Black Bourn Valley, formerly called Grove Farm, is an 88 hectare nature reserve between Thurston and

Elmswell Elmswell is a village and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. It is situated halfway be ...

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. It is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The River Black Bourn runs through this large nature reserve, which has many bird species, such as

barn owl The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalaya ...

s, yellowhammers, linnets, reed buntings and skylarks. Plants in wet meadows include

marsh orchid ''Dactylorhiza'' is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae. Its species are commonly called marsh orchids or spotted orchids. ''Dactylorhiza'' were previously classified under ''Orchis'', which has two round tubers. Descrip ...

s and marsh marigolds. The river has reportedly dried up during the

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. There is access by going east out of Thurston along Barrell's Road, and turning south at the end. The entrance to the site, shown on the Ordnance Survey map and on the site as Grove Farm, is on the left just before the railway line.

References

{{Authority control Suffolk Wildlife Trust