Overview
This nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest lies at the head of Rye Bay and close to the great shingle promontory of Dungeness.
Like Dungeness this excellent small reserve consists largely of shingle, bare towards the sea but covered with a thin layer of soil further inland. Gravel extraction has resulted in a number of flooded pits which provide good breeding bird habitats and the grassland and scrub of the landward adds variety.
The eastern boundary of the reserve is formed by the River Rother as it enters the sea and this, together with the sandy shores of the bay, provides further habitats.
In the west of the reserve is a very small area of woodland which, although it becomes reduced in size year by year, still has a few extra species that cannot be seen in the more open habitats.
A great number of rarities have been recorded on the reserve (including Penduline Tit in October 2003) and around 90-100 species can be seen in a day in spring or autumn.
Birds
Notable Species
The main focus of the reserve is the Ternery Pool, overlooked by two hides. Black-headed Gull and Herring Gull breed on islands in this gravel pit as well as Common Tern and Sandwich Tern. Mediterranean Gull usually attempt to breed, or are at least present in spring, and Little Tern, Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher nest on the shingle around the pit. Great Cormorant have attempted to breed in recent years but now tend to prefer the more inland Castle Water.
Other breeding species of the reserve include Little Grebe and Great Crested Grebe and waterfowl such as Canada Goose, Common Shelduck, Northern Shoveler and Tufted Duck. Grey Partridge and Red-legged Partridge both breed on the shingle and farmland as well as Northern Lapwing, Common Redshank and Common Snipe. Pied Avocet has occurred in summer in recent years.
Breeding passerines include Eurasian Skylark and Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler, Northern Wheatear and Stonechat. Green Woodpecker is often seen feeding on the ground on the shingle and Great Spotted Woodpecker is usually present in the wood.
The number of species to be seen increases during passage periods when large numbers of migrants pass through the area. Most of the wader and waterfowl species of northern Europe can be seen. Red-throated Diver, and occasionally other divers appear in Rye Bay, and one or two of the rarer grebes are usually present on the sea or the pits.
Northern Gannet, skuas and Kittiwake can often be seen over the bay, especially from the rivermouth. The bay is an important area for Common Scoter which is present in large numbers from late summer usually accompanied by Velvet Scoter and Common Eider. Other waterfowl present out of the breeding season include Common Goldeneye, Common Pochard and Greater Scaup, Northern Pintail and Gadwall. Ruddy Duck is now seen regularly and Dark-bellied Brent Goose passes along the shore, sometimes stopping to graze on the fields alongside the numerous Eurasian Wigeon.
All the commoner migrant waders can be seen on passage including Whimbrel, Curlew Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank amongst many others with Kentish Plover and Temminck's Stint virtually annual. Little Gull and Black Tern are regular migrants.
Passerine migrants include large numbers of hirundines as well as Black Redstart, Whinchat and warblers such as Lesser Whitethroat. Scarcer migrant species such as Hoopoe, Wryneck and Common Firecrest are almost annual.
Winter can be harsh in this rather exposed area but good numbers of waders and waterfowl stay for the winter. Great Bittern is regular in very small numbers, particularly at Castle Water. Apart from Canada Goose and the feral Greylag Goose, geese are scarce and like the two winter swans generally put in an appearance only in the more severe winters.
Sawbills, including Smew, appear most winters in small numbers and Long-tailed Duck is sometimes present.
One or two Hen Harrier stay throughout the winter to hunt the shingle and grassland alongside Short-eared Owl with Merlin, Peregrine Falcon and Eurasian Sparrowhawk also present. A small Long-eared Owl roost is often present on the reserve, either in hawthorns close to the wood or on bush-covered islands.
Rarities
Rarities seen at Rye Harbour over the years include Glossy Ibis, Caspian Tern, Lesser Crested Tern and Sooty Tern, Red-rumped Swallow, Tawny Pipit and Savi's Warbler, Aquatic Warbler and Great Reed Warbler. Little Egret has become quite a familiar sight in recent years as in other southern English wetlands.
