SOMERSET is often hailed as a beautiful part of the world to live in – but Somerset Wildlife Trust believe it has a hidden gem that not enough people know about.

The Mercury joined the SWT’s senior reserves manager Mark Blake for a tour of the Catcott Nature Reserve near Burtle to find out more about the work the team are doing.

“We have a good variety of landscapes for people to enjoy on a short visit,” Mark explains. “You can take in the Lows, Great Fen and Heath in a morning.”

The Somerset Wildlife Trust is trying to encourage more people to get out in nature and find out what the reserve has to offer in 2017.

“I genuinely believe being out in nature, getting your boots muddy, and being out in the fresh air, it is good for a person’s soul to experience this. I think it is even more important than we realise” Mark said.

Located off the beaten track means there is a certain peacefulness out at Catcott due to being distant from any main roads.

“We don’t want people to think that the reserves are just for experts, anyone can come here, learn about the amazing wildlife we have here and enjoy being out in nature,” Mark said.

The Lows are a Mecca for birds to go to breed and take refuge from freezing temperatures, and there are flocks of Lapwing on display on the Avalon Marshes.

Mark said: “We have installed special guttering and a gravity drain so we can manage the land effectively. This helps create excellent feeding and roosting sites for the bird.”

After a short walk we arrive at the wooden Tower Hide, a viewing tower, created using money from donations and the Heritage Lottery Fund, that is full of pictures and information to help visitors identify birds, insects, mammals and fish that visit the Great Fen.

“There is so much more to see here than just birds,” Mr Blake said, “We have eels, dragonflies and even otters at Catcott.”

“We have a fantastic variety of plants including purple moor grass, devil’s-bit scabious, marsh and meadow thistles and there are also rare or threatened plants which are cultivated on site, including saw sedge,” Mark said.

The water level on site is carefully controlled. During the winter, the reserve floods naturally; through spring and early summer the water is lowered; then, in summer, the fields are kept dry so that cattle can graze the fields before the cycle begins again.

Grazing and topping are vital to maintain conditions for wintering and breeding birds. The Catcott Reserve is made up from a number of former reserves, with the Lows, North, Heath, South and Fen now managed together.

“I want as much of our infrastructure here to be made from things from the reserve. So the seats are from wood from trees here that will eventually decompose and become part of the ecosystem again,” Mr Blake said.

“Our volunteers helped us to build an amazing boardwalk through a section of the marshes, it was a fantastic team effort and allows people to see parts of the reserve not seen before.”

There is also a wooden amphitheatre which is used as an outdoor classroom for lectures and provides a great spot for stargazing.

“We work closely with local schools and have Countryside Management students from Cannington College and Richard Huish out working on various projects and learning about the environment here.”

“We hope more people will come out here and see the amazing wildlife and environment there is here in Somerset.”