Bird ringing at Cleve Hill Solar Park

Terry Hilsden is a frequent visitor to the solar park site at this time of year. He is a familiar sight to walkers along the Saxon Shore Way who will have spotted his HQ close to the seawall at the western end of the site.

Terry is a licensed bird ringer, carrying out a long-term monitoring project for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). The BTO is a non-governmental, noncampaigning organisation focused on securing the future for birds and nature.

Having discovered a previously unknown Swallow roost close to this spot, Terry now returns each year to erect nets for bird ringing. The large nets take around an hour to put up, which Terry does in the evening. He returns at around 4am to open the nets out to catch birds flying into them – the birds are unharmed; the nets contain pockets that the birds drop into.

Most birds are caught between 5 – 6.30am, when Terry removes them from the nets into small bags to identify, weigh, ring and record each one before releasing it. He notes the ring number if a bird already has a ring, he explains; “The data I collect helps to monitor populations of different species as well the fitness of the birds and survival rates of adults. It all helps to build up a national picture. I am still amazed when I find a Reed Warbler that I personally ringed in 2021 and remember that that individual bird has been to Africa and back three times since I last held it.”

One of the rarer birds in Kent Terry has recorded as breeding on the solar park site is the Bearded Tit. The reed beds along the edge of the Cleve Hill site support a thriving population. Another species which he often catches is the Linnet, which sadly is declining in many areas, and is now Red Listed.

Terry continued; “The information collected by the BTO feeds into DEFRA (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) research institutes and universities, for the benefit of birds and people”.

The Cleve Hill Solar Park site is also a good breeding ground for Yellow Wagtail, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler and Meadow Pipit.

Terry Hilsden with project manager Reece Monk