WildSuffolk The membership magazine for Suffolk Wildlife Trust
Spring/Summer 2022
OF DRAGONS AND DAMSELS
The changing fate of Suffolk’s ancient insects
JUST AROUND THE RIVER BEND
Restoring Suffolk’s rivers for nature and people
WILDER FUTURE
What next? We look beyond our 60 years of history to ask, ‘what next for Suffolk’s wildlife?
Suffolk
Wildlife Trust
Welcome
I have an old and decidedly worn copy of The Badger by Ernest Neal that was my Mum’s, complete with ink marks on the spine where a fountain pen had leaked in her school bag. Published in 1947, it’s like turning back the clock on the natural world, with the badger in Suffolk described as ‘a member of the local fauna but decidedly local and patchy in its distribution’. Legislation to protect badgers was strengthened in the 1990s and the county population was boosted by releases of rehabilitated badgers, led by the newlyformed Suffolk Badger Group. Badgers are now commonplace in Suffolk and their recovery an inspiring illustration of the impact a small group of determined individuals can have. In 2022 as we step up to the challenge of bringing nature back to our towns and countryside, it will once again be the power of locally-led action that drives the change we need: indeed it has to be. There are so many ways to make Suffolk wilder again if enough of us care. Inspiring and harnessing this local effort is what Wildlife Trusts do so well. Suffolk Wildlife Trust is one of the 46 independent charities that make up the UK Wildlife Trusts. The combination of our indomitable county spirit and collective UK voice is our great strength. As we seek to do more, the need for collaboration has never been greater and our new Suffolk badger logo reflects this. By working more closely together as a Wildlife Trust family, we can amplify our impact for nature. 100% Suffolk, with a bigger, collective voice for wildlife. Christine Luxton Chief Executive
Suffolk Wildlife Trust Wild Suffolk is the membership magazine for Suffolk Wildlife Trust teamwilder@suffolkwildlifetrust.org Telephone 01473 890089 Address Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Brooke House, Ashbocking IP6 9JY Registered charity number 262777 Website suffolkwildlifetrust.org Facebook @suffolkwildlife Twitter @suffolkwildlife Instagram @suffolkwildlifetrust
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Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
OYSTERCATCHERS: DAVID KJAER
Working together
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Get in touch Our Membership Manager, Nicola Martin, is happy to help with any questions about your membership on 01473 890089 or membership@suffolkwildlifetrust.org. Wild Suffolk Magazine Team Editor Lucy McRobert Designer Clare Sheehan Content editor UK Tom Hibbert Cover: Broad-bodied chaser Ross Hoddinott
Suffolk Wildlife Trust is one of a national network of Wildlife Trusts dedicated to safeguarding the future of wildlife for the benefit of all.
Suffolk
Wildlife Trust
38 Contents 4 SOUTHERN HAWKER: ALAMY; SKYLARK: ALAMY
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Your wild summer The best of the season’s wildlife and where to enjoy it nearby.
10 Our nature reserves
Special wild places to discover this summer.
13 Wild thoughts
Sophie Pavelle on campaigning to save our seas.
14 Gardening for wildlife
Read Kate Bradbury’s guide to your springtime wildlife garden.
16 Wild news
What’s happening for Suffolk’s wildlife and around the UK.
21 Ospreys in focus
Hear about our plans to reintroduce ospreys to the Blyth Estuary.
22 What next?
We look to the future for the Trust and our plans to restore Suffolk’s wildlife.
28 Of dragons and damsels
The challenges and opportunities facing Suffolk’s dragonflies and damselflies.
32 Just around the river bend
How we’re working across catchments to restore Suffolk’s rivers.
36 Suffolk’s wild churchyards WATER VOLE: ADOBE STOCK
Discover these hidden havens for wildlife.
38 Skylarks soaring over Suffolk
Our work with the Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra celebrating composer Vaughan Williams.
6 ways to get involved with Suffolk Wildlife Trust Volunteer
Donating your skills, time and knowledge to wildlife can leave you feeling happier, healthier and more connected to local nature. suffolkwildlifetrust.org/volunteer
Wild your school Inspire a
whole class or school with one of our tailored school visits to our gateway nature reserves. suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ outdoorlearning
Team Wilder Share your love of
nature with friends, family and colleagues and encourage them to join Team Wilder! suffolkwildlifetrust.org/team-wilder
Wild your land
Be inspired by our farmland wildlife advisors who can give expert advice on making your land or farm great for nature. suffolkwildlifetrust.org/wilderlandscapes
Business for wildlife
Bring wildlife into your business and place of work with volunteering, away days and investing in wildlife. suffolk wildlifetrust.org/business-wildlife
Events
Discover courses, activities, badger watches, birthday parties, walks and talks, all designed to bring you and your family closer to nature. suffolkwildlifetrust.org/whatson
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
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Your wild summer The best of the season’s wildlife and where to enjoy it in Suffolk.
Slow worms are the only species of legless lizard in the UK. Worldwide there are similar species. They evolved this way when burrowing behaviours became more important.
Covid-19
to follow We will continue ce and to an id Government gu y. Please gl in rd respond acco and social check our website t up-to-date media for the mos r nature information on ou and reserves, centres events.
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Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
T h a n k y ou
Your membership and support for nature on your doorstep is vital. By allowing nature to thrive in your garden, you can he lp species like slow wo rms, too!
SUMMER SPECTACLE
Slow down with slow worms As the sun warms the ground on a serene May morning, tread quietly around long grass. With luck you could chance upon a slow worm, soaking up the first rays of sunshine. As the day hots up and these cold-blooded legless lizards gather strength, they might start an elaborate, if slightly painful mating ritual, where the male bites the female before entwining their bodies together; it’s a long day, too – copulation can last for up to ten hours! Up to twelve live young are born in the early autumn. Coupled with that, they poo or detach their tails (which keep wriggling) to deter predators. Detachment can only happen once in their lives. They have eyelids, like lizards, burrow underground to hibernate and can live up to 30 years in the wild. Slow worms thrive in wild gardens and allotments, making them the reptile you’re most likely to see this summer.
SLOW WORM: OLIVER SMART ALAMY
SEE THEM THIS SUMMER Lackford Lakes Tread quietly along the paths through the mosaic of habitats at this diverse nature reserve, and search for slow worms basking in the long grass. Knettishall Heath 174ha (430 acres) of woodland, riverside meadow and heathland make this the perfect reserve for reptiles. Church Farm Marshes This traditionally managed marshland with a diverse grassland is a lovely summer spot to spy slow worms. Reserve info & maps suffolkwildlifetrust.org/nature-reserves
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
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YOUR WILD SUMMER
Hobbies
The hobby is one of our migratory falcons, a small and nippy bird of prey with sickle-shaped wings that has adapted to snatch its prey in midair. Sharp talons, acute eyesight and impressive aerial abilities give the hobby an edge over dragonflies and other small birds, including species like house martins and swifts. They hawk along the edges of woodlands, heathlands and wetlands, displaying their acrobatic skills as they transfer their prey to their sharp beaks on the wing. Elegant falcons, their plumage is slate-grey above and pale below, with black streaks on the belly and brick-red 'trousers'. They have a white throat and cheeks, dark moustache and mask. The popular table-top football game known as 'Subbuteo' got its name from the scientific name of the hobby, Falco subbuteo, because it was the designer's favourite bird. SEE THEM THIS SUMMER Lackford Lakes is a top spot to admire hunting hobbies in the summer, as they hawk for dragonflies over the water. Carlton Marshes supports an array of birds of prey all year round, with hobbies present from May to September.
Hobbies nest in trees in the abandoned nests of other birds, often crows.
FIELDCRAFT
Meet the mysterious wasp spider
GUY EDWARDES
The seawall at Simpson’s Saltings nature reserve is a top spot for wasp spiders suffolkwildlifetrust.org/nature-reserves
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Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
A master of deception, wasp spiders are a species designed by nature to confuse. Although harmless in themselves, they have evolved to look like the much more fearsome wasp. This large, colourful spider is a recent natural coloniser to the UK from the continent that has slowly spread over the south of England. The web has a wide, white zig-zag strip running down the middle, known as a 'stabilimentum'. Mating is a dangerous game for males; they wait at the edge of the web until the female has moulted, then take advantage of her soft jaws to mate. However, many still get eaten!
How to SPOT A WASP SPIDER
Look Females have yellow, black and white stripes, just like a common wasp. Its legs are also stripy. The male is smaller and pale brown. Webs are orb-shaped, but when fully matured adults create a single zig-zag pattern of silk through the centre. It reflects UV light and attracts pollinating insects. Habitats Wasp spiders are found in a variety of habitats and are spreading northwards, becoming more common. Start with long grassland.
