Owl Spotting at Elmley Nature Reserve… You Won’t Believe What We Saw!

Hey everyone, it's Vera and Aaron and in today's video we will be visiting Elmley. For those of you who don't know, Elmley is a huge nature reserve in the Isle of Sheppey near Kent. And Elmley is famous for being a wonderful place to take pictures of lots of different wildlife. We've seen a few kestrels on the drive up here and we're hopefully going to see some owls as well. Yeah, I recently got a tattoo of a long-eared owl so we're definitely hoping to see a long-eared owl probably later tonight when it's a little bit darker. So for anyone who is thinking of coming here we're just going to give you a brief sort of vlog experience of what it's like staying here. We're currently in our accommodation so we're going to rest for a bit and then head out to see what kind of wildlife we can find here. For our visit we decided to stay at Elmley overnight to give us the best chances of seeing owls. We arrived a few hours before check-in so we passed the time by going on a walk and visiting some of the hides. Straight away we were taken away by the gorgeous surroundings. The reserve covers 3,300 acres of wilderness so you can truly disconnect from the rest of the world and enjoy the nature. As we reached the hides we were greeted by a little kestrel that landed on one of the signposts only a few meters away from us which already made the trip worth it for us as we got some amazing close-ups. So in total there are four hides at Elmley, three of which are relatively close together that overlook the marshes and one that's slightly further and looks over the swale. We read that you can sometimes see harbour seals there. We decided to save the fourth one for the next day as it can take around two hours to walk there. So we're currently taking refuge in one of the hides because as you can probably hear it's quite windy, extremely windy, but so far we have seen quite a few birds. We've seen a kestrel, super close up, got a beautiful shot of the kestrel. And in case you're wondering I'm using a paired with a 7200 with a teleconverter that's times two. I am using my Sony a7IV with a Sony 200-600 G lens and this very cool looking cover is from a company called Roland Pro which I'm sure makes me super invisible to birds. And I'm also using an iPhone 16 Pro for some of like video footage and stuff and blogging things which some of the footage you'll see in this video is from which I think has been really really quite impressive. After we went back to the farm area to pick up the keys for our accommodation we stayed in the large shepherd's hut that I absolutely loved. It was super cozy and had everything you might need plus more. The hut has a king-sized bed with a gorgeous view of the marshes. Other guests are not allowed on the path leading to the hut so you don't have to worry about anyone passing by except for the wildlife of course as they're quite curious and might try to visit you in your hut. It's quite a sight to see hares and pheasants running past every so often. The hut has a proper bathroom with a shower and if you are brave you can also use the outdoor tub for a soak. There is also a little kitchen with a mini fridge and a hob. It's also equipped with most of the utensils you would need to cook and I highly recommend bringing food with you so you don't have to leave the reserve for shopping. The reserve offers a few different wildlife experiences and we booked onto the Dusk Owl and Wildlife Walking Safari that starts at 7pm which gave us some time to rest and grab dinner. Depending on what time of the year you visit, Elmley has a few different dinner options. During our stay they had their wood-fired pizza place running. We got a set menu for two which included two pizzas, a salad and two desserts. It was actually really delicious especially the cakes, nothing fancy but it definitely hit the spot. Sadly we were not able to go on the walking safari on the first day due to strong winds which unfortunately owls particularly hate but we were able to rebook for the next day. We did get offered to see the long-eared owls instead. On our first night we saw it very briefly as it perched on a fence before flying off to hunt. Unfortunately it was too dark to get any usable photos but we did get this cool video clip as well as some footage from one of our guides. We honestly never thought we could see a long-eared owl up close in the wild so even though we couldn't get photos it was still a magical experience to see one of the rarest owls in the UK so close. The next day we woke up just before dawn and took our car for a drive down the safari route. Around this time you can see plenty of birds or prey hunting and if you get lucky you may find owls perched on the fence posts around the gates. Unfortunately it was the wrong time of the year for us to see species like short-eared owls. You are more likely to see them in the winter. We did however see some more