Doxey Marshes

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Doxey Marshes is a 150-hectare nature reserve near Stafford, England. It is managed by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. The site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of its wet grassland and its breeding wading birds and wildfowl, especially the snipe. This habitat is important but increasingly rare, along with birds and animals like snipe, lapwing, little ringed plover, otter and water shrew.

The marsh lies in the floodplain of the River Sow and can flood when the river rises. The shallow pools and muddy edges left after floods give feeding opportunities for wading birds. In autumn and spring, it can attract rare migrating birds such as river warbler, marsh warbler, purple heron, cattle egret, Eurasian spoonbill, European bee-eater and bluethroat.

Management: In summer, cattle graze the land to keep the grass short for ground-nesting birds, with numbers monitored to avoid trampling eggs and nests. Large areas of rush that cattle avoid are cut by hand to create open feeding areas and some cover. Willow trees are pollarded to help them live longer and to deter crows and magpies from preying on chicks and eggs. Pollarded trunks provide habitat for musk beetles, and holes in the trunks host noctule bats. Otters may use the thick willow branches to hide during the day.

Fishing permits are available from the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.