St Leonards on Sea - Bearded Reedling - Reaching out locally

Why we have linked the Bearded Reedling with St Leonards on Sea:

After choosing the common winkle for Hastings, we wanted to reflect another aspect of wildlife habitat in the area, beyond the expected marine connection.

Filsham Reedbeds, in West St Leonards, is one of the best examples of reedbed habitat in Sussex and is also the largest in the county. Following several years of redevelopment the reedbeds are now more accessible to the general public and the area is rich in reedbed wildlife species. There are dedicated bird-watching facilities on site, noticeboards displaying wildlife information along the routes and improved footpaths around the boundaries of the reserve.

The reedbeds are home to several resident bird species, including the water rail, marsh harrier and the occasional rare bittern. One very notable species is the bearded reedling, which lives exclusively in reedbeds. The Bearded Reedling is extremely rare, with just under 500 breeding pairs left in the UK.

The Bearded Reedling is often known as the bearded tit, although this name is something of a misnomer. It is also affectionately known as the ‘beardie’. It was thought to be a member of the tit family for many years, and for a while it was also believed to belong to the thrush family. Classification of these birds would still appear to be open to some debate. It is also something of a misnomer to call the bird ‘bearded’; the males actually have black ‘moustache’ stripes on either side of their face.

Warrior Square Gardens - The site was opened as a subscription Garden in 1852. The Council purchased a strip of land at the southernmost tip to erect a statue of Queen Victoria in 1902.

Notable Resident - Elsie Bowerman, suffragette and first woman called to the Bar (and to appear in the Old Bailey) and titanic survivor. On her retirement she bought a house in Silchester Road where she stayed at weekends. She died in1973.

Notable Resident - Sheila Kaye-Smith, prolific authoress whose novels are set in the Sussex countryside around Hastings and Rye. She was born in St Leonards the daughter of a local doctor and lived in Dane Road until her marriage in 1924.