About the reserve

This seasonally-flooded gravel pit features open water, scrub and carr woodland and it's worth a visit at any time of year.  In spring visitors can hear chiffchaffs, cuckoos, bullfinches and yellowhammers.  Visit in summer and keep a look out for treecreepers, blackcaps and mixed tit and warbler flocks foraging in the trees.  Mallards, moorhens and coots breed here and visiting birds include snipe and mute swans.  Visit in autumn for whitethroats, marsh tits and robins before returning in winter for flocks of long-tailed tits.

Dragonflies and damselflies inhabit the open water where levels fluctuate depending on the season (may be dry in summer).  More than 160 plants have been recorded across the site - mare’s-tail (uncommon in Worcestershire) can be seen throughout June and August.  Sharp-flowered rush, creeping bent and water speedwell can also be found. There are five species of willow on the reserve (white, grey, crack, goat and osier), which support a wide range of insects.  Over 150 species of moth are known to feed on the foliage where aphids, leaf beetles, weevils, sawflies and gall wasps can also be spotted.  The willows also provide nesting sites for several species of bird.

The reserve is owned by Wychavon District Council but managed by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.