Saxon Shore Way - Oare Marshes, Kent - Flora and Fauna Information Signs on Waymarking.com

A flora and fauna information board at Oare Marshes Nature Reserve, on the Saxon Shore Way, Oare, near Faversham.

The text of the board is as follows:

"Oare Marshes is an internationally important wetland. As one of the few remaining areas of grazing marsh, it provides sanctuary for the wildlife that depends on this habitat.
Grazing marsh was once a common feature of north Kent but its area has declined dramatically because of drainage and reclamation for industry and more intensive agriculture.

Management for wildlife -
Our management work on the reserve is aimed primarily at achieving high water levels and a range of vegetation heights. A system of dams, dykes, sluices and embankments controls the water level and distribution.
To maintain and increase the rich diversity of plant and animal species, we vary the intensity of grazing across the marsh. This creates contrasts in the grassland structure ranging from the short turf required by wading birds to the long grass used by hunting and roosting birds of prey.
Sections of dyke are periodically cleared to provide a variety of habitats from open water through to mature stands of reed and marsh.

Wildlife to look for -
Birds:
Breeding birds include waders such as lapwing, snipe and redshank and ducks like shoveler, gadwall and occasionally the nationally rare garganey. Most excitingly, in recent years avocets have started to breed. Reed bunting, water rail, reed and sedge warblers, and even the rare bearded tit nest in the reed-lined dykes and reed beds.
Many other birds visit during spring and autumn migrations, including greenshank, ruff, black-tailed godwit and whimbrel. In winter, curlew, wigeon, teal and pintail duck are present. Birds of prey such as the merlin, Britain's smallest falcon, hen harrier and short-eared owl hunt over the marsh.

Flowers -
In the water-filled dykes there are common and lesser reedmace, with their brown, sausage-shaped flowerheads, and great water dock, whose leaves may reach a metre in length. The tiny frogbit, with its three-petalled white flowers, floats on stretches of open water, while mare's-tail can be recognised by the rings of needle-like leaves around the stem.
On the saltmarsh beyond the sea wall you can see a colourful display of salt-tolerant plants, with the yellow of golden samphire contrasting with the lilac flowers of sea lavender. In autumn the saltmarsh is like a red carpet when glasswort changes its hue from green to red.

Insects, mammals and amphibians -
Fourteen species of dragonfly and damselfly have been recorded on the reserve including the ruddy darter and variable damselfly. Migrant butterflies such as red admiral, painted lady and clouded yellow occur in most years. Common seals are frequently seen fishing on the Swale channel or resting on sandbanks. Hares, weasels and stoats are also resident and the loud croaking of marsh frogs, which originated from Hungary, can he heard in spring and summer."

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