Suffolk Wildlifes Trusts guide to wildlife and the great outdoors in the lead up to the festive period and beyond.
With the weather getting colder and the nights drawing in, many people are now looking towards the festive period and maybe even the new year.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, winter is the perfect time to stop and notice the nature on our doorstep. From bright breasted robins to spectacular displays from starlings at dusk nature is spectacular and ready to be explored.
Carlton Marshes nature reserve
Experience big skies and spectacular winter wildlife.
On the southern fringe of the Broads National Park, Carlton Marshes is a vast wetland teeming with winter wildlife. Flocks of wigeon, snipe, and teal gather across the marshes, while marsh harriers glide silently overhead. The frost-laced reeds and wide-open vistas create a scene straight out of a landscape painting and is the perfect spot for a brisk morning walk.
Carlton Marshes Visitor Centre by Peter Cook
After exploring, retreat to the visitor centre, where the sweeping veranda offers panoramic views of the iconic lightening trees and a cosy spot to warm up with a hot chocolate.
This year Carlton Marshes will be hosting a cosy festive market on Sunday 23 November full of artisan crafts, makers, and festive food. Father Christmas will also be paying the reserve a visit and families will be able to book a grotto experience on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 December.
Carlton Marshes Visitor Centre by Peter Cook
Lackford Lakes nature reserve
Just outside Bury St Edmunds, Lackford Lakes is a winter haven for wildfowl and a site well known for Suffolk’s most mesmerising natural events: starling murmurations. As dusk settles, if luck is on your side, thousands of starlings may rise in unison above the lakes, forming a living cloud that dances across the sky. Out on the water, goldeneye, shoveler, and pochard are regular winter visitors, gliding across the lakes, so keep your binoculars handy. There are plenty of bird hides for you to stop in and take in the view along the reserve trails.
Lackford Lakes Visitor Centre
After exploring, the visitor centre offers a welcome chance to warm up with tea and cake.
Lackford Lakes John Ferguson
Father Christmas will be visiting Lackford Lakes on the 5th, 11th and 13th of December and children will have the chance to speak with him in his grotto and receive a wildlife-themed gift.
Bradfield Woods National Nature Reserve
Bradfield Woods is a site shrouded in ancient history, with written records of the woods dating back to 1252 this nature reserve has seen many things come to pass. In the winter, the bare trees give you an peek into the dense coppice blocks where dormice sleep. Along the trails listen out for a range of bird species calling through the trees and keep an eye out for old coppice stumps cloaked in delicate mosses and lichens.
Bradfield Woods by Sophie Checketts
This reserve is perfect for a family winter walk, wrapped up in hats and scarfs. In wet weather this reserve can get a bit muddy, so wellies are advised.
Nature at home
If an evening cosy on the sofa sounds more your speed, let the wildlife come to you with Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Wildlife Live Webinars. Hosted during weekday evenings, explore a range of topics with knowledgeable experts to bring you closer to the natural world.
From lichens to symbiosis, and learning how to identify small mammals get a closer look at how nature is resilient even against the changing pressures of the climate, pollution and the nature crisis.