SEE THIS
Although kingfishers can be seen all year round, they are more active in the summer when feeding young. Look for the flash of blue over water.
TASTE THIS
The yellow flowers of gorse are edible, with a pleasant buttery taste that works well in salads. Just watch your fingers when picking!
SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
Ladybird
BRIGHT COLOUR warns predators that they taste horrible.
PUNGENT yellow liquid released when handled.
CUT OUT: ADOBE STOCK
7-SPOT LADYBIRDS are 6-8mm, and postbox red with seven black spots.
step to moving away from pesticides and chemicals in gardening. However, not all ladybirds are so welcome. Originally from Asia, the harlequin ladybird first arrived in the UK in 2004 and has rapidly become one of the most common ladybirds in the country, particularly in towns and gardens. It is a larger species and a voracious predator, able to out-compete our native species for aphid-prey. It will also eat other ladybirds' eggs and larvae. It can have multiple broods, which also gives it a competitive edge.
7-SPOT LADYBIRDS migrate as well as hibernating.
Counting the spots? The 2-spot ladybird is probably our most common ladybird in the UK. Three UK species are yellow, including the 14-spot and the 22-spot ladybirds. Some species are black, such as the pine ladybird, whilst another is orange (like the aptly-named orange ladybird). This apricotcoloured ladybird has up to 16 cream spots and often turns up in moth traps. The cream-spot ladybird is similar, but darker and a bit smaller. 10-spot ladybirds can be cream, yellow, orange, red, brown, purple or black, with up to 15 spots. Striped ladybirds are brown with both stripes and spots, and to confuse things further, the 10-spot ladybird can, in fact, have up to 16 spots. Friends and enemies Ladybirds are a gardener's best friend, as both their adult and larval form feast on aphids. Encouraging these natural predators is a great
14-spot ladybird Yellow with up to 14 rectangular black spots, which may create a chequered pattern.
LOOK FOR THEM THIS SUMMER Bradfield Woods One of Britain’s finest ancient woodlands, with plenty of deadwood to support various ladybird species. Knettishall Heath The mixture of habitats here helps support different species of ladybirds: look in woodpiles, heath and grass Bromeswell Green Perfect for a summer stroll, look for ladybirds whilst you are serenaded by whitethroats, blackcaps and even nightingales.
Eyed ladybird Larger and unique in having 'eyed' spots – black spots ringed with yellow. Found near pines.
Harlequin ladybird Variable, with up to 19 black spots on red-orange, and a melanic form. Head has a white triangle in the centre.
Reserve info & maps suffolkwildlifetrust.org/nature-reserves
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
ALAMY
DAVID KJAER
Beetling along Ladybirds are our best known and most easily recognised type of beetle. With 26 species found in the UK alone, they are spotted in gardens, parks, churchyards, allotments and generally anywhere a bit wild. Quintessentially, when we picture a ladybird, we imagine the 7-spot ladybird – the classic red wing case, the same shade as a London bus, three black spots on each wing and one larger spot at the base of the head. However, ladybirds show a surprising amount of variation and although we might take them for granted, they are a fascinating beetle to admire.
SPECIES TO SPOT
ALAMY
Meet the gardener’s greatest ally.
Top tips THREE
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HEAR THIS
SMELL THIS
Listen for the scratching song of the common whitethroat as it belts out a tune from thorny bushes, occasionally hovering above them.
On a warm day, wait for the first splashes of rain to hit the dry ground outside, and inhale the heady, familiar scent, which even has its own name: petrichor
NOT JUST FOR KIDS
Seven ways to enjoy nature this summer
ALAMY
Spring into summer and let your wild side shine through.
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ENJOY A WILD TIPPLE Join us at Holywells Park to discover and sample cocktails made from foraged plants with wild food expert, Jon Tyler, on 13 August, 7-9pm (adults aged 18-35 years).
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Book or find out more suffolkwildlifetrust. org/events
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Dates and details suffolkwildlifetrust. org/events
3 ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
SEARCH FOR SUFFOLK’S COASTAL BEAUTIES A walk along Suffolk’s shingle beaches can show up a surprising range of specially adapted coastal plants, including yellow-horned poppy, sea pea, sea kale, thrift, sea wormwood and samphire.
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Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
Go Wild at the beach in Thorpeness.
JOHN FERGUSON
GO WILD IN THE HOLIDAYS Join our summer holiday clubs at Foxburrow Farm and other locations across the county this July and August, with activities for 6-11-year-olds and 11-16-yearolds. Includes lunch cooked over a fire!
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UNLEASH YOUR INNER ARTIST On 1 August from 9.30am-4.30pm, 13-16-yearolds are invited to take part in an Arts Award (Discover Level) at Carlton Marshes, managed by Trinity College London in association with Arts Council England. Book or find out more suffolkwildlifetrust.org/events
PAINTBRUSHES: ISTOCK
WATERBOATMAN: ANDY HARMER ALAMY
PEER INTO A POND Ponds come alive in the summer, but you might have to look closely. Search the depths for diving beetles, or watch whirligigs whirling on the surface, or water boatmen skipping along.
YOUR WILD SUMMER
10 wild ideas
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BASK IN THE MOONGLADE On summer nights when the moon shines brightly, follow the tracks and patterns it makes on calm water. This is called ‘moonglade’.
Check out some of our top events happening this spring and summer, or see more online.
ISTOCK
1 Young Wardens Next Gen Dates & times tbc Lackford Lakes Practical conservation skills at our new group for 16–18-year-olds.
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GO ON A BEACH CLEAN Whilst at the beach this summer, spend a few minutes helping nature. wildlifewatch.org.uk/go-litter-pick-orbeach-clean
YOU WILL NEED Adult helper (if you’re young!) l Group of friends (optional but useful!) l Thick gardening gloves l Strong bin bags or buckets l Litter picking tool (optional) l Bright clothes and sturdy footwear
N at u re a ct io n
l
1 Prepare for your beach clean, including asking an adult to help if you’re younger, and popping on your gloves.
2 Walk slowly along
the beach, looking for plastic bottles, debris, discarded fishing net, tin cans, crisp wrappers and so on. Pop them in your rubbish bags.
6 Celebrating birch 22 June 10am-3pm Bradfield Woods Adults only creative course, including making tar glue, dyes and a utensil.
2 Suffolk Show 31 May & 1 June Suffolk Showground See us in the wildlife area at the Suffolk Show..
7 Fenland flora 8 July 10am-3pm Redgrave & Lopham Fen Develop your plant identification skills with expert tutor, Marie Lagerberg.
3 Wake up with nature 1 June 4.30-7am Lackford Lakes Dawn chorus walk, followed by a continental breakfast.
8 Creative workshop 19 July 10am-4pm Foxburrow Farm Join local artist, Nicola Coe for a creative workshop. Make a foraged sculpture
4 Forest School in the Early Years 8 June 9.30am-4.30pm Foxburrow Farm Certificated course for Early Years practitioners.
9 Bird ID 21 August 10am-4pm Lackford Lakes Brush up your bird identification skills with local expert, Paul Holness.
5 Young Naturalists 11 June 1.30-3.30pm Redgrave & Lopham Fen Hone your seasonal wildlife ID skills at our monthly group for 11-16-year-olds.
10 Art exhibition 27, 28 & 29 August Redgrave & Lopham Fen Browse and buy a selection of artworks at our annual art exhibition.
Browse our events page for the latest listings suffolkwildlifetrust.org/events
3 If possible, separate your
REMEMBER: Never pick things up with your bare hands and avoid broken glass, sharp objects, dog poo bags, anything dirty or dangerous, large or heavy rubbish, bottles of liquid.
JOHN FERGUSON
ILLUSTRATIONS: CORINNE WELCH
rubbish into recycling, and dispose of it correctly.
Visit a coastal nature reserve this summer suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ nature-reserves
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
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Discover Market Weston Fen To walk through Market Weston Fen is to journey back in time, treading lightly through a landscape lucky to have escaped the onslaught of drainage and agricultural improvement. Saved from the 20th century urge to industrialise every inch of wild land, it is now one of Suffolk’s richest botanical sites.
