Restharrow Nature Reserve
Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory Trust (SBBOT)
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Big Gully
Cetti's Warbler
Big Gully
Conservation Status:
- Part of the Sandwich Bay and Hacklinge Marshes SSSI.
High priority species :
- Sharp Rush (Juncus acutus)
- Marsh Helleborine (Epipactis palustris)
- Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa)
This semi-natural site shows some fen characteristics, flooding in most winters. (The Gullies are sometimes subject to seawater flooding, most recently in 1978 and 1987, this may happen again, bearing in mind the Environment Agency plans announced in 2004 not to increase the sea defences at the Bay.)
The Management Plan is to increase the diversity of wetland habitat, through control of encroaching trees and scrub, whilst maintaining ringing opportunities
Although seemingly not as popular with the birdlife as in previous years, the Gully can and does still turn up migrants, and there are long term plans to rebuild the Heliogoland Trap at its seaward end.
Several good birds were netted last autumn in the tiny reedbed, including this Cetti's Warbler. Other rarities over the years have included Marsh Warbler and Little Bunting.
