A conservation update by Sarah Leedham, Reserve Manager at A Rocha UK’s Foxearth Meadows Nature Reserve.
Written for the November 2025 edition of Foxearth Meadows Newsletter.
This summer was a scorcher and many small mammals struggled to find their invertebrate food in the hard soil. One consequence of dry, hard soil is moles coming to the surface to search for food. I was lucky enough to see an adult mole lead young through the grass one June morning as I opened the moth trap. That was a privilege.
Dragonflies performed well with two sightings of notable species. What we presume was two pairs of Norfolk hawkers were seen mating – a pair on two separate occasions. Albert and Andrea managed to get photos of them (pictured above). This species has been recorded here several times over the last few years, but this is the first sign of possible breeding on the reserve. We need to find a larva, see an adult emerging or freshly emerged, or find an exuvia (the skin left behind by an emerging adult) to prove that breeding has taken place. We’ll keep you informed. This species has been expanding its range over recent years and can now be found as far west as Devon and as far north as Yorkshire and Lancashire. Our first scarce chaser for a couple of years was spotted by Judith, one of our volunteers. This is another species that has been expanding its range.
Water voles are making a comeback thanks to the ongoing control of American mink in East Anglia. Some of our Friday volunteers attended a Suffolk Wildlife Trust workshop to learn how to spot water vole field signs. Our photographs prompted a definite ‘yes’ when we showed them to Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Water Vole Officer. Soon after, I was very lucky to see one on the boardwalk early one morning (pictured above). We now know that they are established on the reserve.
Add in some amazing encounters with a visiting barn owl hunting over the meadow, captured by Keith Robson (you can see his footage on our Facebook page), and we have a summer to celebrate.
In spring I mapped marsh tit territories. This revealed that there are three territories along the river, which means that three pairs may have nested and bred. I think there are probably more marsh tits around than I originally thought. This delightful, smart-looking bird is on the Red List* because of dramatic declines in its numbers. If you visit and see a marsh tit (pictured left), look out for the two that we ringed last year.
Finally, a big thank you to members of the Essex Field Club for spending hours on the reserve searching for invertebrates. Chrysolina herbacea, a beetle with no common name, is just one of their many finds. This species is scarce in Eastern England and feeds on Water mint. The Field Club also found nationally rare weevils, as well as bugs, flies, ladybirds and other beetles. Their findings show that the reserve is important nationally, and very important regionally, for invertebrates. As he searched the undergrowth, Rob, a Field Club member, was heard to say that the reserve is ‘fantastic’! Need I say more?
*The current UK Red List for birds can be found in Birds of Conservation Concern 5. This is collated by ‘a coalition of the UK’s leading bird conservation and monitoring organisations’. Birds are placed on the Green, Amber or Red List. Those on the Red List are those of highest conservation concern. Seventy species are on the current Red List.