Rye Harbour's most famous rarity was the tern known as "Squeaker", thought by all those who saw it to be the first Western Palearctic record of the North American Least Tern. Despite being present in the Little Tern colony each summer from 1983 until 1990, well-studied and its voice recorded, this record remained under consideration for admission to the British List until 2006, when it was finally accepted as a Little Tern of the North American antillarum/athalassos/browni group and added to Category A of the British List as a race of Little Tern. In 2010 Least Tern was accorded full species status in Category A of the British List.
Vagrant waders recorded in the Rye Harbour-Pett Level area have included Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper and Semipalmated Sandpiper and in April 2003 a Pacific Golden Plover was present.
Check-list
Birds you can see here include:
Red-throated Diver, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Slavonian Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Northern Fulmar, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, Great Bittern, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Common Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Gadwall, Common Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Common Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Smew, Red-breasted Merganser, Goosander, Ruddy Duck, Western Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Kestrel, Merlin, Northern Hobby, Peregrine Falcon, Red-legged Partridge, Grey Partridge, Water Rail, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Pied Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Eurasian Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Northern Lapwing, Red Knot, Sanderling, Little Stint, Temminck's Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Ruff, Jack Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Arctic Skua, Mediterranean Gull, Little Gull, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Roseate Tern, Arctic Tern, Little Tern, Black Tern, Common Guillemot, Razorbill, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, European Turtle Dove, Common Cuckoo, Little Owl, Long-eared Owl, Short-eared Owl, Common Swift, Common Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Skylark, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Common Wren, Dunnock, Eurasian Robin, Black Redstart, Whinchat, European Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, Eurasian Blackbird, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Redwing, Aquatic Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Common Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Spotted Flycatcher, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Common Treecreeper, Common Magpie, Eurasian Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, Common Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting
Other Wildlife
Like Dungeness, Rye Harbour has a very interesting flora with important colonies of shingle plants such as Sea Heath, Sea Pea, Sea Kale and Yellow Horned Poppy and there is also a well-studied insect fauna with several nationally rare species.
Mammals are few but Brown Hare is common as is Red Fox which is a major threat to the ground-nesting birds on the reserve. Other mammals found on the reserve include Badger, Stoat and Weasel, Common Shrew and Pygmy Shrew and Daubenton's Bat, Serotine Bat, Noctule Bat and Pipistrelle Bat. Common Porpoise can sometimes be seen offshore in summer.
Marsh Frog, introduced to Romney Marsh from the Continent, is now well established and forms noisy colonies in some parts of the reserve.
Site Information
Spring or autumn are the best times to visit the reserve with the highest numbers of species present. However, there is much to be seen at any time of year although in midsummer the beach can be crowded with holidaymakers.
In winter the area is virtually empty except for a few dogwalkers.
Areas of Interest
Close-by is Pett Level, [Map] reached by returning to the A259, heading towards Hastings and turning left after 3km towards Winchelsea Beach.
Pett Level is an area of open farmland with several reed-fringed ponds which lie very close to the road offering excellent birdwatching from the comfort of the car. The birds that can be seen here are similar to those at Rye Harbour but the views can be much better.
Each autumn the water level of the pond closest to the road is artificially lowered and this attracts a wide range of waders.
The fields support passage Dark-bellied Brent Goose and Golden Plover and large numbers of wintering Eurasian Curlew.
Intensive ringing during the 1990s has revealed the regular presence in August of Aquatic Warbler at Pett Level.
Just over the sea-wall is the beach with additional waders, gulls and terns from Rye Harbour and often Northern Fulmar from the cliffs just to the west.
In winter seaduck, grebes, divers and auks can often be closer to shore than further east at Rye Harbour.
A Year of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve
JANUARY AND FEBRUARY There are few flowers to be found, but Gorse is nearly always in bloom and Common Whitlowgrass (a tiny white flower)and Daisies may be seen from late January.