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Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
A rare example of unspoilt valley fen, Market Weston Fen was one of the few places that survived as Suffolk’s rivers were engineered and the wetlands were drained in the 20th century. As wild areas shrank and fragmented, Market Weston Fen remained highly biodiverse and the chalk springs that feed the site today are the same as those that did so millennia ago. Nevertheless, when Suffolk Wildlife Trust acquired the site in 1981, conditions were declining. Overgrown and mismanaged, the fen needed cutting and the drier areas of heathland were overwhelmed by bracken. Fast forward forty years, and thanks to careful management and the support of a legacy left by David Feavearyear, we have expanded the reserve and Market Weston Fen has been restored to its former, beautiful glory. Only a handful of sites in Suffolk have
such a high abundance of wildlife, and this ultra-biodiverse hotspot boasts over 250 species of flowering plants. A winding path takes you through meadow, fenland, heathland and wet woodland. Areas rich in orchids, including marsh fragrant, southern marsh and marsh helleborine (which number in the thousands), are interspersed with ponds, wet woodland and Breckland dominated by buttery gorse and mature birch trees. In spring, you’ll be greeted by the scratchy rhythms of reed and sedge warblers, the frenetic burst of Cetti’s warblers and the gentle reeling of the grasshopper warbler. Buzzards soar overhead, mewing gently to one another as they Marsh circle upwards on warm helleborine. columns of air. As the
OUR BEST SUMMER RESERVES
T h a n k y ou
Your generous resp onse to the opportunity to buy land alongside th e fen has almost doubled the size of this extraor dinary nature reserve.
PLAN YOUR VISIT
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Market Weston Fen
n summer progresses, common butterwort and grass-of-Parnassus erupt into flower and watch for dragon and damselflies hovering over ponds. Butterflies and moths are abundant, too. This was already an outstanding nature reserve and then, in March this year, thanks to the astonishing generosity of Trust members and supporters, Market Weston Fen has grown again. We are delighted to have
DID YOU KNOW Great fen sedge, or saw-sedge, forms dense stands around the fen, thriving in the calcareous soils. It is tall and robust with saw-toothed leaves, extremely tough but very flexible, and thus useful in traditional thatching. Saw-sedge is harvested commercially from Market Weston Fen, greatly benefiting the fen and local communities with a sustainable, local product.
Only a handful of sites in Suffolk have such a high abundance of wildlife been able to purchase a further 31ha (78 acres) of land to the south east, towards Market Weston. The reserve now covers over 72ha (178 acres). Complementing rather than replicating the existing nature reserve, we will let nature take the lead, with minimal intervention and some light grazing. Wilding is a journey of discovery, and our focus is on encouraging the abundance of once common species – like butterflies, common lizards, slow worms and scrubland birds – to thrive. Wouldn’t it be marvellous if, in a few years, visitors were welcomed by purring turtledoves and melodic nightingales? Peaceful and serene, a gentle wander through the fen is the perfect tonic this summer. As you reach our new area of land, remember this is a blank canvas of opportunity. You’ll want to return year on year to see how wildlife can thrive when we let nature lead the way.
Common lizard.
Location: Fen Street, Hopton, Diss IP22 2RF. How to get there: The reserve lies to the south of the A1066, south east of Knettishall Heath nature reserve. From the KnettishallHopton road (Nethergate Street), turn south on to Fen Street. The reserve is on your left. Parking is on a quiet roadside at the bottom of Hopton village. Opening times: Open all year, dawn to dusk. Access: The gates have ‘Radar’ locks but the terrain is not easy, with uneven, soft ground and a step at either end of a narrow footbridge giving access to the fen. Please contact us beforehand if you would like to visit in a group. Phone for information: 01473 890089. Email: teamwilder@suffolkwildlifetrust.org Website: suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ marketwestonfen TOP WILDLIFE TO SPOT Marsh helleborine: A beautiful orchid of fens, wet grassland and dune slacks. Growing in profusion in places in July and August, look for reddish stems and white-andpink flowers. Grasshopper warbler: You’ll hear the insect-like fishing-reeling song of the grasshopper warbler before you see it, belting out from the scrub. Common butterwort: The carnivorous heathland plant, common butterwort is quite rare in Suffolk. Its leaves excrete a sticky fluid that tempts unsuspecting insects to land, only to be eaten! THINGS TO DO NEARBY If you’re in need of refreshments after your walk, Knettishall Heath and our new catering van is a 10-minute drive. Admire the neighbouring Thelnetham Windmill, one of only four preserved tower mills in Suffolk. Enjoy more fenland wildlife by visiting a nearby site managed as part of the Little Ouse Headwaters Project.
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
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MARSH HELLEBORINE: ALAMY; COMMON LIZARD: TWT; GRASSHOPPER WARBLER: ALAMY
Market Weston Fen escaped 20th century industrialisation to become one of Suffolk's richest botanical sites.
STEVE AYLWARD
Common butterwort.
ALA MY
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
OUR BEST SUMMER RESERVES
More Suffolk Wildlife Trust nature reserves for a great summer day out Nature reserves
Larger reserves
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Larger reserves with refreshments & toilets
Lowestoft BROADS NATIONAL PARK
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A1065 A11
THE BRECKS
Mildenhall
A146
Diss
A134
Halesworth A143
Southwold
Eye
Ixworth A140 A14
Newmarket
A12
Bury St Edmunds
3
Stowmarket Needham Market
2
A134
Lavenham
Woodbridge
Haverhill
Aldeburgh SUFFOLK COAST & HEATHS AONB
Ipswich
Hadleigh DEDHAM VALE AONB
Combs Wood
Why now? Situated in rolling farmland just above Combs Ford near Stowmarket, this botanically rich reserve has roots stretching back to the Domesday book, where it was recorded as “a wood for 16 swine”.
Saxmundham
A14
Sudbury
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A12
A14
Know before you go Location: Stowmarket IP14 2EH (park at Combs Cemetery). Open: Open all year, dawn to dusk. Wildlife to spot: Treecreeper, brown hawker, ash, common hornbeam, wood anemone, oxlips. Find out more: suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ combswood
Felixstowe
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Hutchison's Meadow
Why now? Small but mighty, Hutchison’s Meadow is made up of a patchwork of wet and dry grasslands, resulting in a diverse and flower-rich meadow. The wetter areas are fed from a spring, whilst the drier areas are predominantly sandy, giving rise to a beautiful, botanical mix. Know before you go Location: Woodbridge IP12 1PD. Open: Open all year, dawn to dusk. Wildlife to spot: Bulbous buttercup, meadow buttercup, ragged-robin, tormentil, yellow-rattle. Find out more: suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ hutchisonsmeadow
The lowdown At just 1ha (2.5 acres), this tiny nature reserve punches above its weight in the summer, as a range of wildflowers and plants spring up from the soils. The secret to Hutchison’s Meadow’s diversity lies in a mixture of wet and dry grassland areas, allowing species like ragged-robin, common fleabane, St John’s wort and southern marsh orchid to flourish in damp areas, and more typical meadow species to thrive in drier spots. Look for sweet-vernal grass, red clover, yellow rattle and two kinds of buttercup (bulbous and meadow). The meadow was kindly gifted to Suffolk Wildlife Trust by Sir Peter and Lady Hutchison.
STEVE AYLWARD
Hutchison's Meadow.
STEVE AYLWARD
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The lowdown This ancient woodland has been managed by coppicing for centuries, resulting in a spectacular springtime display of woodland flowers: early-purple orchid, wild garlic and ragged-robin, as well as oxlip (a plant limited to East Anglia), wood anemone and moschatel. Woodland butterflies love the dappled rides, and dragon and damselflies are common, including brown hawker and southern hawker. The woods can be reached by following the private road from the cemetery up to the top of the hill, then taking the footpath across fields to the left of Holyoak Farm. Info & maps for all reserves suffolkwildlifetrust.org/naturereserves
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Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
WILD THOUGHTS
Sophie Pavelle @sophiepavs
ILLUSTRATION: DAWN COOPER; PROFILE PHOTO: TOM HAUGHTON
Seas of surprise As I write, it’s a moody, overcast Tuesday afternoon. Desk days like these make me crave the sea. I want to be fully in it, head and all, with (ideally) the sun streaking through. I’m lucky enough to have boomeranged home to Devon after university, and the southwest coast has lodged itself deep in my heart. I think of the sea daily, envisaging myself on, in or indeed under it… if possible. One of my favourite things about British coastlines is that they are never the same. The rhythm of the tide brings new sights, smells, colours and characters to our shorelines four times a day. Give me a spare spring hour and you may find me walking barefoot along the local beach, looking for snakelocks anemones at low tide. Aside from their striking green and purple colour, I love how it takes barely any water for them to sway their thick tentacles like hula skirts, dancing in their rockpools like a couple of TikTokers. On this same beach, a colony of breeding kittiwakes nest on the sandstone cliff face, coming home after a challenging winter in the Atlantic. As one of our most endangered seabirds, seeing them so free as they wheel with abandon about the clifftops, diving for food to feed their growing chicks, is a sight to raise even the gloomiest spirits. But for me, nothing quite compares to the
sighting of a fellow mammal in the water. Last summer, I had a particularly memorable encounter with a grey seal – the larger of our two native species. I was paddleboarding on a calm April afternoon, when the water had this glassy appeal. Paddling in random circles and enjoying the rare absence of swell on this particular stretch of coast, I adopted a downwards gaze, unsure what I was really looking for. But then, there he was. About 10 feet away from me – an enormous bull grey seal. He was bottling as seals do, with only his (gigantic!) head above the water. Whiskers twitching, eyes watching. I stopped breathing, just in case. And then as quickly as he had surfaced, he disappeared below the waves. Off on some covert assignment, no doubt. Rather incredibly, the UK is home to 40 per cent of the world population of grey seals. Perhaps they enjoy the variety of the coast as much as I do? I think of that moment often and look forward to being surprised yet again by the beauty of the British seas this spring.
