The wetland habitat creation at Blue House Farm continues to make good progress with the completion of a predator exclusion fence in recent months. This area will give vulnerable birds like redshank and lapwing a safe haven for laying eggs in breeding seasons, and hopefully aid the recovery of these ground-nesting species. Currently, scrapes and foot drains are progressing on the flat fields which will help store water in this area for all wildlife to enjoy. We are in the final stages of this project and anticipate the wet, splashy, muddy, grassy marshland abounding with wetland wife when this project is complete.

With thanks to Biffa Award for their funding

More about the project

The dedicated volunteering team at Wrabness nature reserve posed for a photo with their newly installed fencing. The team have been installing a new gateway to the reserve and preparing barn owl boxes, ready for installation soon. These improvements to infrastructure are made possible by Tendring Loves Conservation funding. Our volunteers were joined by a friendly great green bush-cricket!

This month, the lagoon at Oliver Road Lagoons became a fully functional wet lagoon after the regulated tidal exchange sluice was de-silted, due to not being opened for several years! The silt from the Thames had built up into thick sludge and needed to be removed to allow water to finally flow. This was removed with an excavator and then loaded onto a dumper and removed.

Having the sluice fully opened will now transform the lagoon area into an important high tide roosting area for waders and will also help to reduce scrub and will create bare, open areas for waders to use. This will also create ditches, pools and channels of varying depth around the lagoon which will benefit a whole range of wildlife. 

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