Once again, our amazing volunteers at Belfairs Nature Discovery Centre have been hard at work in Hadleigh Great Wood alongside Southend City Council this month. Although it’s demanding work, the team cleared areas of the wood by re-coppicing and brushcutting areas. This work will support a huge colony of wood ants and butterflies in the spring and summer. In another area, volunteers helped clear areas of scrub to encourage the growth of heather – a reminder of heathland habitat that existed here.  

We are continuing our fight to protect Middlewick Ranges in Colchester, which is at risk of being sold for 1,000 new homes, despite being a home for endangered species like nightingale and barbastelle bats. If you haven’t already seen, you can read more about this story in The Guardian. You can help us by signing the petition to protect this nationally-important wildlife haven.

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Our conservation team and dedicated volunteers carried out habitat management work on Two Tree Island nature reserve’s lagoon islands. This work will improve the habitat for overwintering waders and create potential breeding locations for summer residents. We added shingle and cockle shell for oystercatchers, ringed plover and common terns to (hopefully) breed on next summer. This year, we had several avocets breeding as well as the above species, so we are hopeful for a similar success story next year. The team are hopeful - giving us their thumbs up! 

We’ve had so many fantastic sightings this month. From short-eared owls to winter waders, it’s lovely to see our nature reserves bursting with life. Look at this coral tooth fungus, found at Fingringhoe Wick Nature Discovery Park by Paul Everett – it’s very rare!