Find inspiration to get outdoors and discover your own spring surprises with our selection of seasonal spectacles! wildlifetrusts.org/summer-wildlife
OCEAN UPDATES
Discover more about our seas by signing up for our marine mailing! You’ll get an exclusive monthly newsletter packed with marine conservation news from around the world, exciting wildlife sightings from our amazing UK seas, and updates on the latest developments in protecting our oceans. wildlifetrusts.org/ marine-mailing
Sophie Pavelle is a science communicator and Ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts. Her first book Forget Me Not, Finding the Forgotten Species of Climate Change Britain is published on 9 June 2022 (Bloomsbury).
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
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Spring
wildlife gardening Our gardens come alive in spring. Ponds fill with mating amphibians, borders buzz with the season’s first bees, and everywhere else, from trees and hedges to fences and roof panels, birds are busy singing to defend territories, mating or feeding young. It’s an exciting time of year.
While all of this goes on around us, there are things we can do to make our gardens even better for wildlife. First, take a look at your borders – in early spring they should be carpeted with flowers such as spring-flowering
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Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
hellebores, lungwort, primroses and other primulas, and bulbs like crocus and snake’s-head fritillary. Later grape hyacinths, alliums, cranesbills, bugle and cuckooflower take centre stage. The early flowers are the most important as they provide food for pollinators emerging from hibernation – remember that daffodils and tulips are usually ignored by bees. Make a note of which flowers you have, and fill
Kate Bradbury is passionate about wildlifefriendly gardening and the author of Wildlife Gardening for Everyone and Everything in association with The Wildlife Trusts.
gaps with pollinator favourites. Ponds are full of mating amphibians and invertebrates, so are best left alone now. However, it’s important to check that wildlife can enter and exit your pond safely – add a log or large stone to help wildlife access the water safely. If you don’t have many plants in the pond you can add more now, as long as you don’t disturb the water too much. Aim for a mix of floating, submerged and deep-water plants, with around two-thirds of the surface of the pond covered. Plants absorb nitrates from the water and therefore inhibit the growth of algae. They also provide hiding places for tadpoles and other larvae from
GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE
the long grass will provide foodplants for caterpillars and shelter for beetles and other invertebrates, plus amphibians, small mammals and even hedgehogs. Get more wildlife gardening tips on our website suffolkwildlifetrust. org/gardeningadvice
ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH BAILEY; PHOTO © SARAH CUTTLE
predators such as diving beetles and dragonfly nymphs. Choose native marginals such as brooklime and water forget-me-not, floating plants such as frogbit, and oxygenators like hornwort and water crowfoot. Around the pond, think ahead to summer, when froglets and toadlets may be exiting the water for the first time. Let the grass there grow long and grow plants to protect them from predators. Cranesbill geraniums and birds’ foot trefoil work well around ponds, providing plenty of shelter for amphibians big and small. If you have a meadow then cut it back in early spring and remove clippings, then let it grow until autumn. As well as providing wildflowers for pollinators,
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78 acres £XXX
WILD NEWS
Number factoid in this space and 78 acres of land purchased description here. Number factoid alongside Market Weston in this space and description here. Fen. Thank you in tothis everyone Number factoid space who helped make and description here.it
Highlights from Suffolk and national news from The Wildlife Trusts
STEVE AYLWARD; LINNET: ALAN WILLIAMS NATUREPL.COM
possible.
Rewilding areas of Market Weston Fen will focus on bio-abundance, as well as biodiversity.
THANK YOU
We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has kindly donated to our Market Weston Fen land purchase appeal. Thanks to you, we completed the land purchase in late March, adding 78 acres (31 ha) of drier land to the rich mix of wetland habitats of the existing reserve. In all, the reserve is now 178 acres, so this was a sizeable addition, allowing more space for nature to thrive and helping to make this precious valley fen more resilient to climate change. Amy Rushton, Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Head of Income Generation comments, "Thanks to our amazing supporters, Suffolk Wildlife Trust is very pleased to be able to buy this land. It will make a huge difference to wildlife in the area, particularly species that love dry fen margins such as reptiles. Over time, we
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look forward to welcoming linnets, yellowhammers and nightingales as the scrub develops and enriches this former arable land for wildlife.” Only a handful of sites in Suffolk have such a high abundance of wildlife. Saved from the 20th century urge to industrialise every inch of wild land, it is now one of Suffolk’s richest botanical sites, boasting over 250 species of flowering plants. Read more about our plans for this spectacular reserve on pp10-11. Thank you once again for supporting Suffolk's wildlife and helping us create more space for nature to recover and thrive.
Find out more suffolkwildlifetrust. org/marketwestonfen
STE VE AYLWAR D
Market Weston appeal success
Small coppers favour grassland, embankments, road verges and woodland rides.
NEWS
Together
we’re stronger
Here are some of the ways your membership is helping to protect local wildlife.
ALAMY
2,193 people
joined us for our Wildlife Live Webinars.
WILD READS
37,000
Wild Reads for 2022 2022 welcomes a new collection of books inspired by the wonders of nature. Wild Reads is a partnership project between Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Suffolk Libraries. It aims to give everyone in our county the chance to enjoy the very best nature writing. The collection is curated to help inspire and ignite a love of nature in readers as seen through the individual lenses of a wide variety of writers. This year, Suffolk Libraries hosted a launch event online with author Jessie Greengrass
who talked about her latest book, The High House. Other books in this year's collection include Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty, The Moth Snowstorm by Michael McCarthy, The Way Through the Woods by Long Litt Woon and On the Marsh: A Year Surrounded by Wildness and Wet by Simon Barnes.
people follow us across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Thank
you!
Find out more suffolklibraries.co.uk /whats-on/annual-events/wild-reads
400
nest boxes were
built at our events in National Nestbox week in February.
Join our Board
120
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
business volunteers
With strategic leadership from our Board of Trustees, we are committed to scaling up our activities. To support good governance, the Board is interested in reaching out to people with skills in three key areas: Digital & data management or Measuring and evaluating conservation impact or Community enabling. We value lived experiences. It is not essential to have previous Board experience.
undertaking practical conservation tasks on our reserves each year.
9,762 ISTO CK
Full details and how to apply by 3 June suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ how-we-are-governed
ha
of working farmland being managed for nature through two Farm Clusters (Blyth Valley and Wool Towns).
