“A fabulous piece of old England sunk between uniform arable farmland – a real treasure.”

This delightful reserve is one of the last remnants of wet meadow in the Orwell Valley. The first meadow leads steeply down to a vale of wet grassland. This area of the valley bottom is best for wildflowers – rushes and meadowsweet bloom together with less common plants such as lesser spearwort, water figwort and breathtaking carpets of marsh marigold. In spring the show of southern marsh and common spotted orchid is spectacular and primeval forests of the strange, great horsetail which grows up to one and a half metres high, dwarf the smaller marsh horsetail.

The stream running along the meadow’s edge is rich in invertebrates and as a result hosts a thriving frog and toad population. It’s not unusual for grass snake to be seen here too, no doubt hunting down an amphibious snack.

Male redpoll

The wealth of flowering plants attracts many insects including hoverfly, damselfly and dragonfly. Alder scrub provides good nesting and roosting areas for a STAR variety of birds including winter visiting redpoll, siskin and chattering flocks of feeding goldfinch. Southern & Nacton Meadows is cared for by Suffolk Wildlife spotted Trust on behalf of the Orwell Estate.

Other Trust reserves nearby: Levington Lagoon, Newbourne Springs.

STAR SPECIES
Southern marsh
Common spotted orchid