'Behind the scenes' here at Birds magazine involves me having a great job and the opportunity to work on a nature reserve: The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire - that famous address of the Headquarters of the RSPB.

It also brings the chance to enjoy lunchtime walks surrounded by nature and the occasional privillege of something special turning up.

Minutes after posting my last blog post, news that an osprey had seen…

I hope you enjoyed our cuckoo feature in the latest Birds magazine. Thanks for your letters and e-mails, so far - and for sharing your own stories of cuckoos heard and cuckoos seen.

Derek and Sarah Niemann came back from their trip to South Uist to study cuckoos with a great selection of photographs, including some of other wildlife that they saw on their amazing trip, plus a fair few shots that made me smile!

I hope…

We’ve been receiving some good comments from Birds readers about Toby Hough’s Following the cranes feature in the latest issue. Thanks very much – we’re really pleased you enjoyed it!

It was great working closely with Toby and the other guys in the Film Unit on this piece for Birds and finding out about the work of our multiple award-winning Film Unit. It may seem like a glamorous job, but like…

Here at RSPB headquarters at The Lodge in Bedfordshire, we have just received our first copies of the latest magazine. You'll be getting your copies in the next few days - mailing started today. With so many readers (thank you!), it can take several days to get all the copies out, so don't worry if yours takes a few days to arrive.

The new long-tailed tit cover (above) is getting a few "Oohs and "Aaahs" from…