It's been a busy week filled with wildlife at our RSPB Dorset Reserves!
Our events programme continues next week, with our penultimate Night Wildlife Walk of the year on Friday at RSPB Arne, and we'll be exploring RSPB Radipole Lake on our monthly wildlife walk at the wetland reserve. We will also be hosting the British Dragonfly Society and Purbeck Natural History Forum at RSPB Arne for their Dragonfly Week celebration, with stalls and volunteers around the reserve to help our visitors spot and learn about the many beautiful species here.
Photo above: Marbled White butterfly at RSPB Arne by Léonard D'Aranjo
Our Warden team has been conducting maintenance on some fences and bridges on our reserves, as well as path clearing. Next week, they will be starting on our Rhododendron survey and removal work, to keep this dangerously invasive plant under control, and protect the precious rare habitats here at our reserves.
At RSPB Radipole Lake the Sand Martins and Swifts have been putting on a wonderful show for our visitors, swooping over the lakes, and were joined by a few House Martins. The Great crested grebes have also successfully raised some chicks, carrying the chicks on their backs as they leave the nest to look for food. The Great white egret continues to make appearances, as do the Common Terns. A Water Vole was also seen, our fastest declining mammal can be found at Radipole Lake but their secretive nature means seeing one is a rare treat.
At RSPB Arne the butterflies and flowers have been out in all their beauty, with Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Large Whites, Common Blues, Silver Studded Blues, Large and Small Skippers, 6-spot Burnetts, and Cinnabar moths all flitting around our meadows. Our Spotted flycatchers have been showing well as have our Bank voles. We have also had great sightings of both White-tailed Eagle and Osprey fishing along multiple parts of the reserve. Our first Ruddy Darter dragonfly and Green Tiger Beetles were also spotted, with lots of sightings of Minotaur beetles and Lesser Stag beetles. Joining the many flowers blooming are the Pyramidal Orchids, both at RSPB Arne and RSPB Radipole Lake and RSPB Lodmoor.
Photo above: Pyramidal Orchid at RSPB Arne by Léonard D'Aranjo
If you'd like to keep up to date with what's going on at our reserves, take a look at our events page and follow us on social media:
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Events at RSPB Arne and Garston Wood
Events at RSPB Radipole Lake
Events at RSPB Lodmoor