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UK NEWS UK UPDATE
WALLY THE WALRUS © JOE PENDER
The weird, wonderful & worrying 2021 MARINE REVIEW
C
etaceans take centre stage in our round-up of marine news from the last 12 months, with success stories, tragic tales, and strange sightings. There was hope for humpback whales, with strong numbers recorded around the southwest and further sightings in Scotland. One individual, named Pi, delighted whale watchers on the Isles of Scilly for over two months. The surge in sightings in recent years reflects populations recovering after bans on commercial whaling. It wasn’t all good news though, with large numbers of seals and cetaceans reported stranded across the UK, including a minke whale calf that tragically had to be put down after stranding in the Thames. In Cornwall alone, over 170 cetaceans and 247 seals were stranded, with a further 51 cetaceans recorded stranding in Devon. Many of these animals showed signs of injury from fishing gear or propellers, including a humpback whale off Looe Island that was caught in fishing lines. One of the stranded animals in Cornwall was a striped dolphin, which are common in the Mediterranean but seldom seen around the UK. This wasn’t the only surprising cetacean sighting in the south of the UK. Two orcas from the Hebrides made a scene-stealing appearance off the cliff-top Minack Theatre in Cornwall – the most southerly sighting of members of this group of killer whales in over 50 years – and white-beaked dolphins, usually found in subarctic waters, were seen in Essex for
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the first time since 2000. Whales and dolphins weren’t alone in popping up in unexpected places. 2021 saw two walruses recorded in the UK, with one, nicknamed Wally, spending weeks in south Wales and then the Isles of Scilly; and a second (known as Freya) briefly visiting Northumberland before being spotted in Shetland. There was also a pufferfish found washed up on a Cornish beach, which is an oceanic species that rarely comes this far north. These unusual sightings provide further evidence of the impacts of climate change on our seas. Temperature changes can cause disruption to feeding habits and breeding cycles, driving animals to move out of their usual range. Some species are shifting their distribution completely. The ringneck blenny, a small fish normally found in the Eastern Atlantic or Mediterranean, has become common in Cornwall’s Fal estuary, with further signs of breeding in the English Channel. Our marine life faces many threats in addition to climate change, including disturbance from recreational activities. Cornwall Wildlife Trust reported that disturbances of marine wildlife have tripled since 2014, with an increase of jet skis and motorboats a major cause for concern. Elsewhere, The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales witnessed a seal pup being abandoned after people got too close to it. Surveys by Dorset Wildlife Trust recorded damage to the seabed caused by the anchors of large cruise ships, moored off the coast due to the pandemic. But there was also plenty to celebrate last year, with good news for kelp forests,
Wally the Walrus made a surprise visit to our shores in 2021.
seagrass meadows, oyster beds and many more habitats and species. In March, a new byelaw was passed to stop damaging fishing practices off the Sussex coast. To speed up the area’s recovery, the Sussex Kelp Restoration Project will restore a vast 200km² of kelp forest, providing feeding and nursery grounds for molluscs, shrimp, and cuttlefish. Seagrass habitats also got a much needed boost. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust transplanted seeds and plants to areas where seagrass has previously flourished, whereas Manx Wildlife Trust discovered a new seagrass meadow, Cornwall Wildlife Trust mapped seagrass regrowth in areas where moorings had been removed, and Cumbria Wildlife Trust carried out the first surveys of seagrass on mudflats off Walney Island for over 20 years. Read more success stories at: wildlifetrusts.org/marine-review-21
Ocean oddities Adders took to the surf as snakes were seen paddling in the waves on Wembury Beach, Dorset and off the coast of Anglesey, North Wales. Devon Wildlife Trust reported a surge of compass jellyfish, believed to be caused by the July heatwave. Scottish Wildlife Trust rangers were wowed by a white puffin on Handa Island. The pale puffin lacks pigmentation in its feathers, due to a genetic condition called leucism.
NEWS
UK HIGHLIGHTS 1
UK UPDATE
Splatters matter The latest results from the Bugs Matter Survey show that significantly fewer insects were recorded nationally in 2021 than 17 years ago. These results add to the growing evidence that insect populations are declining across the world, with potentially catastrophic consequences for wildlife, wild places, and people. The Bugs Matter Survey, initially developed by the RSPB in 2004 is based on the ‘windscreen phenomenon’, originating from the observation that people find fewer insects squashed on the windscreens of their cars compared to several decades ago. The survey was revitalised and made more accessible in 2021, when Kent Wildlife Trust created the Bugs Matter App in partnership with
Gwent, Somerset, and Essex Wildlife Trusts, and Buglife. The app makes it easy for anyone with a smartphone or tablet to record the insects on their car, bringing meaningful citizen science to the pockets of thousands. Last year there were nearly 5,000 journeys logged, helping scientists monitor the alarming declines in our insects.
Find out more and get involved kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/bugs-matter
Discover how The Wildlife Trusts are helping wildlife across the UK
2
3
1 Seabird power
The Scottish Wildlife Trust has joined forces with alternative rock band Sea Power to raise awareness of the urgent need to tackle the nature and climate crises. The Wildlife Trust worked with the band to create a new video for their classic track “The Great Skua,” featuring footage of seabirds on Handa Island Wildlife Reserve. wtru.st/seapower
Failing farmland wildlife support farmers to help nature. The latest announcement includes a lot of the right rhetoric, but still lacks any clear details or urgency. The published documents failed to provide details on eligibility, the determination of priorities, or how Government will ensure these schemes achieve target outcomes. Read more at wtru.st/farm-reform
2 A city sanctuary
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust welcomed plans for a new ‘Green Heart’ in Nottingham city centre, after putting forward a bold ambition to transform a derelict former shopping centre into wildlife-rich greenspace. The vision is billed as a blueprint for sustainable city centres in a post-COVID world. wtru.st/green-heart
Welcome to the team! The Wildlife Trusts are delighted to announce that GP and TV presenter Dr Amir Khan, and naturalist, TV presenter and author Iolo Williams, have become vice presidents of the charity. We also warmly welcome award-winning TV presenter Maddie Moate, and The Vamps’ lead guitarist, James McVey (pictured), as wildlife ambassadors. The nature enthusiasts will use their voices, influence and audiences to help The Wildlife Trusts shine a spotlight on the urgent need for nature’s recovery in the UK.
THE WIL DLIFE TRUSTS
3 Urban kittiwakes
Meet our new vice presidents and ambassadors at: wtru.st/new-voices
Suffolk Wildlife Trust has teamed up with the RSPB, local councils, businesses and community representatives to form the Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership. Chaired by local MP Peter Aldous, the group aims to provide safe nesting places for the town’s urban kittiwakes and minimise conflict between the birds, local companies and building owners, to ensure wildlife and business can continue to thrive. https://bit.ly/Lowestoftkittiwakes
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HOVERFLY: ISTOCK, YELLOWHAMMER: TOM MARSHALL, GREAT SKUA: ALAMY
This January, the Government announced new schemes to reward farmers in England for supporting nature’s recovery. Farmland accounts for a huge proportion of our land use, so it’s imperative that we have policies that
We bet you didn’t know... 'Rose’ and 'lily' were once names used for any flower, like rock rose, guelder rose or ‘lily of the valley’, which isn’t a member of the lily family at all, but a flower associated with damp, sheltered places.
Farming for nature
FARMLAND ADVICE
Our Farmland Wildlife Advice team are working with two established farm clusters in Suffolk and supporting development of several more in their early stages. Clusters are a farmer-led approach where farmers work with neighbours to achieve environmental goals at a landscape scale. Clusters are often themed around water catchments or landscape areas, sharing commonalities between farms and a strong local identity. We are working with two current cluster groups, the Blyth Valley Farm Cluster and Wool Towns (around the towns of Lavenham and Long Melford). They are both made up of 21 farms
covering 2,000ha (5,000 acres) and 7,000ha (over 17,000 acres) respectively. Working on this landscape scale will enable coordinated and connected habitat provision and management of stewardship options, such as margins for pollinators, wild bird seed plots, hedgerows, ponds and woodlands. Wildlife friendly farming can also benefit sustainable farm businesses through ecosystem services, providing healthy soils, clean water and boosting beneficial insects for integrated pest management. For more information visit suffolkwildlifetrust.org/farmlandwildlife-advice
Investments and Ukraine FINANCE
ALA MY
As many members will be aware we maintain our financial reserves in a combination of cash deposits and a small number of lower risk designated charity investment funds. We draw on these for significant projects like land purchases. The investment manager of the funds has confirmed via its website that the funds’ underlying investment portfolios have no direct exposure to Russia.
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SWT AGM & Conservation Day DIARY DATE
Our 60th AGM will be on Saturday 15th October 2022. A morning of topical talks and discussion at Uplands Community Centre, Lowestoft followed by an afternoon at nearby Carlton Marshes, exploring the new wetland with the local team. The AGM will be at 12 noon and will include a vote to appoint new Trustees as part of our annual recruitment cycle. Full details and booking information will be included in your September magazine.
Thank you
LEGACIES
We are grateful to the families of the following friends of the Trust who have recently remembered us in their Will or through an In memoriam donation. Evelyn Adey David Baker Beryl Barker Inez Benham Penelope Berry Winston Briggs Ivan Bullard Raymond Carpenter Geoffrey Cobb James Colthup Paul Cox Dorothy Cuninghame Peter Cutmore Ros Ford Lauretta Goodman Diana Hearle
Raymond Jessup Beryl Kayes June Ludlow Susan Mansfield Alan Marjoram Peter McAnulty John Midwinter Joyce Miller William Napier Robert Peck Eddie Reed Patrick Stones Terry Warth Bobbi Whitcombe Margaret Williams
NORFOLK HAWKER: STEVE AYLWARD; LITTLE OWLS: ISTOCK
YELLOWHAMMER: NEIL BOWMAN ALAMY
Farm clusters have nature and good business at their heart.
