| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
| Location | Kent |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TQ 522 569 [1] |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 73.7 hectares (182 acres) [1] |
| Notification | 1989 [1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Sevenoaks Gravel Pits is a 73.7-hectare (182-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the northern outskirts of Sevenoaks in Kent. [1] [2] It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust as the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve and Jeffery Harrison Visitor Centre. [3]
The site was converted from gravel-pit to nature reserve by the Harrison family - particularly Jeffery Harrison, after whom the visitor centre is named. As such, the site is almost totally man-made - nearly all trees on the site were manually planted, [4] and the lakes and ponds were created by excavating and flooding former gravel workings with water from the River Darent. [5] As such, the site represented the first such conversion of a gravel-pit anywhere in the United Kingdom. [4]
Large areas of gravel and sand were replaced with woodland, supporting birds such as woodpeckers, warblers and tits, as well as other migratory birds. These include siskins - a bird that comes in the winter months to feed on alder seeds. [4]
Areas of the reserve have been left to mature and reach old age, with plenty of dead wood habitat for fungi and insects. In contrast, other sections see the trees are coppiced to create open areas and denser woodland with its own community of plants and animals. The reserve further includes five lakes and a mixed habitat of ponds, seasonally flooded pools, and reedbed; and the combination of wetland and woodland enables the reserve to support a diverse community of plants, fungi and animals. As of 2006, over two thousand species have been identified on the site. [4]
According to the notification for the site, the interest of Sevenoaks Gravel Pits centres on its breeding bird populations. [5] The combination of water features such as shallows, spits and islands, as well as the planting of trees and aquatic plants, have provided conditions suitable for both breeding and wintering birds. The water levels in the lake are managed so that islands and shallows are exposed during spring and summer, creating feeding and nesting areas for a variety of waders and water fowl including the little ringed plover, lapwing, moorhen, coot and great crested grebe. [4] Large numbers of wildfowl regularly use the open water in the winter months such as the tufted duck, greylag and Canada geese.
Canada and greylag geese, alongside the mallard and tufted duck are the most numerous breeding species on the site, although wintering and passage wildfowl are also attracted including the pochard, shelduck, teal and shoveller. Equally, passage waders such as the greenshank and green sandpiper, as well as the uncommon little ringed plover, are regular breeding species on the site. [5]
Song birds, including the whitethroat, reed, and sedge warblers can be found in the woodland and reed beds on the site, while sand martins - a species that has undergone major fluctuations in recent years - have a significant colony in a sand face towards the south of the site. [5]
The Gravel Pits' SSSI notification also notes the growing botanical and entomological interest of the site, with thirteen species of Odonata (dragonflies) including the locally distributed downy-emerald dragonfly Cordulia aenea . Plants of note include small cud-weed Filago minima , dwarf elder Sambucus ebulus , and slender bird's-foot trefoil Lotus angustissimus . [5]
Holkham National Nature Reserve is England's largest national nature reserve (NNR). It is on the Norfolk coast between Burnham Overy Staithe and Blakeney, and is managed by Natural England with the cooperation of the Holkham Estate. Its 3,900 hectares comprise a wide range of habitats, including grazing marsh, woodland, salt marsh, sand dunes and foreshore. The reserve is part of the North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the larger area is additionally protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar listings, and is part of both an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and a World Biosphere Reserve. Holkham NNR is important for its wintering wildfowl, especially pink-footed geese, Eurasian wigeon and brant geese, but it also has breeding waders, and attracts many migrating birds in autumn. A number of scarce invertebrates and plants can be found in the dunes, and the reserve is one of the only two sites in the UK to have an antlion colony.
WWT Slimbridge is a wetland wildlife reserve near Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, England. It is midway between Bristol and Gloucester on the eastern side of the estuary of the River Severn. The reserve, set up by the artist and naturalist Sir Peter Scott, opened in November 1946. Scott subsequently founded the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, which has since opened eight reserves around the country. Slimbridge comprises some 800 hectares of pasture, reed bed, lagoon and salt marsh. Many water birds live there all year round, and others are migrants on their ways to and from their summer breeding grounds. Other birds overwinter, including large numbers of white-fronted geese and increasing numbers of Bewick's swans.
Gibraltar Point national nature reserve is an area of about 4.3 km2 (1.7 sq mi) on the coast of Lincolnshire, England.
The Cotswold Water Park is the United Kingdom's largest marl lake system, straddling the Wiltshire–Gloucestershire border, northwest of Cricklade and south of Cirencester. There are 180 lakes, spread over 42 square miles (110 km2).
