A huge THANK YOU to all the supporters, volunteers, members, and local businesses who helped us to secure £1million to complete the land purchase for ‘Martlesham Wilds’. 

We are excited to see this beautiful landscape develop into a stunning mosaic of habitats for wildlife. There is already a wealth of wildlife to be seen on our newest nature reserve. A stunning wasp spider was spotted this week, and dragonflies and kestrels have been seen hunting over the uncultivated wildflower rich meadow where our sheep are currently grazing. 

Warden Andy Hickinbotham got a double bonus whilst topping on Oulton Marshes recently, with remarkably close views of a buzzard and a short-eared owl from the tractor seat! 

Meadow saffron is currently in flower at Martins’ Meadows. A late-blooming flower, meadow saffron looks like a crocus, displaying similar pink flowers once its leaves have died back. It is also known as 'autumn crocus' or 'naked ladies'; the latter name stemming from the habit of the flowers appearing without any leaves. The plant is in fact a colchicum - a bulbous plant, but not a true crocus. The leaves appear in the spring and may be confused with wild garlic - a potentially lethal mistake, since all parts of the plant are poisonous. 

The weather has been unpredictable at Knettishall Heath this week, with sweltering conditions followed by torrential downpours, and also cool misty mornings. The scent of heather is glorious at this time of year, and the ponies are rather sleepy in the heat! 

The north east team cut and cleared a glade at Reydon Wood this week. These sunny open areas are important within a woodland setting as they promote both floral and invertebrate diversity. 

A couple of the marshes close to Carlton Marshes Visitor Centre have been baled for hay recently. The view might look a bit different next time you visit, but this will help keep an open wet grassland habitat into winter and next year for wildfowl and waders. 

Our wonderful Carlton Marshes volunteers helped clear out a fen of debris and a defunct fenceline ready for winter management this week. Next the team will cut this area with the softrak to maintain an open fen meadow habitat. 

Also our brilliant volunteers at Hen Reedbeds have been making improvements to visitor experience at Hen Reedbeds, where stock fence height was lowered to create a more open feel.  

We held a thank you evening for volunteers in north east Suffolk, where they were treated them to some delicious food, tomahawk throwing and a beautiful sunset. 

Lound Lakes species rich fen has been cut, rowed, raked and removed with the help of AURA Brand Solutions volunteering as part of their Wild Work Day. Business volunteering offers a unique and cost-effective alternative for an office away day and provides employees the opportunity to develop individual and team building skills whilst making a real difference for local wildlife. Find out more https://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/volunteer/business-volunteering