Samphire Hoe | Wildlife Diary

I had intended to go to Reculver near Margate and Herne Bay today but with the hottest day of the year forecast changed my mid and went to Samphire Hoe again expecting it to be slightly shaded and with a bit of breeze……….wrong !! It was boiling!

Without a doubt though, the highlight for me was spotting the beautiful Painted Lady Butterfly sitting on top of some Ragwort. The combination of yellow and a sunny day made it even more special. What beautiful creatures they are!

After giving up on sitting on a sun soaked beach I walked along to the northern end of the Hoe and at least found a couple of Rocks to shelter under. This gave me an excellent view of both Sand and House Martins nesting in the Cliffs. Very deceiving, you think you’re watching a bird but it’s actually their shadow casting on to the white. It took quite a time to actually spot one in the right place!

Rock Pipit – A quiet English Channel – House Martin leaving Nest

On my way back to the Car Park there was much activity going on by the Rock Pipits, all busy grabbing their lunch and mid afternoon snacks.
The sea was actually blue, you could just about pick out the hills south of Calais some 22 miles away and as calm as a Mill Pond. If you were going on the Ferry, good choice of day.

In search of some shade before going home I ventured down to the Royal Military Canal at West Hythe. Much noise, especially the Green Woodpeckers laughing away but little seen because of the heavy leaf on trees.

However, I was lucky enough to watch a Cormorant drifting along. I’ve never seen one floating before, usually they’re in their pre-historic poses at Dungeness, other coastal places and occasionally next to the Great Stour a few hundred yards over the field from me.

A good day, too hot, but us Pensioners are never happy are we !

A sunny and warm English summers day, so rather than going to my usual haunts I thought I’d pop down the 16 miles or so to Samphire Hoe just south east of Dover.

Looking toward Folkestone Warren

Samphire Hoe is if you like, a striking result of making use of man made land from the spoils of digging the Channel Tunnel which opened in May 1994.
Several sites to ‘dump’ the spoil were put forward but as it was more or less right above the tunnel workings on a lesser reachable part of the Cliffs, Samphire Hoe was chosen.
Upon completion of the Tunnel, the spoil was landscaped and ‘converted’ into a Nature Reserve, owned and maintained by Eurotunnel.
About a mile and a half long and in places going about 300 meters out from the 350 feet high cliffs, it’s mainly made up of Meadow land and a few ponds which attract both birds and other wildlife.

Juvenile Black Redstart

At the south east end of the Reserve you have a shingle beach with some sand, this stretching all the way along to Folkestone Warren. At the other end it is basically rock with Shakespeare Cliff towering above it, this being probably the best place to observe land and sea wildlife.

Juvenile Stonechat

Like most areas, being late Summer makes some species of birds hard to spot but I was most pleased to get photos of the Stonechat and Redstart.
Other birds present were a huge number of Sand Martins plus Kestrels and Sparrowhawks flying predating close to the Cliffs.
Unfortunately I found it difficult to get settings on the Camera to focus in on anything with the white background. Maybe too sunny.

Looking toward Dover Eastern Docks

Getting to Samphire Hoe is pretty easy, it’s approached through a tunnel from the A(M)20 about one mile on the London bound side of Dover.
Careful in the tunnel though. It’s not well lit and on a sunny day driving from the brightness into the darkness is a bit tricky on the eyes. Also a very steep gradient.

But well worth a visit and on a clear day you get a good view of the cliffs north of Boulogne in France.

Wildlife Diary

Recording wild life through the year around Hampshire, Kent and elsewhere

Tag Archives: Samphire Hoe

Painted Lady, House Martins, Pipits at Samphire Hoe

A trip to Samphire Hoe Nature Reserve