Lowestoft: Street artist ATM creates bird mural

A street artist is creating a giant mural of a bittern as part of a graffiti trail to raise awareness of the importance of wildlife.

The bird is being painted on the side of a block of flats in Lowestoft, in Suffolk, by London-based artist ATM.

It is the fifth in a series of his works commissioned by Suffolk Wildlife Trust showing the town the creatures on its doorstep at Carlton Marshes.

The trail aims to "bring wildlife into the town".

Artist ATM has already painted a marsh harrier, barn owl, kingfisher and dragonfly on buildings as diverse as a hairdresser and a tandoori restaurant in the seaside town.

He specialises in painting endangered species in urban environments and has worked all over the UK and Europe.

"I do it because I care a great deal about the natural world and there's an environmental crisis for lots of species, that many people don't realise," he said.

"Many people also don't know what's right on their doorstep.

"I'm painting this literally metres from the entrance to the marshes reserve but lots of people who live around here don't realise it's there," he said.

The bittern mural was started on Monday and is expected to be finished later, with the scaffolding being removed on Friday.

"Each one is my favourite while I'm working on it," said ATM, "but I was particularly pleased with the dragonfly as the symmetry of the wings was quite a challenge."

The mural trail was started in 2019 to celebrate the £5m extension of the Carlton Marshes reserve.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust purchased the 348 acres (140 hectares) site to create a 1,000-acre (404-hectare) southern gateway to the Broads.

Sir David Attenborough said at the time, it offered a "unique opportunity" for wildlife.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]