Upcoming events
 Celebrate spring with a choice of guided walks at Knapp Copse or Holyford Woods. Enjoy the carpets of bluebells - just one of the many wildflowers you will see. Booking is essential
Watch our kestrel family grow on 'nest cam'
 Despite spring being a particularly late one this year, anything up to three weeks behind usual depending on your perspective, the kestrels at Seaton Wetlands have bucked the trend and got down to egg laying extraordinarily early!
Thanks to the Discovery Hut nest cam we have been able to closely track the timings of the Stafford Marsh pair of kestrels over the years. In 2017 and 2018 the first egg was laid on 18th April exactly, with five eggs laid in total each year at a rate of one every two days.
2019 saw the predation of all the chicks after the male disappeared, presumed dead, and the female was forced off the young to hunt. Each time she left the nestbox, a crow entered and removed a chick. It was not a nice thing to witness, but it was nature in action and the only genuine tragedy would have been if the male bird was killed, as so many are, in a traffic collision.
Covid hampered our efforts to record activity in 2020 and 2021, but last year the female had paired up with a young ringed male and laid a clutch of 5 eggs, commencing on the 1st May.
So it came as a surprise this year when the first egg appeared from underneath the female on the 11th April! Fearful that there had been no sign of the male bird for a number of days or at all that morning, we were delighted when at 11:30 the male was spotted and at 11:46 the first egg was seen! In 15 minutes we had gone from gloomily fearing the worst to being absolutely overjoyed by the prospect of this year’s drama playing out on the Discovery Hut big screen again this year.
Easter enjoyed by all at Seaton Wetlands
 We had a busy Easter down at Seaton Wetlands with lots of visitors enjoying the site and taking part in our Spring baby animal trail and Spring crafts event. We would like to say thank you to our team of wonderful volunteers who spent Easter greeting visitors, serving refreshments and creating a lovely atmosphere at the Wetlands. Our kestrels started egg laying which created a real buzz around site, visitors can watch the progress on our nest cam shown in the Discovery Hut Friday-Monday.
Wild Honiton launches on 1 May
 Wild Honiton launch day is taking place on Monday 1st May at Honiton Bottom. Join us between 10-3pm for nature themed crafts and activities. Take home your nature builds and install in your garden to improve your area for wildlife. You can book to join Julie from Devon Loves Dogs on a guided dog walk at 10am and join Anna from Thelma Hulbert Gallery in the creative cabin. It is a great opportunity to celebrate the nature on your doorstep, from your doorstep! Come on down and chat to our team and find out more about the project.
100 Homes for Wildlife
 If we told you we were building 100 new homes on one of our nature reserves you might be shocked! But that is exactly what we’ve been doing the past few months at Knapp Copse Local Nature Reserve.
Fear not though, as these homes are for the varied wildlife across the site. Knapp Copse, which is owned by Devon County Council and managed by the Wild East Devon team, is in a Higher Level Stewardship scheme, and part of the agreement is that we install wildlife boxes for the purpose of nesting opportunities and monitoring.
In 2022 we installed 50 dormouse boxes, 20 bat boxes, and 30 bird boxes. Many of these boxes used wood harvested from our own sites as part of wider habitat improvement, and were constructed with the help of our East Devon Conservation Volunteers. In keeping with our policy of managing the reserve for both people and nature, most of the bird boxes have been placed so that visitors might be able to spot the inhabitants popping in and out with nesting material and food for young ones. If you do happen to spot a box being used, please enjoy watching from a distance in order not to disturb the occupants.
Dormouse and bat boxes will be monitored by those holding the correct licenses, and the 100 new homes will help us with our continued improvement and surveying of this very special site.
Species of the Month – Adder
 As the season begins to turn and the days get longer and, hopefully, warmer, you may be lucky enough to spot adders (Vipera berus) emerging from their winter hibernation and basking in the sun. Males are usually the first to emerge and can be distinguished from females by their smaller size and colouring, with a more ‘silverish’ body colour and the distinctive black zig-zag stripe along their backs. Females are generally larger and more brown or coppery in colour.
Adders are the only venomous snake in the UK, using their venomous bite to kill small mammals, lizards, and small birds. The chances of a human being bitten by an adder are very slim but, should you encounter one, remember not to handle it and give it space to make a slithery departure. Should you be walking a dog on a site where adders are present then please keep the dog on a lead to reduce their chance of being bitten and to prevent them from disturbing snakes.
Adders are present on several of our reserves, but the best site is Trinity Hill Local Nature Reserve, where the heathland habitat provides excellent sunbathing and hunting opportunities for them. Sunny, dry mornings are the best time to observe them as they warm up for the day ahead but tread lightly as these beautiful creatures are sensitive to vibrations and difficult to sneak up on!
East Budleigh and River Otter stroll
 This is a gentle and relatively flat walk of 3.6 miles. There are a few stiles along the route and some sections can be muddy after rain. Take care crossing the busy road just after passing Bicton church. Free parking is available in Hayes Lane car park in East Budleigh:
Grid reference: SY 065 848
What 3 Words: native. Apparatus. Timer
- From the top right hand side of the car park go through a metal gate and up steps towards the church. Follow the path as it passes in front of the church and down a second set of steps to the road near the statue of Sir Walter Raleigh. Cross over onto Vicarage road (signed to ‘Newton Poppleford’).
- After approximately 100m turn left through a kissing gate at a footpath sign. Follow the grassy track passing playing fields and tennis courts on your right and then through a wooded area. Go through a kissing gate, across a field and through another kissing gate to meet the road.
- Turn left onto the road and after approximately 250m turn right through a metal kissing gate and into a field. Walk downhill on the right hand edge of the field before following the path through a metal gate to the right at the bottom of the hill (signed as a bridleway).
- As you walk along the bottom of the field you will pass an obelisk in the field on your right and the boundary to Bicton Gardens on your left (this path can be muddy after rain).
- Just before meeting the road turn left along a walled path to pass Bicton Church. Just after the church the path turns to the right to meet the busy main road.
- Take great care crossing this road. The footpath that we want is about 20m to the left on the other side of the road.
- Follow the track alongside a small stream. After crossing a narrow bridge turn left (just before the road at Otterton)to follow a path around to a gate near Otterton Mill.
- Cross straight over the road and through a second gate to follow the river Otter which is on our left hand side. Keep your eye open for evidence of beavers and for kingfishers which frequent this stretch of the river.
- 250m after passing through a kissing gate next to a bridge pass through another kissing gate then double back through yet another kissing gate to walk along a small grassy embankment which becomes a concrete path.
- After crossing a farm track between gates (the old railway line) pass the sewage works and follow the track up to the road.
- Turn left to follow the road back towards East Budleigh. On meeting the crossroads at the Rolle Arms pub cross straight over onto ‘Lower Budleigh’. Follow the road around to the right as it becomes ‘Middle Street’.
- Pass the school and village hall on your right and continue through the village. On reaching the ‘Sir Walter Raleigh’ pub turn left down Hayes lane and back to the car park.
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