We are excited to see progress being made at Blue House Farm nature reserve over the last month. The latest stage of this project has involved the installation of a sluice and headwall, which will help control water levels. With this, a shallow, splashy, muddy area of wet grassland will prevail, and ground-nesting birds will roost and breed here.

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In springtime, warmer weather left Fobbing Marsh nature reserve dry and unsuitable habitat for breeding wader birds like lapwing and redshank. The site has since been developed to benefit wildlife further. A weir has been installed to hold and control water levels and a muddy drawndown zone between the grassland and standing water will be particularly important for feeding wader chicks. More water, for longer periods, will also improve the site for water voles and wetland insects. We look forward to seeing how this site progresses in the spring.

Funded by gifts in Wills and the Environment Agency. 

In the winter, the ecological monitoring team have been focusing on monitoring our wetland bird species. Essex’s coastline and estuarine habitats are of international importance for wintering wetland birds, and we continue to manage our reserves for their benefit - such as the two projects mentioned above! From October to March, these species are recorded to help us inform future management of sites. In the first two years, 80 species have been recorded, with teal, lapwing and coot observed most frequently. Some notable visitors that are lesser-recorded include long-tailed duck, purple sandpiper and wood sandpiper.

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