Description
On a ridge above the Thames Marshes, Northward Hill nature reserve offers miles of trails, marshes and hayfields, bustling with birds. Northward Hill is a working farm, with grazing cows and sheep. In summer, there’s plenty of wildlife to enjoy in the day and evening, including butterflies and dragonflies, bats and moths. The scrubland is rich in Sørnattergal and Tornsanger. You can see birds of prey like Sivhauk and Lerkefalk that hunt dragonflies over the marsh. Avosett nest on reservoir islands. In winter, large numbers wildfowl gather on marshland floods and there is a huge roost of Kornkråke and Kaie at dusk. 4,000 Kornkråke look spectacular as they prepare to roost in wood. Wintering thrushes, finches and buntings gather in scrub. Rødvingetrost and Gråtrost can be seen in the orchards below wood. You could also encounter a Jordugle.
Details
Access
Leave M2 at junction 1 and join the A228, signposted Grain. Turn left off A228 for High Halstow. In the village turn left onto Cooling Road towards Cooling. After approximately 1 mile, the reserve is signposted as a right turn.