Brandon Marsh is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and nature reserve in Warwickshire, England. It is situated adjacent to the River Avon, near the village of Brandon, a few miles east of Coventry.
Burham Marsh nature reserve is an 11 hectare tidal Reed bed on the River Medway 5 miles northwest of Maidstone. It is just east of Snodland but being on the east bank of the river it is accessed via Burham. It is part the Holborough to Wouldham Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Muir of Dinnet is a national nature reserve (NNR) situated close to the village of Dinnet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The reserve extends 1166 hectares from the River Dee to Culbean hill, and encompasses a wide range of habitats including dry heath, raised bog, woodland, and two lochs: Loch Kinord and Loch Davan. Muir of Dinnet was first declared a NNR in 1977 due to its value as a habitat for flora and fauna, and its important geomorphological features, the most striking of which is the Burn O'Vat. Muir of Dinnet is owned by Dinnet Estate and managed by NatureScot, who provide a visitor centre and a range of other facilities including waymarked paths and a car park. As of 2012 it was estimated that approximately 40,000 people visited Muir of Dinnet each year.
Ashleworth Ham is a 104.73-hectare (258.8-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is a large area of grassland on the Severn floodplain, north of Ashleworth in Gloucestershire, England. It is registered as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and was notified in 1974 and renotified in 1985. Ashleworth Ham received this designation because it is one of three sites in the Severn Vale where migratory waterfowl winter.
The Turnford and Cheshunt Pits is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheshunt in Hertfordshire and Essex and covers a total of 428.17 acres. It is part of the Lee Valley Special Protection Area.
The Idle Valley Nature Reserve, also known as Lound Gravel Pits or Sutton and Lound Gravel Pits, is a wetland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) situated north-west of the town of Retford in the Bassetlaw district of north Nottinghamshire. The nature reserve is situated along the western bank of the River Idle and east of the villages of Sutton cum Lound and Lound. The nature reserve is managed by the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
Frampton Pools is a 59.84-hectare (147.9-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1974. The pools are on the edge of the village of Frampton on Severn.
Upham Meadow and Summer Leasow is a 104.0-hectare (257-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the border between Gloucestershire and Herefordshire & Worcestershire, at Twyning and near Bredon, notified in 1991.
Beddmanarch–Cymyran is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) on the Welsh island of Anglesey extending to just over 900 hectares, and centred on the Cymyran Strait. It was first notified in 1961 for its coastal botanical and ornithological interest. The site is also a marine protected area as it includes intertidal areas and contains marine components.
Summer Leys is a local nature reserve at Wollaston in the Upper Nene Valley, in Northamptonshire, England. It is owned by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
The Rodley Nature Reserve is a wetland reserve created in 1999 on the site of a former sewage works on the outskirts of Rodley, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. It is situated just north of Town Street on the north bank of the River Aire.
Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows is a 117-hectare (290-acre) nature reserve in Northamptonshire, owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. The character of the reserve is defined by flooded gravel pits and wet grassland, providing an excellent habitat for large variety of wetland flora and fauna.
Hamford Water is a 2,185.8-hectare (5,401-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Walton-on-the-Naze and Harwich in Essex. The site is a tidal inlet which has marsh grasslands, creeks, mud and sand flats, salt marshes, islands and beaches. It is described by Natural England as "of international importance for breeding little terns and wintering dark-bellied brent geese, wildfowl and waders, and of national importance for many other bird species." Rare plants include hog's fennel and slender hare's-ear. The main invertebrates are worms and thin-shelled molluscs. The largest island, Horsey Island, can be reached on foot at low tide across The Wade from Kirby-le-Soken.
Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits is a 1,382.4 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in a chain of flooded gravel pits along 35 kilometres of the valley of the River Nene between Northampton and Thorpe Waterville in Northamptonshire. It is a Ramsar wetland site of international importance, a Special Protection Area under the European Communities Birds Directive and part of the Nene Valley Nature Improvement Area. It is also part of the River Nene Regional Park. Two areas are managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, Summer Leys and Titchmarsh Nature Reserve.
Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, adjacent to the east side of the town of Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England. Having been a disused and flooded quarry since the 1970s, it now consists of the large Hay-a-Park Lake and three smaller ponds, besides associated reedbeds, scrub, woodland and grassland. It was designated as a SSSI in 1995 because it supports a number of wintering birds, including a large flock of goosander. This site is "one of the most northerly inland breeding populations of reed warbler in Britain." Hay-a-Park was once part of a royal park, an early landowner being Edward II.
The Christopher Cadbury Wetland Reserve is a nature reserve of the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust. It is situated near Upton Warren, between Bromsgrove and Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire, England. The reserve is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
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