Butterflies and more at Cliffe marshes (20/6)

Cliffe Marshes are situated on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent & are barely 25 miles from the City of London. They comprise a beautiful, wild area that has been reclaimed & healed by nature after being vandalised & then abandoned by mankind who used them as a site for cement works & explosives factories. A few years ago it was under serious threat as a favoured site for a third London airport but fortunately this idea was abandoned after vociferous opposition from local people & nature conservation organisations. It beggars belief that after all this, these marshes are still abused by a small minority of people such as fly-tippers, motorcyclists, wild campers, 'ravers' & dog owners.

The area is currently well managed  by the RSPB as one of their flagship reserves. The old pits resulting from clay extraction  for use in the cement works have flooded to form a unique habitat of saline lagoons that attract thousands of wild fowl & waders.

The fresh marsh with its network of fleets & dykes are home to a rich variety of flora & fauna including many rare species of insect. There are marsh frogs, grass snakes, & nesting wild fowl & waders. The water voles are making a comeback here as well after many years of serious decline.

A small tortoise shell butterfly feeding on privet growing alongside one of the tracks near an old chalk quarry.

Meadow brown butterfly.

Holly blue butterfly (female denoted by broad black band on leading edge of the forewing).

Goats rue flowering by the side of another track.

And biting stonecrop.