Natural England - Stodmarsh: wildlife

Stodmarsh: wildlife

The great variety of habitats at Stodmarsh make this an important reserve for some of England’s most rare wildlife.

Birdlife

Stodmarsh is a fantastic spot for birdwatching, with a huge variety of birds visiting the reserve all year round.

The reedbeds and lagoons are great for ducks such as gadwall, shoveler and pochard ducks, all of which breed at Stodmarsh, while winter visitors include teal, wigeon and roosting hen harrier.

Both reed and sedge warbler can been seen on the reserve. The site also has large numbers of Cetti’s warbler, which unlike most warblers do not migrate and can be heard calling throughout the year. Cetti’s warbler is a recent colonist in Britain and Stodmarsh was amongst the first places they successfully bred.

Kingfishers, great crested grebes can be seen thought the year along with coot, moorhen, reed bunting, bearded reedling. In the spring and summer many migratory birds arrive such as, swallows, house martins and sand martins, and in May the reserve offers spectacular displays by hobbies, who feed up on dragonflyies, as well as swallows and martins, before moving off across southern England to breed.

Bittern
These rare birds breed and feed in the reedbeds and are dependent on them for survival. They even point their beaks in the air and sway to imitate the reeds when they feel threatened. Their favourite food are eels, which are plentiful in the clear waters of the River Stour and the surrounding lakes. They also eat fish such as roach and rudd. You are most likely to see a bittern at Stodmarsh in January, when birds migrate here from Europe. You may also hear a male bittern’s distinctive ‘boom’ during their mating season, between April and June.

Marsh harrier
The rare marsh harrier need wetlands to survive. At Stodmarsh they feed on small mammals, birds and marsh frogs that live around the ditches. During the breeding season, especially in April and May, the female does most of the egg incubation and brooding of the chicks and, if you are lucky, you may see their spectacular feeding display. The male harrier calls to the female as he flies over the nest, she then takes off and he passes the prey to the female in mid-air.

Invertebrates and plants

As well as birds the reserve also supports large variety of invertebrates. Stodmarsh has a good collections of dragonflies, including the early season hairy dragonfly, emperors, southern and migrant hawkers, and the beautiful banded demoiselle which you can see along the river bank.

The larvae of the dragonflies live in the water course which is important for other species like the shining ram's-horn snail. It loves ditches choked up with vegetation and is specially adapted to living in water with lower oxygen levels. Moths seen at the site include the reed dagger, obscure wainscot and silky wainscot, with the larvae of many of these species living in and feeding on the reed stems.

A number of rare plants are also found here such as the carnivorous greater bladderwort, greater spearwort, whorled water-milfoil, soft hornwort, bog bean, sharp-leaved pondweed, and rootless duckweed.

Water vole

Stodmarsh is one of a handful of nationally important sites for these small mammals, and it has a strong population as the network of ditches and deep reedbeds make a perfect home for them. Water voles are territorial and mark their patch with piles of their droppings in little latrines. Water voles are vegetarian and eat over 200 different plant species.

Download the Stodmarsh NNR Spotter Guide: (302kb)