| Tollesbury Wick | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Nature reserve |
| Location | Tollesbury, Essex |
| OS grid | TL 970 103 |
| Area | 242.8 hectares |
| Managed by | Essex Wildlife Trust |
Tollesbury Wick is a 242.8 hectare nature reserve east of Tollesbury in Essex. It is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. [1]
Tollesbury is a village in England, located on the Essex coast at the mouth of the River Blackwater. It is situated nine miles east of the historic port of Maldon and twelve miles south of Colchester.
Essex is a county in the south-east of England, north-east of London. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and London to the south-west. The county town is Chelmsford, the only city in the county. For government statistical purposes Essex is placed in the East of England region.
The Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) is one of 47 wildlife trusts which cover the United Kingdom. The EWT was founded in 1959, and it describes itself as Essex's leading conservation charity, which aims to protect wildlife for the future and the people of the county. As of January 2017, it has over 34,000 members and runs 87 nature reserves, 2 nature parks and 11 visitor centres.
This is coastal freshwater marsh which is grazed by sheep, and is worked by traditional methods which encourage wildlife. Areas of ungrazed rough pasture have badgers, and field voles and pygmy shrews are hunted by hen harriers and short-eared owls. [1]
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae, which also includes the otters, polecats, weasels, and wolverines. They belong to the caniform suborder of carnivoran mammals. The 11 species of badgers are grouped in three subfamilies: Melinae, Mellivorinae, and Taxideinae. The Asiatic stink badgers of the genus Mydaus were formerly included within Melinae, but recent genetic evidence indicates these are actually members of the skunk family, placing them in the taxonomic family Mephitidae.
The field vole or short-tailed vole is a grey-brown vole, around four inches in length, with a short tail. It is one of the most common mammals in Europe, with a range extending from the Atlantic coast to Lake Baikal. These voles are found in moist grassy habitats, such as woodland, marsh or on river banks. Although they make shallow burrows, they usually build nests above ground. They are an important food source for owls and some other predators and their population size tends to peak and trough cyclically. Field voles breed prolifically, mainly in summer, but often all year round, even under snow. Females produce up to seven litters a year, each averaging from four to six young which are weaned after about fourteen days. The field vole is both widespread and common and is listed as being of "Least Concern" by the IUCN.
The Eurasian pygmy shrew, often known simply as the pygmy shrew, is a widespread shrew of northern Eurasia. It is the only shrew native to Ireland.
There is access from the sea wall only to a footpath to a bird hide.