FOCUS ON
FOCUS ON Ospreys in Suffolk
Bringing back nature Suffolk Wildlife Trust is delighted to be leading an exciting project to reintroduce ospreys to the Suffolk coast.
PETER CAIRNES
Ospreys on the Blyth Estuary
The return of ospreys Last year we had high hopes that we could translocate young ospreys to the Blyth valley. Unfortunately, the number of breeding birds in the Midlands (where we were to source the young birds) was lower than typically expected. As a result, we decided to delay the project to ensure we did not risk negative effects on the donor population. We are hopeful that there will be enough birds this year to enable us to start the translocation.
Planning for the future Ospreys are regular visitors to the Suffolk coast on migration and sightings are increasing. Many of the 300 pairs breeding in Scotland stop off in Suffolk on their migration north and the rich biodiversity makes the Blyth Estuary a favourite hunting spot. Much of the estuary, with river walls long ago eroded
away, provides an ideal wide expanse of wetland habitat, with nature reserves that include Hen Reedbeds. The Minsmere-Walberswick Special
We want to see this keystone species thriving once again Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar status means it is recognised for its international importance and it is this richness and mosaic of habitats, that makes it perfect for a translocation. What next? We are hopeful we can start our reintroduction this summer and we have all the infrastructure needed as well as licences in place. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has been part of this project so far, either by sharing their views in our online consultation last year, or by donating. Stay up to date suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ospreys
ALAMY
Righting wrongs East Anglia was once home to breeding ospreys and we want to see this keystone species thriving on our coast once more, hopefully spreading beyond Suffolk to our neighbouring counties and the Netherlands. We will be working with experts at the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust and Natural England to move a small number of chicks to the Blyth Estuary. Similar projects, like at Rutland Water and across Europe and North America, have shown how successful translocations can be for bolstering national populations and
encouraging species to move back into areas where they are now absent, due to factors like historical persecution or egg collecting. By taking confident action, we can go some way to righting past wrongs.
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next? What
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WHAT NEXT?
The decade to 2030 must be the one in which we reimagine a wilder future for Suffolk and put nature on a path to recovery.
PEACKOCK IN MEADOW: ERNIE JANES ALAMY
BY CHRISTINE LUXTON
Catch up
Read our 60th anniversary series online at suffolkwildlifetru st. org/60years
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Holding the line is not enough, we need to protect the nature we have and bring back what we have lost.
A
s our 60th anniversary year draws to a close, we turn from our reflections on the changes to our county in that time and look to our plans for the next decade. The choices the Trust, and indeed society, makes now must be bold. The decade to 2030 must be the one in which we reimagine a wilder future for Suffolk and put nature on a path to recovery at the scale and pace that is needed. We will be relentless in investing our energy into fighting nature's corner, but holding the line in the face of unrelenting pressure is simply not enough. Our collective efforts need to be on bringing nature back to our towns and countryside, so our county can once again bask in a joyful abundance of wildlife. This is the challenge Suffolk Wildlife Trust is determined to rise to – and the very foundation on which our county’s health and prosperity sits. As a member of Suffolk Wildlife Trust, 24
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The urgency of our times means absolutely everything we do has to count what should you expect of us in the next decade? The simple answer is more. More, because that is what is needed of us, locally, nationally, indeed, globally to turn around the juggernaut of natureloss and climate change and focus society’s efforts on repairing and renewing respect for the natural world. Undoubtedly, we will cherish the things that the Trust does brilliantly: our nature reserves, learning activities and our amazing network of volunteers. These are our DNA. ‘More’ means scalingup our activities to drive change at a landscape scale and societally, to shift the narrative decisively from protecting what nature we have, to bringing back what we have lost. ‘More’ means shifting
ABOVE: common frogs. BELOW:
redshank.
the pace of change. The urgency of our times means absolutely everything we do has to count, and ‘bringing nature back’ will be the yardstick against which we will measure every action, every decision, every request for your help, so that we are relentless in pursuit of our vision for a Wilder Suffolk. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to do nothing less. 30% for nature by 2030 For Suffolk Wildlife Trust, the next ten years will be about scale and pace, and we have set three goals to steer us. The first is for 30% of Suffolk’s land and seas
WHAT NEXT?
Wilder, more connected landscapes will be more resilient to climate change – and enable nature to play a vital role in addressing the impacts of a changing climate.
Inspiring 1 in 4 people to actively help nature would put nature at the heart of daily life and decision-making.
BUMBLE BEES; CORN BUNTINGS; PEOPLE: ALAMY
to be connected and well looked after for nature by 2030. This will allow our species and habitats to recover and restore the abundance of everyday nature – and be more able to adapt to a changing climate. Whilst we have lost so much of our wildlife in Suffolk, so we can bring it back – piece by piece. A new hedge here, a restored pond there, wildlife gardens, field margins, rewilded areas, community spaces, businesses, new natural woodlands, restored rivers and wetlands. We will continue to cherish our nature reserves. In our quest for 30% they are the priceless jewels in the landscape. In our wilder future they will have a renewed sense of purpose as the ecological hotspots that can seed nature’s recovery to the surrounding landscape. We will continue to seize
opportunities to buy land to increase the size of our reserves, and also aim to establish two new landscape-scale reserves where nature can recover through rewilding. Collective impact 30% is a big ambition. We are under no illusion of the scale of the challenge. It will need a collective effort by our county. There are so many ways to make Suffolk wilder again if enough of us care – and over our six decades our members, volunteers and supporters have shown the potency of locally led action. Inspiring and harnessing this collective effort is the second of our big goals. We want to get one in four people on nature’s side, so that pro-nature choices become normal in society. This January, in an
Our goal of 30% of land and sea in recovery for nature by 2030 needs to be a unifying ambition for the county. We are delighted that Suffolk County Council has adopted 30% as the biodiversity goal for its own land and activities, from farms to roadside verges, flood-management to community spaces.
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
REDSHANK: ADOBE STOCK
COMMON FROGS: ALEX FIELDHOUSE ALAMY
Our advisers will help Suffolk's farmers bring nature back.
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Bringing back nature
GIRL: SHUTTERSTOCK; COUPLE: JOHN FERGUSON
What to expect of us
30% of land and sea in recovery for nature by 2030 Over the past year, we have recruited a team of Farmland, River and Community Wildlife Advisers to bring about a step change in our impact beyond our nature reserves. They will champion landscape-scale approaches to nature’s recovery. INFOGRAPHIC: LISA CURTIS
We will share the work of the new team in a regular Wilder Landscapes section of your Wild Suffolk magazine. See p28 to discover the impact our River Wildlife Advisers are having.
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One in four people acting for nature
New ways of volunteering
Expect to hear us talking more about bio-abundance as well as biodiversity.
We want to make the world of nature a welcoming and inclusive place, to enable more people to be part of the Trust and do their bit for wildlife.
As part of Team Wilder, we will work with others to support and enable everyone to play their part in bringing nature back where we live, work or go to school. This collective, community-led action will help to restore the abundance of everyday nature and bring wildlife to the fore in individual and community decision making.
Whether hand-delivering our magazine, data crunching, making the tea at a fundraising event, sharing wildlife knowledge with others, access audits, wildlife surveys or beach cleans, we’d like there to be an opportunity to help for everyone.
WHAT NEXT? independent survey commissioned by Suffolk Wildlife Trust, 91% of people told us they were interested in nature, and almost half of these went further, saying they were ‘very interested’. Our challenge is to turn this interest into action. We will put more emphasis on supporting community-led activities and developing training networks, so we create ripples of activity which build their own momentum and reach way beyond the staff and volunteers that set them off. Our third goal is all about those ripples. If we are to drive positive change for nature at scale and pace, then we need to empower our staff and volunteers to lead that change. That means investing in our current team, but also reimagining volunteering, so we find new ways to enable more people, and crucially a new generation of nature activists, to take the baton from us and make it theirs.
Last autumn, The Wildlife Trusts welcomed the passing of an Environment Act, which will help the UK Government make significant progress in tackling the climate and nature crises. Collective action across all Wildlife Trusts for more than three years has been instrumental, not only in securing the legislation, but also ensuring that it was strengthened. Whilst some areas fell short of our ambitions, the inclusion of a legally-binding 2030 species abundance target has the potential to boost efforts to reverse the decline in wildlife. Planning applications must provide Biodiversity Net Gain, encouraging developers to put nature at the heart of their work, whilst Local Nature Recovery Strategies will create the framework for a national system of interconnected sites for nature. Plans for the Office for Environmental Protection have been improved by ministers, but it still fails to be independent. We will keep pushing, to put nature at the heart of decision making – local and national.
