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Wow how timely was the end of our sea defence improvements? On Sunday 27 th November, with very little notice, a tidal surge came down the North Sea and created a huge increase in the height of the tides along the Norfolk and Suffolk coast. This did have an impact on the reserve with dunes eroded, certain...

On Sunday a celebration of the Coastal Change Project to thank our funders turned out to be amazing day for all. The two characters that sum it up are not characters of the alphabet like O and K (OK) or B and I (the shorthand code for bittern) but the unique characters of Titchwell Marsh and Chris Packham...

I think I had such a good turn out on Thursday morning because most people thought I had said BEACH party and wondered where the cold beer and BBQ was! In fact, it was a unique opportunity for the staff and volunteers to get up close and personal with the new breach. Earlier in the month (see Rob’s...

No, I don't mean Sir Trevor McDonald. Nor Matt Baker off The One Show. I am, of course, referring to Chris Packham! The BBC Springwatch/Autumnwatch presenter also happens to be the RSPB's Vice-President, and will be paying Titchwell Marsh a visit on Sunday 16th October. Don't get too excited...

Yesterday saw us breach the brackish marsh sea wall and all my excitement and nervousness came to a head. It was an early start so just after 7am, I was stood on the wall as the digger started to remove the planned breach. Preparations earlier in the week meant that it was quite a quick affair and...

Four days until the breach and I’m feeling excited but a little nervous. It’s not a huge task and I have every faith in our contractors Lancaster Earth Moving to do it well, but it is going to be a big deal. I may have only been the site manager for six years but I have been birdwatching...

Our contractors are cracking on a great pace and at the moment I’m finding it hard to keep up. Although this years work program is less complicated there are a lot of smaller but no less important jobs. The completion of the new sea wall along the Parrinder line is almost there and work on improving...

We are trying something new. Shingle has been placed on one of the islands on the fresh marsh hoping to encourage ground nesting birds. This in itself is not a new idea but in addition we have put some shingle in an usual location - on top of our new sea defence. Little terns used to nest regularly...

When we were creating the new west bank last summer, the final job was toput down a layer of topsoil to allow the vegetation to regenerate. As part of the process we lightly seeded the banks with a grass mix but we have been pleasantly surprised by the other species that have established themselves....

Machinery compacting layers of clay to create the new Parrinder Wall. The clay has been extracted from the landward edge of the reserve in an area with little existing wildlife interest. As the land level has been lowered due to the amount of clay that has been dug from the area we will now be able to...

Photo of the base of the new Parrinder wall during the early stages of construction. The slightly odd coloured stone is a local stone called carrstone. This base layer of stone is crucial as the big gaps that are left between the stones provide a route to allow water to drain out of the bank.

This is a photo taken early in the construction of the new Parrinder Wall. It shows the piling rig that was used to insert the band drains 8.5m into the ground. The band drains have been invaluable as they have allowed water pressure in the soft ground below the new wall to disperse without causing slips...

This is a special geogrid material that is being used to increase the integrity of the new sea wall.

You can see the metal post that the rig is driving into the ground. This is going into a depth of 8-10m.

This is a band drain. It will allow ground water to flow into the carr stone and out into the lagoons. This will prevent the new sea wall collapsing! A pretty important straw.

This is the foundations for the new sea wall along the Parrinder line. The red coloured rocks on the right are Carr-stone from Snettisham quarry. These are being used to give a firm base for the increased width of the new sea defence. The new wall is using special engineering techniques to minimise this...

This is the first signs of a new reedbed at Titchwell, honest? Material is being removed from this area to provide the clay to build the new sea wall along the Parrinder line. As the materials are removed so the 'hole' will be shaped to form a bittern friendly landscape.

This is the foundations of carr-stone being laid on the new sea wall. This view is one not seen by visitors to the reserve as it is looking west from the east end of the wall.