 2024, having dipped as low as 30 in 2020 due to bird flu.

Osprey are increasingly common, early autumn visitors to Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, and as the UK breeding population continues to grow, this trend seems likely to continue. These migrating birds can linger for days on their journey south. The autumn birds are in less of a hurry than the spring birds, the latter being super-keen to get to their breeding sites ahead of rivals. Osprey were seen on many days this September favouring the River Mouth, Salt Pool and Castle Water. The opportunity to see these birds was a highlight for many visitors to the reserve.

A number of rarer and more unusual birds were reported by lucky observers, including White Stork, Cory’s Shearwater, Red-backed Shrike and White-rumped Sandpiper. For me, the regular appearance of passage migrants like Wheatear and Whimbrel passing through offered a reminder of the importance of the site for species that visit us only briefly on their journeys north and south, and a comforting feeling of connection with the wider world.

The display of wildflowers was a delight, with the stunning Grass Vetchling having an exceptional year, Bee Orchid and Yellow Vetch found in new locations, and Viper’s Bugloss putting on a spectacular display this season.

The dedication and enthusiasm of all our supporters, whether volunteers, members, the public, the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and other partners, has been an overwhelmingly positive presence throughout the year. It’s a huge privilege to be working for something that is so valued by so many, and this support for what we do is critical to the success of the nature reserve.