A farewell message

By Barry Yates

Rye Harbour Nature Reserve Manager

My interest in wildlife began with my father taking me on regular fishing trips - sitting by lakes and rivers introduced me to wildlife and taught me patience.

At school, my form tutor, Mr Holford, encouraged my interest in biology and he guided me to study Zoology at Imperial College, London. I had a weekly escape to the countryside to train to be a bird ringer and this led to my three-year study of nesting Redshank on an enormous saltmarsh in Lancashire. Then in 1982 the RSPB sent me to Sutherland to count breeding Greenshank, Dunlin and Golden Plover and the next year to Shetland to study Red-necked Phalaropes.

The following winter, I volunteered with the Sussex Wildlife Trust and summarised the wildlife records for their Waltham Brooks nature reserve. I then successfully applied for a job at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve (RHNR), then managed by East Sussex County Council and my wife Anne and I moved to Rye Harbour village with our two young children.

Working together with other nature reserve staff, the Friends and the Management Committee, we have made the nature reserve bigger, better and more joined up. Many rare species have thrived here; we have created large areas of reedbed, saline lagoons, saltmarsh and islands. This has created a wonderful place for people to have easy access to wildlife and the coast and we have provided many facilities, culminating in the opening last year of the Discovery Centre.

In 1993, Sussex Wildlife Trust bought Castle Water, helped by funding from the Friends. We first made some small-scale improvements to the pit margin and then in 2003, working with the RSPB EU funded project ’Reedbeds for Bitterns’ we created 20 hectares of new wetland that has delivered Bitterns, Marsh Harriers, Black-winged Stilts and so much more.

When the Environment Agency bought Rye Harbour Farm in 2002, to build the new sea defence bank, it led to the exciting prospect of creating new saline lagoons, saltmarsh and grazing marsh.

In 2011 we moved from East Sussex County Council management to come under the umbrella of Sussex Wildlife Trust and our new colleagues quickly came to understand what a special place our nature reserve is.

It’s time for me to hand over to a new custodian, but Anne and I will continue to support the reserve as volunteers, so we will not be leaving Rye Harbour just yet.