Suffolk Birci Report 2012
Carlton and Oulton Marshes Nature Reserve 2012/13 Matthew Gooch - Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Broads Reserves Warden Introduction The reserve lies in the Lower Waveney valley in the north-east comer of the county and is part of the Broads National Park, on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. The reserve surrounds the south-west córner of Lowestoft but exhibits some examples of the best habitats in the Broads. The site is also part of the Broads Living Landscape which begins further up the valley at Barsham and continúes along the valley to the Somerleyton Estate. The Oulton and Carlton Marshes complex began life in the 1980s when Suffolk Wildlife Trust was working alongside Suffolk County Council and Carlton Marshes was a tenanted farm. The farm tenancy finished, the farmer retired and a group of local people raised funds to help Suffolk Wildlife Trust purchase the Carlton Marshes reserve at approximately 44 hectares in size. The site was, as referred to today, the 'Broads in miniature' with its complex of habitats including grazing marsh, wet woodland, fen meadows, reedbed and open water. Previously many of the marshes had little or no agricultural pesticides or fertilisers added and remained flower-studded. The Oulton Marshes complex (approximately 16 hectares) was made up originally of a few fen meadows which were under the ownership of the Oulton Poors Trust and managed on a long-term lease as well as one fen that was purchased with a legacy from a Mrs Robinson. Originally lines of cricket bat willows lined the fen meadows but many became diseased and were taken down and burnt on site so as not to spread the disease. The 1990s saw the opening of the Carlton Marshes Visitor Centre and improvements to site access and management. The Oulton and Carlton Marshes reserve complex at this time was separated, especially for management purposes, as the man-made Oulton Dyke cut the site in two. After many years of advice and consultation with landowners surrounding the reserves, opportunities started to appear to extend the reserve complex. In 2009 Suffolk Wildlife Trust began purchasing additional land at Oulton and Carlton Marshes which to date has enlarged the two sites to a total of approximately 172 hectares. This land purchasing coincided with the creation of the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme which would aim at wildlife conservation on a landscape scale; this has seen further land owners adjacent to the nature reserve going into the scheme so complementing the conservation work which occurs at Carlton and Oulton Marshes, directly increasing the conservation-managed area by an additional 520 hectares. January — March The beginning of the year saw an influx of 20 Common Redshanks Tringa totanus on January 5th onto the newlycreated wide marsh dykes and Western Marsh Harrier Richard
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