Conservation Conversations: Katie Goldsbrough

Want to get behind the scenes at Essex Wildlife Trust?

We asked Katie Goldsbrough, our Ranger at Abberton Reservoir Nature Discovery Park, to tell us a bit more about her love of wildlife and what her team have been up to recently...

Katie Goldsbrough on site — Katie Goldsbrough

Hello! My name is Katie and I am the ranger responsible for looking after the beautiful nature reserve at Abberton Reservoir in partnership with Essex & Suffolk Water.

I have been with Essex Wildlife Trust since 2019, alongside undertaking my master’s in wildlife conservation. I love, love, love nature, wildlife and being outdoors - there is not a part of our natural world that I am not super passionate about! I am, however, obsessed with bats! Alongside my job, I volunteer as a bat ambulance driver and bat carer with Essex bat group, rescuing and rehabilitating injured and/or grounded bats.

Tree planting and plastic-free solutions

Katie and volunteers — Katie Goldsbrough at Abberton Reservoir Nature Discovery Park

Trees and plastic pollution are my other main interests, focusing on plastic tree guards and sustainability in tree planting over recent years! Since being a part of the amazing Essex Wildlife Trust team I have learned so many new skills, met numerous amazing people and helped with awesome conservation work and projects at Abberton and across Essex. One of my proudest moments was watching the first-ever spoonbills in Essex successfully hatch and rear a brood at Abberton reservoir. This was an incredible heart-warming time and something I was very proud to have witnessed.

Katie and volunteers at Abberton Reservoir — Katie Goldsbrough and volunteers at Abberton Reservoir

Our winter work though, is nearly over, and we are heading for spring. Much of winter work is habitat management and preparation for the warmer months. We have opened the glades and rides within our woodland ‘Wild Wood’, to make way for wildflowers to bloom, encouraging insects and in turn other wildlife. We have open areas in one part of the reserve ready for bluebells to emerge in all their colourful delight and then thick, scrubby areas in others awaiting the nightingales to set up their territories. Our barn owl boxes have been cleared out ready for our love bird barn owl pair to roost and our ponds are ready for newts and frogs to return to the water after a long winters sleep.

We are always kept busy on the reserve with the different jobs and tasks that each season brings, I look forward to catching up with you again in spring and letting you know what we have been up to!