Nature

The wetland habitat at Lattersey is home to water voles, water shrews, insects such as dragonflies and damselflies, rare beetles and moths. Also present are frogs, toads, water scorpion, water stick insects and sticklebacks. In and around the water are reeds, sedges and other wetland plants.

In the drier grassland areas, twayblade, bee, and common spotted orchid can be found, and the dense scrub habitat on site provides an important source of food and shelter for birds such as sparrowhawk, woodcock and tawny owl.
Evidence of feeding goat moths can be seen on tree trunks in the form of small round holes and an associated dusting of sawdust.

Management of the reserve includes cutting of the reedbeds and grazing of the meadows by White Park cattle.

Ancient woodland makes up the majority of the site, with small-leaved lime being the predominant tree species. Small-leaved lime has a restricted distribution and is nationally uncommon. The reserve has been coppiced for centuries, types including ash-lime, oak-lime, birch-oak, ash-maple, and hazel-ash. Of particular interest however, is the lime and sessile oak coppice, as its presence here represents one of the very few locations where it is found in the East Midlands. Coppicing of the woodland is still in operation today. Trees are felled on a rotational cycle of 15-20 years, creating sunny glades and areas of dense shrubby regrowth. Not only does this create added interest for visitors, it also forms a more diverse habitat for wildlife.

The ground flora within the woodland is very rich; a result of the underlying geology, and many locally rare plants are found here. These include lily-of-the-valley, wood spurge, great wood-rush, violet helleborine, nettle-leaved bell flower, fly orchid and columbine. In spring there are also spectacular displays of woodland flowers including bluebell, primrose, wood anemone and wild garlic.

Located within the reserve are also several large areas of bracken, which is often associated with tree pipits; one of the less common species from a good representative breeding bird fauna.

Wicken Fen is one of Britain's most diverse wetland habitats, with over 7000 species recorded on site.

Resident birds include great crested grebe, teal, kingfisher, sparrowhawk, great spotted and green woodpecker, and 5 species of owl; barn, little, tawny, long-eared and short-eared. Visiting birds include bittern, golden plover, marsh harrier and whooper swan. In total, over 200 species of bird can be seen on the reserve.

Wicken Fen is well known for its wealth of invertebrate species. the reserve supports a wide variety of beetles, spiders and snails, and damselflies found here include emerald, common blue and azure. Dragonfly species such as emperor, black-tailed skimmer and brown hawker are also abundant. In addition the reserve is home to over 1000 species of moth, including the rare reed leopard moth. Recorded butterflies include the green hairstreak, brown argus, speckled wood and brimstone.

Mammals found at the reserve include 6 species of bat, otter, mole, 3 species of shrew, fox, stoat, weasel, brown hare, harvest mouse, water vole and 3 types of deer.

A plethora of plants are found at Wicken Fen; rare ones include great fen sedge, fen violet, milk parsley, marsh pea, tubular water-dropwort, and dwarf stonewort. The site is also important in a European context for its mixed fen characterised by purple moor-grass.

Lady's Wood: in addition to the marvelous display of bluebells seen in Lady's Wood during the spring, lesser celandine, greater stitchwort and dog's mercury are also found in the woodland, as is wild garlic (ramsons). When tree felling occurred in 1951, some of trees were not of a quality high enough for timber and so were left where thay fell. This deadwood now provides and excellent habitat for a variety if insects and fungi. Of the trees that remain, there are several large crab apples, as well as English elm, common hawthorn and midland hawthorn. Birds that have been observed in the woodland include tawny owls and 3 species of woodpecker; greater spotted, lesser spotted and green.

Management of Lady's Wood includes retaining the deadwood for insects and fungi, and coppicing to achieve structural diversity.

Upwood Meadows: The three meadows at this site lie above badly drained clay and over 180 plants typical of ancient grassland are found here. Of the three fields Great Bently is considered to be the most impressive, having never been fertilised, and becomes golden yellow with cowlsips in spring. Other plants include common knapweed, great burnet and a large colony of green-winged orchids.

Management of Upwood Meadows entails grazing the meadows during the summer and autumn to maintain low soil fertility.

Plants: over 400 species of plant are present at the reserve. Many are native and although once widespread they are now confined to areas such as Woodwalton Fen, where suitable wetland conditions persist. Other species have been stocked from elsewhere in Britain, or are foreign species planted by naturalists earlier in the 20th century.

Rare native species found on the site are the fen violet and the fen woodrush. More common species that are present include ragged robin, lesser spearwort and marsh pea. In the areas of ancient acid peat bog myrtle, tormentil, saw sedge and purple moor grass can be seen.

Invertebrates: over 800 species of beetle have been observed at Woodwalton Fen and almost a quarter of these are known to be rare in Britain. The reserve also supports a wide range of butterflies and approximately 1000 types of moth including rare species such as marsh carpet, lunar yellow underwing, white spotted pinnion and silky wave. Almost half of the total number of species of dragonflies in Britain are found on the reserve; notable ones include the scarce chaser and white legged damselfly

Birds: the diverse vegetation at Woodwalton Fen attracts a great range of birds that breed or visit during the winter months. The provision of willow baskets has encouraged long-eared owls to nest, and marsh harriers have recently bred in the reed beds, along with reed buntings and reed warblers. Hen harriers, bitterns and bearded reedlings feed and roost in the shelter of the reeds during winter.

Mammals: a notable species of mammal present at the reserve is the Chinese water deer. A small animal, it was introduced into Britain but escaped from captivity at Woburn and now there is a resident population on the site. Muntjac deer, another introduced species, are also found on site but unlike the Chinese water deer can cause damage to native plants and are therefore a concern.

Other mammals that may be spotted are water voles, shrews, stoats and weasels.

Old limestone quarries: this diverse habitat is ideal for a wide ariety of invertebrates, including the green tiger beetle. Glow worms can also be seen here during the summer. There are many rare wildflower species present that attract butterflies such as the grizzled skipper. Birds such as whitethroat, bullfinch and the green woodpecker also reside here.

Woodland: ash, oak and field maple are the main tree species found in the forest and a diverse ground flora is also present. resident birds include greater and lesser woodpeckers, tree creepers and nuthatches. The rides through the woodland are managed to ensure an adequate provision of light to the forest floor, encouraging the growth of flowers such as nettle-leaved bellflower. The sunlight also means that invertebrates thrive here, feeding on nectar from plants that grow on the edge of the rides.

Grasslands: this area of the reserve is currently being restored and will hopefully encourage numerous invertebrates into the area. Work of this kind is important as 80% of limestone grasslands are estimated to have vanished over the last 60 years, but they constitute a very valuable habitat.