A year of planning finally came to fruition when 188 water voles were released on the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust reserve at Thorley Wash on the River Stort. This joint project between Essex Wildlife Trust and Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust is intended to kick-start a recolonisation of the catchment after 8 years of successful mink control failed to result in a return of a natural water vole population. More than 50 volunteers and staff were been involved with the release and the work was featured on ITV Tonight on June 11th.
A mass migration of Painted Lady butterflies is predicted for this summer, after large numbers of the migratory species have been seen in southern Europe.
Marine Conservation Research have recently signed a data exchange agreement with us to become our newest partner organisation. We will be working with MCR to share cetacean data across Essex, and map records in the Greater Thames Estuary.
Essex Wildlife Trust was awarded funding from Natural England in early 2015 to digitise Essex coastal data for the Blackwater and Colne Estuary, collected by the National Rivers Authority in the early 1990s. This is part of our ongoing partnership work with Natural England and the Environment Agency.
Do you visit wildlife-rich sites like Belton Hills LNR, Hadleigh Country Park, Vange Hill, West Canvey Marshes or Wat Tyler Country Park regularly? If so the Greater Thames Marshes Nature Improvement Area programme is offering the opportunity for volunteers to learn about the flagship invertebrate species in these areas, and get involved in surveying them.