Working with our friends and volunteers at the RSPB, our Warden Jamie has installed over a mile long exclusion zone barrier to help protect ground nesting bird sites at our Dingle Marshes Nature Reserve.

Dingle Marshes is an extremely valuable habitat for wading birds, acting as a key pitstop for many migrators on long journeys. During the spring breeding period, the shingles also provide an ideal nesting site for ground nesting birds such as little tern, ringed plover, and oystercatcher.

This mile of fencing (roughly 1600 meters) is then continued from our finishing point to Walberswick by Natural England. Reducing disturbance in this area is key to help species to have successful breeding seasons. Not only does human disturbance discourage nesting, but many eggs are also very well camouflaged, risking being crushed/stepped on by walkers and dogs.

Our Wild Landscapes Project Officer, Lizzie, had a fun encounter when carrying out survey work this month. Each year toads journey back to the same breeding pond, often following the same historical route regardless of hazards like roads. Lizzie counted nearly 40 toads making their epic journey, the overcast weather helping them on their way.

We had the pleasure of exploring a valuable wildlife corridor along the River Orwell comprised of local nature reserves, SSSI’s and Suffolk Wildlife Trust Nature Reserves, with a trip on the Orwell Lady. Sailing down the river, over 50 people got to explore this valuable mixture of habitats from a new perspective.

Our Trimley Marshes Warden Joe, and Bird Ringing Volunteer Justin, were on hand for the duration of the trip to point out some of the wildlife that could be seen, including curlew, great crested grebes and oystercatchers. The attendees of the trip went away with a greater understanding of this valuable space for wildlife and the importance of more connected areas for nature.

With your support our Big Give Nature Fund appeal hit it's target in 6 days!

Raising a grand total of £17,818.75 (including Gift Aid) for nature conservation, advocacy and engagement in Suffolk, every penny donated will help nature in our county. These funds could run our nature reserves for nearly 4 days!

If you were planning to donate but haven’t yet, you can still make donations directly to our charity via our website. Whatever the amount, your support can make a difference to wildlife in Suffolk. 

Make a donation

Our Wilder Ecology consultancy team have been conducting seasonal surveys across Suffolk. Surveys have been carried out for a range of clients to monitor and record the presence of otters, water voles, nesting birds, and badgers. The results of these surveys help inform nature friendly land management and encourage habitat development which benefits the wildlife present.

Our Worlingham Marshes Warden, Lewis, has had a busy year undertaking a multitude of surveys alongside our volunteers to understand the baseline of wildlife on our newest nature reserve and begin recording the uplift after the commencement of our conservation work last year.

So far, the results have been very promising. 10 species of bat have been recorded on the reserve, signs of water vole activity have been found across most areas and there has been a record of a 620% increase in snipe present over the winter! It is still early days for the Worlingham Marshes reserve but with surveying showing a positive increase already for the species present, we’re excited to see how continued habitat creation and management help boost this landscape for nature and wildlife.

One of the cuckoos tagged at our Worlingham Marshes nature reserve, in collaboration with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), has been making impressive progress from his wintering home in central Africa back to Worlingham Marshes. Of all the ringed cuckoos from the BTO project, Wilfrid was the first return this spring!

The round-trip, which the BTO tracked to be 18,000km (over 11,000 miles), showed Wilfrid to be wintering the furthest south, settling in north-west Angola before returning via Nigeria and central Spain. He’s now safely back in Suffolk after the epic journey, settling near our reserves along the River Waveney.

Migratory bird arrivals have been keeping our teams busy with surveying and monitoring. The first nightingales have been heard singing at Lackford Lakes with at least three having been recorded on the reserve this month. The Lackford Lakes team were also treated to 19 common terns on the sailing lake.

Cuckoo song has been recorded at our Arger Fen and Spouses Vale, Lackford Lakes, and Carlton Marshes nature reserves.

This month we’ve had 5 businesses join and renew for our Business Club, a big thank you to Greenscape Energy, Lanman Solar, Handelsbanken, as well as renewal members Harwich Haven Authority and Styne Group for all their support.

In addition, our corporate volunteering programme, Wild Days, has been in full swing. This month, we visited Dingle Marshes in Dunwich with TMO Highways and Trimley Marshes with Bauder. Together, we worked on enhancing the reserves through activities such as litter picking, biodiversity surveys, and footpath maintenance.

Our Partnerships team has been busy month-round and if you'd like to read more about this subscribe to our monthly LinkedIn newsletter. 

If your business is keen to incorporate wildlife and nature into its sustainability, social value and/or community initiatives, our Partnerships team would love to hear from you. Reach out to us at partnerships@suffolkwildlifetrust.org