| Hen Reedbeds | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Nature reserve |
| Location | Southwold, Suffolk |
| OS grid | TM471771 |
| Area | 55 hectares |
| Managed by | Suffolk Wildlife Trust |
Hen Reedbeds is a 55 hectare nature reserve near the North Sea coast of the English county of Suffolk. The reserve is located in the Blyth valley between Reydon and Blythburgh, approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of Southwold. The marshes make up part of the Suffolk Coast National Nature Reserve along with reserves at Walberswick and Dingle Marshes. [1] [2]
The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than 970 kilometres (600 mi) long and 580 kilometres (360 mi) wide, with an area of 570,000 square kilometres (220,000 sq mi).
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
A county is a geographical region of a country used for administrative or other purposes, in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French conté or cunté denoting a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count (earl) or a viscount. The modern French is comté, and its equivalents in other languages are contea, contado, comtat, condado, Grafschaft, graafschap, Gau, etc..
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The reserve is owned by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust and is managed in conjunction with Natural England and the RSPB. [2] [3] It is part of the Minsmere-Walberswick Heaths and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest, as well as being a Natura 2000 site, a Ramsar Site and within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. [3] [4]
Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT) describes itself as the county's "nature charity – the only organisation dedicated wholly to safeguarding Suffolk's wildlife and countryside." It is a registered charity, and its headquarters is at Brooke House in Ashbocking, near Ipswich. It was founded in 1961, and is one of 47 wildlife trusts covering the Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As of March 2017, it has 13,200 members, and it manages 3,120 hectares of land in 60 nature reserves, most of which are open to the public. It had an income of £3.9 million in the year to 31 March 2017.
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access the natural environment.
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man. SSSI/ASSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in the United Kingdom are based upon them, including national nature reserves, Ramsar sites, Special Protection Areas, and Special Areas of Conservation. The acronym "SSSI" is often pronounced "triple-S I".
The reserve was created in 1999 from an area of degraded grassland adjacent to the A1095 road. [5] [6] It was specifically created to provide a range of freshwater habitats and is an important site for bitterns and marsh harriers within the UK. [1] [3] [6]
The A1095 road is an A road in the English county of Suffolk. It runs from Southwold on the North Sea coast to the A12 London to Great Yarmouth road at Henham between Blythburgh and Wangford. It is around 4 miles (6.4 km) in length and is single carriageway throughout. The entire length of the road lies within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The Eurasian bittern or great bittern is a wading bird in the bittern subfamily (Botaurinae) of the heron family Ardeidae. There are two subspecies, the northern race breeding in parts of Europe and Asia, as well as on the northern coast of Africa, while the southern race is endemic to parts of southern Africa. It is a secretive bird, seldom seen in the open as it prefers to skulk in reed beds and thick vegetation near water bodies. Its presence is apparent in the spring, when the booming call of the male during the breeding season can be heard. It feeds on fish, small mammals, fledgling birds, amphibians, crustaceans and insects.
The marsh harriers are birds of prey of the harrier subfamily. They are medium-sized raptors and the largest and broadest-winged harriers. Most of them are associated with marshland and dense reedbeds. They are found almost worldwide, excluding only the Americas.
