PLEASE NOTE: The Field Centre is currently closed due to COVID-19.
As an accredited bird observatory and registered charity SBBOT is committed to the conservation and recording of the natural environment in the Sandwich Bay area, and in so doing offers opportunities for education, training and research.
This work is carried out by our Warden and Assistant Warden and a team of volunteers and is financed largely by our members by annual subscriptions and attendance at Club events. These events, the shop and the accommodation are also open to the public.
This is a difficult time for us financially.
Please consider a donation by clicking the button below 👇
At the centre of all of the activities is the Field Centre, officially opened in September 2002 by our President Bill Oddie, it also allows the Trust to give something back to the local community, by being:
- a home for the various clubs run by SBBOT
Firecrest in the Elms - by fulfilling the role of Visitor Centre for people coming to the Bay
- by providing a classroom for schools and universities
- by providing facilities for talks meetings and activities
- by providing a base for courses (SBBO run or your own)
- by accommodating visitors in our self catering accommodation
- and continuing as the home of the Bird Observatory.
We also maintain a number of habitats including Restharrow Scrape, the Elms, and a dragonfly pond.
SBBOT supports the work of the National Trust, the Kent Wildlife Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the management of the Sandwich Bay Nature Reserve and plays a major role in documenting the bird-life of the estuary.
History
The Sandwich Bay coastline and all the marshes inland to the River Stour have been created by the northerly drift of sand and shingle, together with deposits of alluvium over many centuries …
Trustees
The Observatory is run by the Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory Trust, which in turn is administered by the Council of Trustees.
Warden
Staying on site had its benefits including my own personal Starling roost which appeared each evening over the fields surrounding the Bird Observatory. I would watch over 10,000 swirling birds avoiding the talons of Peregrines and Sparrowhawks.
Assistant Warden
I have recently graduated from University College London from my Masters of Biodiversity, Evolution and Conservation, completing research projects on both birds and bats. I have been a lover of wildlife since a child and always knew I would end up working outdoors with animals and people.