Find out more suffolkwildlifetrust.org/team-wilder STAG BEETLE: NICK UPTON NATUREPL.COM
STANDING TOGETHER
In the same way we lost so much of our wildlife we can bring it back piece by piece
Stag beetles, swifts & hedgehogs are among the many species that would benefit from making our towns wilder.
Chris Luxton is CEO for Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
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Just around the
river bend River valleys are a key landscape feature in Suffolk, home to some of our most iconic species, like water voles, otters, and kingfishers. They act as blue wildlife corridors, connecting different habitats and provide multiple ecosystem services. And yet, humans have abused rivers by changing the way they flow through the landscape or releasing waste into them. Suffolk Wildlife Trust is working to change this.
OTTER: TONY PHELPS ALAMY
BY ALICE WICKMAN
Otters are a keystone species in rivers and waterways.
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WILDER LANDSCAPES
O
ur rivers are home to a myriad of species and provide a vital resource for humans, and yet they have faced years of degradation. Even though we know the damaging impacts we are having on these fragile ecosystems, sewage and other pollution enters our rivers, including making national headline news last year. Suffolk Wildlife Trust wants to change this and has been working on river conservation projects for over 20 years. Our earlier work focused on water vole conservation, which helped lead to the recovery of water voles across every major river catchment in Suffolk. In more recent years, our work has focused on river restoration projects, which aim to repair some of the damage done to our rivers through human modifications and pollution.
Restoring natural processes In a healthy river system, with natural meanders, pools, and riffles, a wide range of species will thrive. Some prefer the sheltered waters on the inside of a river bend, while others benefit from faster-flowing sections. Plant material in the river channel provides cracks and crevices for invertebrates to hide in, in turn providing food for fish and other animals. It was once thought that rivers should carry water away from towns and villages as quickly as possible, so they were diverted, straightened, confined to concrete channels, or even forced underground. When our rivers are engineered in this way, the brilliant variety of flow patterns and habitat structures are taken away. Through our river restoration work, we aim to
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WILDER LANDSCAPES recreate this variety and allow rivers to recover their natural processes. In 2018, Suffolk Wildlife Trust completed two river restoration projects at our Knettishall Heath and Black Bourn Valley Nature Reserves, and in 2019, three more at different sites in the River Blyth Catchment. During each, we worked in partnership with the Environment Agency to create different habitat features and flow patterns by either physically recreating a meandering river channel using machinery or the installation of woody material into the river channel. A whole-catchment approach Looking beyond our nature reserves, and thinking bigger, river restoration depends on enlisting the support of groups of landowners within a catchment. Since 2019, we have been working in the River Blyth catchment, taking a whole-catchment approach to improve the river habitat and address water quality issues. A catchment-wide approach is necessary as no single site along a river valley is isolated: farms, communities and businesses are all connected by the river. As well as the in-channel work on the River Blyth, we have engaged with over 30 land managers and advised on sensitive river management, as well as methods for preventing pollution and sediment runoff entering the river. Over 20 volunteer River Wardens have been trained to monitor the health of the river through invertebrate surveys and water quality monitoring. This gives us a
picture of what is going on in the catchment and can help us to identify pollution incidents in the future. The River Warden volunteers also planted over 1,000 trees and shrubs along the banks of the River Blyth to improve the river habitat and help mitigate the impacts of climate change. As well as their amazing carbon storage potential, trees on the riverbank serve an important function for wildlife, with their extensive root systems providing shelter for young fish and protecting the riverbank from erosion. The trees also offer shade, which helps regulate water temperatures in the summer. We used locallysourced native species like alder, oak and willow. These interventions, combined with others across the whole river catchment, allow us to tackle the issues at scale, rather than at isolated sites. New ways of working A whole-catchment approach to river restoration is a new way of working for Suffolk Wildlife Trust, but our successful work on the River Blyth will act as a model for future projects. We aim to deliver
Marsh harriers Wild rivers were hunted to blend into the extinction and then countryside, badly impacted by twisting with the pesticides like DDT. ebb and flow of the landscape.
Suffolk has great potential water vole habitat with river valleys, coastal grazing marshes, ponds, ditches, lakes, fens and reedbeds.
The River Deben is one of Suffolk's iconic rivers. The Deben Estuary is nationally protected as a SSSI, and internationally as an SPA.
Brushwood mattresses on the Little Ouse at Knettishall Heath were built using local timber secured to the riverbed. These form an area for wetland plants to provide cover for young fish.
Alice Wickman is Wilder Rivers Adviser for Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
larger-scale river restoration projects that will link the river to its floodplain, benefiting wildlife in the wider landscape as well as the river channel. All this amazing river restoration work helps us ensure that species like the water vole continue to have a home in Suffolk. Our work on rivers forms a key part of our vision, including our goal to see 30% of Suffolk managed for nature by 2030. Much more hard work will be needed to ensure that Suffolk’s rivers recover and our wildlife thrives.
TREE PLANTING ON RIVER BLYTH: SARAH GROVES
RIVER DEBEN: STEVE AYLWARD; WILLOW: ALAMY; WATER VOLE: GAVIN DURRANT
Our successful work on the River Blyth will act as a model for future projects
Get in touch If you own land within a river catchment, our Wilder Rivers Adviser can offer advice on how you can manage your land for wildlife. Contact alice. wickman@suffolkwildlifetrust.org
STEVE AYLWARD
RIVER WORK
Major works at Black Bourn Valley nature reserve created a more natural meandering channel and reconnected it to the floodplain. A flow deflector on the River Blyth, made from timber fixed to the riverbed diverts the flow of water, encouraging natural meanders to form. These structures are used by wildlife, including otters.
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Of
dragons and damsels This summer, enter a prehistoric world of predatory dragons, elegant damsels, aerial battles, territories and beauty, by getting up close to Suffolk’s dragonflies and damselflies. BY STEVE AYLWARD
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Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
Norfolk hawker dragonfly.
weaponry: emperors, darters, hawkers, chasers, skimmers and clubtails. The precise number of dragonfly and damselfly species recorded in Suffolk is a somewhat moveable feast these days, with climate change almost certainly being the driver for new colonisers and fascinating records of new migrant or vagrant species. Suffice to say, over 30 different species could easily be recorded in Suffolk in most years. Carlton Marshes claims the record for the highest number of species recorded on a British nature reserve, which currently stands at 26 and includes the first UK record of the yellow-spotted emerald dragonfly, in 2018.
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
NORFOLK HAWKER: KEVIN ELSBY ALAMY
D
ragonflies, along with their smaller, more delicate and rather less energetic cousins the damselflies, can be found in virtually every freshwater habitat, with many species also ranging widely in woods, heaths and gardens in search of insect prey. They typically start to emerge from the water in mid- to late-April, with numbers peaking during the warmest summer months. It is not unusual for one or two species to still be on the wing in early November, before cold weather finally brings their flight season to an end. Even their names evoke ancient history, stateliness blended with agility, prowess and
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Long-haul flyers Dragonflies can travel long distances and prolonged southerly or easterly airstreams can enable several species to cross the Channel or southern North Sea with ease. This boosts the numbers of more migratory dragonflies in summer and early autumn, as well as bringing in vagrants. Add in the effects of climate change (notably milder winters and prolonged warm spells) and the conditions are perfect for more temperature sensitive European species to try their luck in the UK. To date, six species have successfully colonised Britain since 1996, including the willow emerald damselfly in 2007, which is now widespread in Suffolk, and the red-veined darter that is almost certainly now breeding in one or two locations in the county. Although enabling new species to reach Britain, climate change may well have a serious negative impact on others. Extreme weather events are increasingly frequent and prolonged hot spells that dry out ponds and streams will result in local extinctions. Extreme flood events can kill large numbers of juvenile dragonflies, while sea-level rise will likely result in the loss or salinisation of many coastal freshwater habitats. More mobile species will quickly recolonise suitable habitats as soon as conditions return to normal, but undoubtedly the coming decades will be 34
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
ABOVE: Southern
hawker female laying eggs. RIGHT: Four-spotted chaser. FAR RIGHT: Ruddy
darter.
both a time of opportunity and considerable challenge for dragonflies. Restoration and renewal Restoring and improving the condition of wetland habitats across Suffolk is hugely beneficial for dragonflies and the Trust is leading the way with projects to restore ponds and rivers. The new and restored wetland habitats at Carlton Marshes are one reason why the reserve has such an impressive tally of species, and the new ponds recently dug at Black Bourn Valley and Foxburrow will soon be teeming with aquatic insects, including dragonflies and damselflies. River restoration projects reshape the watercourse by creating riffles (shallow
stony features), pools and natural deadwood features. This establishes the perfect conditions for many dragonfly species, while planting riverside trees creates shelter and helps regulate water temperatures during hot weather. More troubling and difficult to address are the issues around agricultural nutrients and pesticides found in many rivers and watercourses. Add in sewage discharges from treatment works and ultimately not a single river in Suffolk currently meets water quality targets. Past and future As with butterflies, encounters with dragonflies are uplifting experiences, and through the summer months, should be
Restoring wetland habitats across Suffolk is hugely beneficial for dragonflies
FOUR-SPOTTED CHASER; RUDDY DARTER: ALAMY
SOUTHERN HAWKIER: ALAMY
It is easy to encourage dragonflies and damselflies to visit your garden. A small pond (without fish) is perfect for several species, including broad-bodied chaser or large red damselfly and one or two species will even use a minipond such as a half oak barrel.