If the winter is cold many birds will be forced south, so flocks of White-fronted Geese and many ducks, especially Wigeon, may be present, a rare one to look out for being the Smew. In freezing weather flocks of birds may depart (e.g. Lapwing), or arrive (e.g. Skylark).
Birds of prey usually present are Merlin, Hen Harrier, Sparrowhawk and occasionally Peregrine, as well as several Short-eared Owls and there is always the chance of something unusual, like Goshawk or Long-eared Owl.
Offshore, Great Crested Grebe, Red-throated Divers and Guillemot may be fishing, especially after winter storms and great rafts of Common Scoter will be swimming in long black lines, often accompanied by Scaup. Wintering Stonechats will start to depart, but a few over wintering Chiffchaff or Blackcap may still be found, especially in the Wood.
Flocks of common finches and buntings may include a few Twite, Lapland and Snow Buntings, especially on the Beach Reserve. On fine days at the Beach Reserve there may be displaying Ringed Plover and Grey Partridge.
During warm weather some of the early butterflies may be tempted to emerge from hibernation, look for Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.
MARCH Further signs of spring this month will include the first flowering of; Coltsfoot, Scurvy Grass, Early Forget-me-not, Blackthorn, Rue-leaved Saxifrage and, at Camber Castle, Wallflower.
The first summer migrants are usually noted by mid-month, typically Wheatear, Sand Martin and Sandwich Terns, but in some years Garganey, Common Tern, Cuckoo, Yellow Wagtail, Willow Warbler and Sedge Warbler.
If the weather is mild more Butterflies and Bumble Bees will be flying.
APRIL Although spring is well on the way this can often be a cold month, but it is typically dry !!
Plants beginning to flower are Stork's-bill, Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Sea Kale and Sea Campion. The flowers of the willow species are a great attraction to many insects, especially bees and wasps.
Most of the summer migrant birds will start to arrive during this month. Common Sandpiper, Little Tern, Swift, House Martin, Whinchat, Reed Warbler, Lesser and Common Whitethroats, Garden Warbler and Whimbrel. The Whimbrel passage usually starts mid-month and the roost near Ternery Pool often reaches a maximum of about 400 by the end.
MAY This is probably the best month of the year for visiting the Reserve - there is so much activity with late migrant birds arriving and breeding, insects emerging, frogs calling, plants growing and flowering and fish spawning.
At the Beach Reserve you can find the flowers of Herb Robert, Sea Pea, Field Poppy, Yellow-horned Poppy, Grass Vetchling, Viper's Bugloss, Goatsbeard and its close relative Salsify. On the grassland of the shingle ridges around Camber Castle the plants, such as Sand Spurrey and Shepherd's Cress, flower before the soil dries out.
This is the best time to try and see the greatest variety of bird species (100 species in a day is the record, so far), with many wandering individuals and late arriving species like Spotted Flycatcher and Swift. Waders normally pass through in good numbers, but the total of roosting Whimbrel declines through the month.
During warm days the first dragon- and damselflies will be flying and there is an increase in the number and variety of Butterflies and day flying moths, such as Silver Y, Cinnabar and Burnet moths.
JUNE This is the most important month for bird breeding activity with all species trying to survive against the pressures of weather and predators.
At the Beach Reserve it should be possible to watch many species raising their young, but please take care not to disturb them. Look out for alarmed adult birds, especially Ringed Plovers, and move away. The best places to watch are from the hides, where the birds will behave naturally. On the islands of Ternery Pool the gulls and terns will be feeding their young and the ducklings of Shelduck, Mallard and perhaps Ruddy Duck, Gadwall and Shoveler will be feeding themselves.
Despite the time of year there are some birds, like Curlew and Lapwing arriving from further north after breeding.
Some of the Reserve's more striking plants will not flower until this month, including Biting Stonecrop, Bee Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid and Pyramidal Orchid.
JULY The Reserve's rarest plant, the Least Lettuce, begins to flower late in the month, but it is very hard to find on the Beach Reserve because its flowers are very small and only open in the mornings!
