We had another excellent talk on the afternoon of Saturday 8^th July. This time from Michael Howard who is a Ranger for the National Trust and came to speak to the Friends of Rye Harbour about Winchelsea Wildlife.

Michael has worked for the National Trust in Winchelsea for 6 years and along with another member of staff and six volunteers is responsible for caring for, monitoring and enhancing the nature value of 1,100 acres of varied habitat in and around Winchelsea.

His very interesting and informative talk focused on the amazing variety of birds, mammals, butterflies, dragonflies, and bees to be found on this National Trust land and the huge task involved in working to make the area even better for wildlife and people. Michael’s stunning photography gave us an insight into the identification, and also the challenges of accurate identification, for monitoring the rare bees and dragonflies that are to be found in the area. His fantastic trailcam footage showed us aspects of wildlife and behaviour that largely go unnoticed. He has set-up several community projects, such as moth trapping in Winchelsea, a Winchelsea wildlife group, and with his group of volunteers, is involved in making and erecting various bird boxes to help with Barn Owl and Swift conservation in the local area.

Thank you to Michael for a wonderful talk and we wish him well with his future plans for the area.