Lullingstone: but not for Bill’s Golf!


The Kent Country Parks at Trosley and Lullingstone have recently taken the initiative to ask KRAG to help start formal reptile monitoring with a view to better conservation management. A refuge survey was initiated on 14th March at Trosley and its associated site at Preston Hill; on Wednesday (28/3/07) it was the turn of Lullingstone.

It was a very bright sunny day and the first stop was the pond just behind the Visitors’ Centre. Earlier there had been 30 - 40 toads so there were lots of spawn in evidence and also several masses of frogspawn. It is not yet known if there are newts in the pond but there are certainly fish including some goldfish (which may not be there much longer). Around the pond there were several refuges used for educational purposes and these are now included in the monitoring programme.

The team for the day was Bill Whitaker and Rick Hodges. Bill has been coming to the site for many years both as a golfer, there is a large and very attractive golf course, and as a naturalist in search of birds and reptiles. KRAG was supported by Lullingstone staff, Andrea Griffiths (Ranger) and Lucy Balmforth (Education Officer).



Bill with Andrea and Lucy getting a GPS fix on the Lullingstone pond

The next stop was at a stretch of downland fenced off to allow the cover to grow undisturbed for the study of mini-beasts, another ideal spot for some refuges, which were duly laid.



Laying refuges in a fenced-off patch of downland where mini-beasts can multiply undisturbed –
let’s hope the local slow worms have twigged where to go

Other patches for laying refuges included an old bomb crater, where a dog is said to have been bitten by an adder, an orchid bank within the golf course and a long stretch of open rough ground which lies to the side of the golf course.



Bill switching between stories of lizards on the orchid bank and holes-in-one on the greens

Finally we all retired to the Visitors’ Centre for some lunch and to our delight we were able to record the first grass snake of the day – right there on the wall of the café.



The Lullingstone grass snake for the armchair herpetologist

It is hoped that Trosley, Lullingstone and Preston Hill will be under routine refuge survey for the next three or four years, with annual appraisals.

Rick Hodges

Posted: Sun - April 1, 2007 at 11:04 am        

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