Wilding Notes

He finished off the scrape today, so now we leave the field alone, keep off it and wait to see what happens ... While I was there a buzzard and a male marsh harrier cruised by, followed later in the afternoon by two short-eared owls and a barn owl. Suggests there must be field voles around

Spoonbill flying low over SS, probably making for one of the pools between here and East Lane. Maybe when we have our own lagoon ...

A barn owl hunting over Shingle Marshes at 9pm. Made several stoops on prey it had detected – mostly field voles, probably. On one occasion it stayed down i the long grass for several minutes so had presumably caught and devoured something.

Reed bunting still singing at the southern end. Most of the other reedbed species have now fallen silent but the buntings are still in good voice. Handsome bird but a pity it isn't a more attractive song, to us at any rate ...

In preparation for rewilding Shingle Marshes, a new fence has been installed. This is to keep out both people and dogs: in order for the rewilding to be successful we have decided that no-one should have access (including Shingle Street residents), except for when essential work needs to be done. Many thanks to our sponsor, the "Farming in Protected Landscapes Program" run by DEFRA in conjunction with Suffolk and Essex Coast and Heaths, and to Matt and Richard who did the work.