The bird breeding season is well on its way and some Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gulls may have already fledged. This is a good month for very rare bird records; Least, Sooty, Lesser Crested, Caspian and Roseate Terns, Wilson's Phalarope, and Baird's Sandpiper have all been recorded in recent years. The return passage of wading birds from the north gathers momentum with returning juvenile Dunlin and the occasional Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint.
On warm calm days the ditches and pools are alive with hundreds of damselflies and dragonflies hunting just above the waters surface, and the grass and longer vegetation is full of grasshoppers and crickets.
AUGUST The Least Lettuce continues to flower and the late flowering species such as Autumn Lady's-tresses, which is common in some years at Castle Water, emerge.
Most of the breeding activity is now over, but in some years there may be a few terns that are still feeding dependent young and some broods of Tufted Ducks may have only just hatched. Most of the summer visitors start to depart, but at dusk and high tides there may still be large roosts of terns as birds from further north move south.
In the surrounding fields flocks of Yellow Wagtails start to build up. Wader numbers and the variety of species present increases through out the month on any area of shallow water, up to 18 species may be seen in any one day. The duck populations on the larger pits increase as they flock together to moult after the breeding season.
Throughout the month there is a chance of a rarity turning up such as White-winged Black Tern or Kentish Plover.
SEPTEMBER In good years there is still a strong passage of waders and passerines. There can be large increases of resident species such as Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear, Meadow Pipit and Skylark. Often one of the most visible and spectacular signs of bird migration is in September when thousands of Swallows and martins assemble before flying south. All the migrants are worth checking carefully as almost anything could be caught up with them.
Whilst the summer visitors are leaving, the first winter birds, including Wigeon and Brent Geese begin to arrive. On a few days you may find the three similar species: Wheatear, Whinchat and Stonechat.
OCTOBER This can be a stormy month and it may be good time to look along the shore for unfortunate marine life washed up; seaweed, starfish, sea mouse, crabs and much more.
Along the Beach Reserve there are also large flocks of seed eating birds feeding on the seeds of plants such as Yellow-horned Poppy, Sea Pea and Sea Kale. These flocks are mostly of Linnets or Greenfinches with smaller numbers of Goldfinch, pipits and buntings.
Most migrants have left by mid month, but usually a few Swallows linger on and this is the best month to see Ring Ouzel. Winter visitors arriving include Short-eared Owls, Rock Pipits and Jack Snipe at the Wader Pool.
If the weather has remained mild there may still be a butterfly or dragonfly around, some of which may linger into November and occasionally even into December.
NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER If the weather has been mild it may still be possible, in sheltered places, to find the flowers of Red Valerian, Viper's Bugloss, Yellow-horned Poppy, Yarrow, Gorse, Herb Robert and Stork's-bill.
Access and Facilities
The reserve is located to the south of the town of Rye and reached from the A259 Rye-Hastings road. Leave the A259 onto an unclassified road signposted Rye Harbour just before leaving the western end of Rye town. Follow this for 2.5km to a car-park with a small information centre beside a Martello Tower.
From here follow the concrete road towards the sea which runs alongside the river and passes a wader scrape with a wheelchair-accessible hide. At the rivermouth the road turns right and runs parallel to the shore, follow this until it passes the Ternery Pool with its two hides.
Those with limited time can return to the car-park via the path which passes the eastern hide and continues across farmland and a caravan park. Alternatively, continue along the road past the Ternery Pool until a footpath turns north across the fields. This leads to the wood and joins another path which leads past more pits and open farmland to eventually emerge back at Rye Harbour.
Hotel and guest-house accommodation can be found at Rye and Hastings.
References
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rye_Harbour_Nature_Reserve
External Links
Maps
Content and images originally posted by Steve
Reviews
florall's review
Pros
- Wonderful birds at all times of year
Cons
- It is vast - very hard if you are disabled.
Jake .'s review
Pros
- Varied Habitat
- varied seasonal changes
- excellent viewing
- superb Hides
- likely to see at least one 'uncommon' Bird sp.
Cons
- f-f-f-f-freezing in winter
