The Wigeon

At Elmley Nature Reserve on the Isle of Sheppey, last March, numerous premigrating wigeon (Anas penelope) were resting.

- JOHN MCEWEN

The peace they spread was in keeping with this private and exemplary reserve, run by Georgina Fulton, who inherited the former farm, and her husband, Gareth, once adjutant of the Yorkshire Regiment. They keep numbers civilised by not having a café or a shop, while predators are also controlled. One result is that Elmley’s 400 breeding lapwing pairs represent 80 per cent of the south of England’s total.