News - Steart
Steart Marshes celebrates 5 years of volunteering!
This week sees a milestone for us here at Steart Marshes, it will be 5 years since the very first practical volunteer task...
14 February 2019
CIEEM visit Steart Marshes
On the 25th January, we had the pleasure of hosting a guided field visit to 40 members of CIEEM (Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management), reflecting on the ecological changes that the reserve has undergone since the breach in 2014...
13 February 2019
A muddy day in the life of a volunteer!
Volunteer Gwendy wrote about her first experience of digging drainage ditches at Steart. We thank our dedicated team of practical volunteers who help the wardens with this work - the nature of the job means it is often in cold, wet, muddy conditions.
9 February 2019
Dragonflies at Steart Marshes
19 species of dragonflies and damselflies were found at Steart Marshes in 2018. This survey work has confirmed that the freshwater parts of the Reserve merit recognition as a Priority Site of Local Importance in Somerset for dragonflies.
27 January 2019
Thank you to our amazing Steart volunteers!
On Tuesday we had our Christmas outing to thank our dedicated team of volunteers for all their time and hard work. Calculations show that over the past year our 52 volunteers have clocked up a remarkable 6984 hours between them! That is the equivalent of
18 December 2018
Wintering bird arrival
The last month has seen the arrival at Steart of a few of our favourite wintering birds. Firstly, short-eared owls have arrived back and are displaying excellently after only one sighting last winter. A hen harrier has been sighted regularly, roosting s
27 November 2018
Severn Estuary Partnership Forum 2018
We had the pleasure of being invited to exhibit a stand at the Severn Estuary Partnership (SEP) forum in Newport last week. It was a great opportunity to talk to people working in and around the estuary about Steart Marshes and the value of working wetlan
12 November 2018
Walking for Health
Walking for Health is the national organisation affiliated to the Ramblers which seeks to encourage walking for a more active lifestyle and oversees local initiatives. Sedgemoor District Council runs a monthly programme of walks lead by volunteers, lastin
7 November 2018
A Day in the Life of Sarah-Jane - Practical Reserves Volunteer
Steart has been one of my favourite stamping grounds for quite some time now. The openness and tranquillity make it the perfect place to restore the soul, fill your lungs with clean air and, of course, see some of our amazing wildlife. It had never really
28 September 2018
A Day in the Life of Megan - Practical Reserve Volunteer
The trill of the alarm clock at 8am on a Sunday morning may not appeal to everyone, however not everyone gets to spend their free time volunteering at Steart Marshes (unless you decide to after reading this of course!). The excitement of the days challeng
13 September 2018
Water Vole Monitoring
This month we have started to install water vole rafts in some of the freshwater ditches across the reserve. Using marine plywood and fencing pins to create platforms that the water vole can use as feeding stations or territory markers. We can then survey
31 August 2018
Dragonfly Training
This summer we were lucky enough to have had Dave Smallshire from the British Dragonfly Society on the reserve to record dragonflies and damselflies. In preparation for future years, Dave also included the training up of members of staff and volunteers al
30 August 2018
A BIG thank you to our volunteers
This week we had our summer thank you day for Steart Marshes volunteers, in recognition of all the skills and many hours of hard work they bring to the team. After meeting at Steart for car-sharing, we all headed over to Stowey Woods for a walk led by ou
10 August 2018
Monitoring Plant Changes Over Time
In 2015, as part of a monitoring programme funded by the Environment Agency, areas of the reserve within the 3 main wetland habitats, freshwater, brackish and saltwater were surveyed for the plants that were present. Known as the National Vegetation Class
16 July 2018
Out and About with the Steart Marshes Team
Brymore Academy Open Day and Country Fair - Saturday 30 June 2018 The Steart Marshes team were out at Brymore for a very successful open day at the weekend. As well as an opportunity to find out about the school, the day includes an agricultural show, vin
3 July 2018