Sawbridgeworth Marsh Blog

In the early 1970s, the current path system was established by the first groups of volunteers to working on the reserve. What they did was to dig out two spade spits on either side and heap the marsh clay etc into the middle to make a kind of raised path. Up until the 1990s these ditches were maintained by using top spades and crome forks to periodically dig out sections and maintain some open water. A shovel was adapted using a piece of black plastic bucket to make a ‘slubbing shovel’ as used to be used on the Norfolk Broads and Cambridgeshire Fens. In 2015 , the creation of Water Vole habitat was started when a 17 ton excavator was used to dig out ditches in the southern section of the reserve. The practice was hugely destructive as can be seen from the photographs and the idea was to create Water Vole ditches which would have water of sufficient depth for diving and swimming and also to create some more some substantial paths for the Voles to burrow i...

The life blood of the Marsh are the springs which rise up from deep down in the Chalk. The main spring head had become badly poached by cattle. Volunteers had put in place a new fence to exclude cattle and today's task was to cut down the vegetation and at least partially reinstate the spring head channel. The vegetation has been cleared so that the cattle will not be tempted to get through the fence to eat it and also it will give less aggressive and more interesting plants a chance to thrive.

If you visit the Marsh now these are some of the things that you can look out for. The Yellow Flag Iris is just coming on bloom throughout the reserve. One of the rarities for which the Marsh is a SSSI, is the Brown Sedge. There are a good number of damselflies flying along the ditches and the pond in the wood. Also in the ditches you will find the Celery-leaved Crowfoot on bloom. Ragged Robin can be found throughout the reserve. The Southern Marsh Orchids are just coming on bloom. They can be found at a number of places but start looking about 25 m down from the entrance. Also the pale pink Early Marsh Orchids are on bloom. Look in the paddock to the left of the entrance but beware that the ground is very soft and peaty underfoot. Look carefully along the sides of the paths and you will find the blue flower of Brooklime. G rowing on the water in the ditches you will find an unusual type of duckweed, the I...

Thursday 11 th  May. Cuckoo calling today and on 7 th  May. Butterflies- Peacock and Brimstone. First damselflies of the year. Banded Agrion (backwater) and Blue-Tailed Damselfly (pond in wood). Disappearance of apples from the feeding raft on the pond raised false hopes that Water Voles had arrived. Several pounds of apples later a Moorhen was revealed as the culprit and the feeding was so good that it brought friend along!

May 7th 2017. Not far down the path from the gate you will find two plants. Marsh Valerian and Bugle. Compare the Marsh Valerian with the Common Valerian we will see later on. Bugle is supposed to get its name not from the musical instrument but from mediaeval glass ornaments which were sewn into clothing, Bugle refers to the unusual purple/blue colour. Turn left along the boardwalk and go into the wood. If it is a sunny day you will find the following butterflies, Speckled Wood, Orange Tip (male and female), Green veined White and Peacock. Also in the wood you will find the bird feeder station on the left. Only common birds visiting at the moment notably Great Tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

A Common Bird Survey is being carried out by two local birders. Here is the result for the end of April. 29th April. Common Bird Survey. JS. Sedge Warbler. 4. Blackbird.1. Wren. 4. White throat. 2. Chaffinch. 2. Chiff Chaff. 2. Blackcap. 2. Dunnock.1. Willow Warbler. 1. Great Tit. 1. Reed Bunting. 2. Cettis Warbler. 1. Moorhen. 1. Mallard. 1.

Work being done on the Marsh 7th May 2017. Willow billets have been cut and are being led to stabilise some of the paths. Work is being done to reinstate the spring head as a feature. A Willow path has been laid and some scrub has been cleared in preparation for a fence. The fence will prevent cattle turning the area into a quagmire. You will be able to see the crystal clear spring water and a plant called Golden Saxifrage. Work is at present ongoing.