kestrels and a marsh harrier we believe. Afterwards we took a short walk to the old school house and right as we arrived we saw a little owl roosting in the trees. They can be quite tricky to spot as they blend in incredibly well. We also returned to the same spot later in the day and we were to get a few more photos. This is quite a popular spot to camp at as you can get some really lovely shots of the little owls in various spots around the ruins. This was actually our first time seeing a little owl in the world so it was quite an amazing experience to see them. We returned to our hut just before breakfast which gets delivered to your door so you can enjoy it with quite possibly one of the best views we have ever experienced overlooking the marshes with hares and pheasants running about. All the products are locally sourced adding to the overall charm. After breakfast we decided to do the big trek over to the furthest hide. It's a great way to get a lot of steps in an exercise but be warned it can take up to two hours to get there and then another two hours to get back. We walked at a fairly moderate pace taking lots of breaks but do make sure you're well prepared and grab a lunch more on this in a sec. On the way we managed to see a few more kestrels, buzzards and what we think were some more marsh harriers. Sadly at the actual hide we didn't see any seals but the long walk was still very enjoyable and well worth it. After a two-hour trek it was time for lunch. If you are staying at Elmley you can pick up a lunch bundle which includes sandwiches, crisps, a cake of the day, in our case it was brownies, and a drink. Again all the products are locally sourced and everything was delicious. It's one of those things you don't really realize until you've tried it but everything just tasted way better than you would expect compared to what you might get from a supermarket or a chain cafe. Then we finally got to go on Dusk and Owl wildlife walk. This was run by one of the on-site guides Fiona as she took us around to areas of the reserve that are usually closed off to regular guests. Sadly as they say in wildlife there are no guarantees and the little owls did not come out this time although our family told us that they saw the little owls come out right after we left and one of them even flew down the window frame. Luckily we had made the effort to see them beforehand but it was great to just learn more about them and hear from an expert. We also didn't get to see any barn owls sadly although we did hear their strikingly haunting shrieks a few times so we knew they were very close by. We weren't expecting to see any short-eared owls as it's not the right time of the year for them but once again we got to see the amazing long-eared owl who just like the night before appeared on the fence but this time we sat and watched in awe as he flew back and forth hunting for a good 20 to 30 minutes. Again it was sadly too dark for our cameras so we decided just to observe and enjoy the moment. This was our last activity at Elmy and we set off for our two-hour drive home. But as if it was by fate or by sheer luck we hadn't packed the cameras away properly and as we drove out of the car park the long-eared owl was still perched on the fence. With just enough light from the car headlight we quickly rolled the window down and with the long-eared owl less than five feet away we grabbed probably the best picture we took the entire trip. A moment that we'll never forget and something that made the trip completely worth it. So that's it for our Elmy trip and we've seen literally so many animals here, so many birds, we've seen stoats, we've seen hares, harriers, we've seen the long-eared owl which was amazing, we saw a little owl which they literally live there. So many species that we've never seen like particularly I think the stoat was a huge highlight for me because I've just never seen a stoat, I've never even seen hares before in the wild so it's been absolutely amazing. So we would 100% recommend anyone who's like into wildlife to come visit here and the actual staff here has been absolutely amazing for our whole stay. The accommodation was really nice, the food was amazing. Surprisingly really good, yeah food is really good. Simple but just really really good. Definitely a bigger shout out to the wildlife experts here Fiona and Simon who were really kind enough to take us out last night to see that single long-eared owl which was just an absolutely amazing experience. I've never thought in my life I would ever see a long-eared owl and we were literally so like a few meters away from us so that was a particular highlight. Anyway I think we're gonna leave it for this one. We are both absolutely shattered, we've walked 40-50 kilometers in the space of two days so we'll leave it here. I hope you enjoyed this video, I hope you enjoyed us doing vlogs, maybe we'll do more of these in the future and I guess we'll see you in the next one. Bye!