Trail cameras help us to monitor which species are visiting our reserves and allow us to see close-up behaviour without disturbing the wildlife. This week warden Gavin recorded lots of activity at Carlton Marshes, despite the freezing conditions.

Warden Jamie took these gorgeous frosty photos of a stunning Hen Reedbeds sunrise. His team have been hard at work installing a sluice to improve water control within the reedbed compartments. 

Warden Rachel and her team have been managing scrub on the reedbed at Snape Marshes. They need to keep on top of scrub within the reedbed compartments to prevent it from completely taking over the habitat. A few taller trees and bushes were left as singing perches for reed bunting - sparrow sized wetland birds which like to be higher than the reeds when they are singing.  

Cormorant Island (named because cormorants like to rest there) at Carlton Marshes has been reshaped this week. This will ensure we can control the water level over the island to keep vegetation growth down. The icy conditions did not deter our contractors Barry Day and Sons who did a fantastic job. 

Visitors should be able to enjoy some exciting wildlife encounters from the viewpoint at Carlton Marshes next year, as Site Manager Matt and his team have created a new scrape with a bank feature to encourage kingfishers to nest. 

The West Suffolk teams have been celebrating this week, they had Christmas celebrations for the volunteers and celebrated 10 years of Suffolk Wildlife Trust being at Knettishall Heath! They gathered all their teams to have some Christmas work parties clearing gorse and scrub to prevent it taking over on the heath and celebrated with spuds and sausage rolls on the fire, soup, mince pies and lots of other treats! They also had a lovely frosty walk around the heath together.