Overview
- An RSPB reserve on the Norfolk Broads reports its best year for Fen Raft Spiders, highlighting sustained gains after near-extinction around 2010.
- Recent surveys put the county’s population at roughly 3,750 breeding females across 12 monitored locations, according to reserve staff.
- Local media note sightings near marshes and occasional incursions into nearby homes, though experts stress the species is harmless to people.
- Field teams count visible female nursery webs above the water, with peak spotting typically from June to September at sites such as Strumpshaw Fen.
- RSPB ecologists credit wetland restoration and reintroduction work for the rebound and call for ongoing habitat management to secure long-term recovery.