BLAKE Marsh nature reserve in Kidderminster is a real wildlife haven. Despite its small size and urban location, it is as likely as any other to come up with some real surprises.

The nature reserve was created in 1998 and since then it has been the subject of huge amounts of work to address safety issues within the wet woodland and to retain the diversity of the open marshland glades that surround this wood.

The fruits of this work are easy to see over the past few years. The quantity and diversity of flowers this site supports is obvious to any visitor as they walk across the reserve on a raised boardwalk above the marsh. The tale of Blake Marsh is quite a sad one,though.

Back in the 1970s, this area was part of a much bigger marsh. It even gained Site of Special Scientific Interest status. Lack of management and years of neglect saw it lose this status and then the need for some more playing fields saw huge amounts of the marsh turned into sports pitches.

The irony is that the pitches still turned out to be too marshy and the wettest have been reclaimed to form part of the modern reserve.

It is amazing that despite this neglect the area's wildlife has managed to hang on and, as the reserve begins to recover, more of this wildlife reveals itself. Plant-wise we have beautiful southern marsh orchids, the number of which are slowly increasing. Fungi-wise, rotting timber can be seen supporting unusual earth star fungi. Bat walks with local residents have revealed a healthy and abundant bat population using the reserve. The district wide over-wintering wetland bird survey carried out last winter revealed both snipe and water rail using the site.

It's hard to select what is the most fascinating but if forced to choose I have to say it's the insects. Every year I seem to come across a new interesting aspect of Blake Marsh's insect inhabitants.

In the past, I have been amazed to find hornet's nests and spectacular wasp beetles. This year my surprise came from another beetle. Feeding on the cloud-like flower heads of the meadow sweet were long horns. They get their name from the cattle they superficially resemble as these beetles have huge antenna that look a little like horns.

The beetle found this year, a Strangalia quadrifasciata, was really large and had beautiful and distinctive yellow banded abdomen. It was not just its appearance that makes this creature special. Its young feed on willow and alder wood and are an indicator that these trees have been in the area for hundreds of years.