Swanscombe Marsh

From Londonbirders

Revision as of 18:59, 20 January 2007

Swanscombe can be accessed via the Thames-side footpath running east from Greenhithe. There is usually parking to be had in the new Ingress Park development, or, failing that, in Greenhithe village. Greenhithe and Swanscombe stations are within walking distance and are on the line from Charing Cross via Dartford. The site has a long industrial history, mainly connected with the cement industry. The cement works have now gone, to be replaced with works associated with tunneling for the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link, which passes under the site. There was also a sewage treatment works that at one time was popular with local birders, but this is now disappearing into the undergrowth. There is a flat-topped mound that was once a landfill site. The site is dominated by a huge 670 foot electricity pylon, one of the tallest in the UK, which carries cables high over the Thames.

Swanscombe can be divided into three main areas. From west to east these are: Black Duck Marsh, Broadness, and Botany Marsh.

Black Duck Marsh (TQ598755) is close to Greenhithe beside the new Ingress Park housing development. It is an area mainly of reess and grassland and used to be much wetter than it is now. The Thames foreshore here is a good area for Rock Pipit in winter (with counts reaching double figures) and it is not unusual for one or two Water Pipit to be present as well. There is a small wood at the southern end of the marsh, which contains a heronry. There is also a small lake at TQ603759 which usually has a few freshwater wildfowl.

PatchList 2006 Running Total

Map: [1]

This site is being watched by Dave Miller as part of the 2006 London Patch-List Challenge.

As of 18th November my total stands at 112 species, as follows: