These two goldcrests at Lound Lakes decided they didn’t want their Conservation Volunteer and Dog Ambassador to leave! Many thanks to Julie Cornell for all her hard work at the reserve and for sharing this charming film. 

Moschatel is currently in flower at Redgrave & Lopham Fen. This unusual green flower is also known as ‘Town Hall Clock’ due to the fact it has flowers at right angles like a town clock. 

With habitat works now on hold for the breeding and blooming season, our trusty Lound Lakes volunteers started clearing back the grass encroachment from the path erosion mesh, making it a safer and easier walk to the boardwalk. During the clearance they found several cockchafer (melolontha melolontha) grubs which the robins and blackbirds consumed happily.  

Our terrific Volunteer Warden Peter Boyden and his team have been creating an attractive new path through Reydon Wood. The new route is designed to take people away from some extremely wet and muddy rides and allow parts of the wood to thicken up and to give a rest from disturbance. Please follow the arrows to explore the new path. 

Warden Dan recorded some beautiful moths at Church Farm this week; oak beauty, red chestnut and Hebrew character.

This bittern at Hen Reedbeds is becoming a regular sight – many thanks to our Volunteer Warden Peter Boydon for this lovely close up.

This windblown ash at Lound Lakes has been cut and relocated to create a timber stack and brash line which will eventually fill with bramble. Dead wood is natural recycling, providing a nutrient-rich habitat for fungi and beetle larvae and in turn provides food and shelter for other species. Scrubby growth like bramble is also vital habitat for many species, creating nesting opportunities for birds, shelter for mammals and the flowers and berries provide food for birds, bees and butterflies. 

Work has started to create a new 180 degree viewpoint from the lake edge at Lound Lakes. The viewing area will have screens with viewing slots and seating, so fundamentally it will be a traditional bird hide but without a roof. The work is due to be completed late spring and it’s going to be a wonderful spot for wildlife watching. This project has been kindly supported by a gift in memory of James Chastney. 

Bradfield Woods looks wonderful at this time of year as spring flowers burst forth. Our brilliant woodland volunteers have been busy making hazel products from coppicing by-products - stakes, hedging binders, rods for wattle and daub and beanpoles. 

This week Warden Jamie and his team installed new fencing at Church Farm in preparation for summer grazing. Church Farm has a mixture of habitats including grazing marshes that produce an array of colour and scent in summer with species such as ragged robin, southern marsh orchid, marsh marigold and meadow buttercup. Traditional methods of grazing and haymaking are crucial management techniques in the conservation of these marshes. 

This made us chuckle! Trail cam footage of a great white egret meticulously choosing its spot for a call of nature.