Old Hall Marshes national nature reserve near Tollesbury looks set for its best ever bird breeding season.

Surveys at the reserve, owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, have shown nearly all breeding duck and wading birds to be on the up, a trend which follows several recent good years.

Thriving birds include little grebe, shelduck, garganey, gadwall, shoveller, pochard, tufted duck, oystercatcher, avocet, ringed plover, redshank, common and bearded tit.

Senior warden Chris Tyas said: "It's a combination of wet weather and good reserve management. "East Essex is just about the driest part of the country and three successive wet springs here means the reserve is the wettest I've ever known at this time of year and this benefits our wetland birds."

He added that sheep and cattle grazing on the marsh is also essential, with the introduction of low-intensity grazing in the spring.

The reserve is a major farming enterprise in its own right, with a full-time stock manager in charge of 600 sheep plus their lambs and almost 200 cattle and calves.

A new wind pump was installed at Old Hall this spring, which raises water levels on two areas of marsh, for the benefit of birds and other wildlife.

Visiting to the reserve is by permit from the RSPB, although there are public footpaths around the reserve.

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