I started working in the Brecks as the Community Engagement Officer after spending a season on Fair Isle, and what a different landscape to work in! A much larger landscape by comparison, although being about three miles long Fair Isle isn’t much competition!
The Brecks National Character Area is a RSPB Futurescape, which is our approach to conservation on a landscape scale, working to give nature a home not just in nature reserves but beyond whilst working alongside communities, farmers, landowners and businesses.
The Brecks is an interesting Futurescape in that it encompasses both Norfolk and Suffolk, and spans nearly a 1,000 square kilometres. I am lucky enough to live and work in one of the most wildlife rich areas of the UK, a biodiversity audit in 2010 recorded a whopping 12,845 species! This ranges from magnificent red deer, whose prehistoric bellowing during the rutting season can be heard on farmland in the Brecks to curiously named insects such as the brush thighed seed eater and delicate Speedwell plants.
I am ashamed to admit that I had never heard of the Brecks before starting the post, but once I found out about this landscape I couldn’t believe how amazing it is! So my mission through the spring and summer was to spread the word to local residents, inspire them about their local and unique landscape and the work of the RSPB and other conservation organisations.
And it couldn’t have been a more varied season! The events I organised ranged from night time nightjar walks (having never heard one before I was blown away by their incredible calls!), stone-curlew Date with Natures (an evening of wailing ‘heath chickens’, incredible sunsets and tasty flapjacks!), urban wildlife walks with guest appearances from Thetfords famous otters and kingfishers, mad days running stands at High Lodge and much more!
And I couldn’t have run these events without help from a great team of local volunteers, so a massive thank you! If you fancy getting out and about exploring this fantastic landscape then why not come along to one of our events or get involved in our volunteer programme?
Sammy Fraser, RSPB Brecks Community Engagement Officer
If you want to come along to one of our Brecks events or get involved in volunteering the contact- thebrecks@rspb.org.uk