5 SPECIES TO SPOT
EMPEROR DRAGONFLY UK's A 13x13cm bulkiest hole dragonfly. at the Males base ofhave the a blue abdomen fence is with all you a central need.dark line.
HAIRY DRAGONFLY Emerges earlier than similar species. Long, thin wing spots.
BROAD-BODIED BROAD BODIED CHASER Broad, ‘fat’ dragonfly. Males have a blue abdomen, females golden brown.
Dragonflies and damselflies can be enjoyed at every Suffolk Wildlife Trust nature reserve, but Lackford Lakes and Carlton Marshes are hotspots for the variety of species and the best views. Redgrave & Lopham Fen is similarly a great place to enjoy these wonderful insects. May through to August are the best months.
Steve Aylward is Head of Property & Projects for Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
Six species have colonised Britain since 1996 an everyday occurrence for anyone living in Suffolk. These fascinating creatures are among the fastest and oldest insects in the world. Fossils of very large dragonfly ancestors, like the meganeura, survive from 300 million years ago, with wingspans up to 75cm. Whilst modern day species may not be quite so large, they are just as special. We know what steps can be taken to help these insects recover and repopulate every corner of Suffolk, but it will take a concerted effort by landowners, farmers, Government agencies and others to make this happen. Find out more suffolkwildlifetrust. org/suffolkdragonflies
COMMON DARTER Found into late autumn. Males are dull to bright orange-red.
MAN WITH BINS, ILLUSTRATIONS: ALAMY
WHERE TO SEE IN SUFFOLK
LARGE RED DAMSELFLY Our most common red damselfly, with a red and black abdomen.
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
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6 places to see wild churchyards
L
ovingly tended over generations, churchyards are refuges for wildlife and for the communities they serve. Each churchyard is unique, entwined with local history and influenced by the religious buildings within them, and importantly for wildlife, they can provide vital natural corridors enabling wildlife to move around the landscape. Suffolk has seen a staggering 90% loss of herb-rich meadows during the last half of century. However, embraced by their boundary walls or hedges, rare remnants of species-rich grassland often thrive in churchyards. The arrival of summer sees an erupting of colour, wildflowers appear within the delicate grasses, including many Suffolk rarities. Meadows buzz with bees and butterflies busily refuelling. Beetles and lizards might sunbathe on mown paths and warm pavers. Mature trees and hedges chatter with nesting birds as they flit between neighbouring woodlands, gardens, parks and hedges in search of extra caterpillar supplies. For a moment of wild, peaceful reflection this summer, take in a stroll around a wild churchyard. Visit your local patch or explore our top picks across the county.
DAISY HAWKINGS
Bardwell Church, Bury St Edmunds.
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Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
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5
4
1
6
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See the spectacle
for yourself
1 St Mary’s Church, Coddenham A calcareous wildflower-rich meadow, brought alive in a gentle summer breeze with quaking grass, small scabious and lady’s bedstraw all waving in unison. Where: IP6 9PZ. 2 St Peter’s Church, Brandon Meadow saxifrage blossoms amongst mountain-like yellow meadow ant hills whilst rue-leaved saxifrage flourishes in pavement cracks. Where: IP27 0JE. 3 St Mary, Virgin and Mother Church, Capel St Mary Visit late summer and early autumn to see golden waxcap fungi, a specialist of low-fertility grassland. Where: IP9 2EL. 4 St Mary’s Church, Tuddenham There have been over 60 species of wildflower recorded here to date including meadow clary, with striking blue flowers and aromatic leaves. Where: IP28 6SE. 5 St Peter the Apostle Church, South Elmham Exuberant oxeye daisy flowers and exquisite orchids bring cheer to the summer churchyard, whilst wall flowers brighten the tower walls. Where: NR35 1NG. 6 All Saints Church, Sudbourne From this stunning setting you can enjoy forest walks to Captain’s Wood Nature Reserve, as well as south to Orford. Where: IP12 2BP.
Team
Wilder
Get in touch We offer advice on managing churchyards for wildlife: teamwilder@suffolkwildlifetrust.org
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
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LARK'S FLIGHT
Lark's flight set to soar over Suffolk
This year, the 12th of October will mark composer Vaughan Williams’ 150th birthday. Suffolk Wildlife Trust is proud to be working with the Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra on a special tour to celebrate this landmark anniversary. BY AMY RUSHTON
SKYLARK: ADOBE STOCK / ISTOCK
V
oted on multiple occasions to be Britain’s most popular piece of classical music, Vaughan Williams’ ethereal piece The Lark Ascending was, to my teenage ears, completely unlike anything I’d heard before. I was mesmerised by its dark and light contrasts and the best musical representation of a skylark’s song a human could produce. The soaring notes seemed to capture how I felt about the countryside and nature, with their blended sense of loss and rejoicing. 38
Wild Suffolk | Spring / Summer 2022
This year, the Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) will tour Suffolk with their performance entitled Lark’s Flight over Suffolk. The Lark Ascending forms the centrepiece of the programme, alongside many of his lesser-known works and folk tunes. Suffolk Wildlife Trust will be speaking at each performance, too, particularly about skylark
ABOVE RIGHT:
Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra in rehearsal.
conservation. Our Learning Team is also working with the SPO on a programme to enthuse school pupils about skylark conservation, as well as exploring how nature can inspire us. It is easy to forget how this ode to the English pastoral landscape was composed in 1914, supposedly as Williams watched ships engaging in fleet exercises at the start of World
LARK'S FLIGHT
THE LARK'S FLIGHT OVER SUFFOLK PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal Thursday 30 June 7.30pm Eye Town Hall Friday 1 July 7.30pm Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall Sunday 3 July 4pm Carlton Marshes Visitor Centre Friday 8 July 7.30pm Felixstowe St Andrew's Church Saturday 9 July 7.30pm Hadleigh Church Sunday 10 July 4pm Tickets available from: Theatre Royal Box Office, Bury St Edmunds booking@theatreroyal.org 01284 769505
War I. Memories of the English landscape and its wildlife would sustain soldiers facing the horrors of that war. For example, letters sent between the Stopher brothers and their Suffolk family are full of poignant references to (and even pressed examples of) wildflowers, which, sadly, they would not live to see again. The Lark Ascending endures as a fitting tribute to the skylark, one of our best loved species of Suffolk farmland. It
remains on the conservation Red List, having experienced a staggering decline of 62% between 1970 and 2015. Fortunately, skylarks are making a comeback in Suffolk thanks to painstaking conservation work, including the efforts of our Wilder Landscapes Team and the landowners we work with. Endeavours are being made to stem the overuse of pesticides and encourage farming practices which provide habitat for skylarks to nest, such
ORCHESTRA: PATRICIA MATHIESON; VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: ALAMY; LANDSCAPE: JOHN FERGUSON
Vaughan Williams’ (pictured) The Lark Ascending evokes the English pastoral landscape.
as allowing winter stubble to remain and cutting sileage on grassland later in the season. Successfully breeding on many of our reserves, a singing, soaring skylark brings joy to anyone who hears it. We hope that the Lark’s Flight over Suffolk will increase awareness of this precious species whilst simultaneously bringing the beauty of Williams’ seminal work to a new generation.
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wild e UK’s #30DaysWild is th nge from month-long challe The Wildlife Trusts
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BULLFINCH: ALAMY
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RUNNING WITH FLOWER CROWN, WALKING WITH SCARF © ELEANOR CHURCH
ople went WILD in pe 0 00 0, 75 er ov , ar ye Last aking time for June. Join them by m 30 days. nature every day for
