Another week has passed by and our lapwings are getting ever closer to officially having the most successful year ever out on the marshes! As of last Wednesday, we have at least 4 young fledged and possibly a further 2 on top of that. How lovely to see youngsters flying around with their parents! There were a further 4 very large chicks, looking like they were ready to go any day now, exercising their wings whilst being…

It is still looking very promising out on the marshes for our lapwing population this week, with three juveniles very close to fledging in the field with the viewing platform on Wednesday. A further three young are about two thirds grown in this field and doing well. The other fields are starting to prove a bit of a challenge for surveying as the grass gets longer and the ever more mobile chicks start to explore further…

It's still looking really positive on the lapwing front at Beckingham this week, with large chicks wandering around feeding on the muddy edges of the wet scrapes. The oldest young are nearing fledging now and I was delighted to see one on Wednesday exercising it's wings with about 2/3 grown primary feathers. Last week's newly hatched chicks are still doing well and there is even still a bird sitting on eggs! We hope…

I managed a late WeBS count at Beckingham yesterday morning as I was surveying our lapwing population. It's always nice at this time of year to get out and see the first broods of young in the scrapes and ditches around the reserve. Here are yesterday's results....

19 mallard

5 shoveler - 2 broods of young

4 gadwall

3 tufted duck

2 graylag goose

4 moorhen - 2 small young in one of the deep ditches

1 little…

I've been away on holiday in Scotland for a week, so was anxious to get back to Beckingham this morning for a good look around site, especially to check up on the progress of the lapwings. And i wasn't disappointed! The predator fence still seems to be pulling it's weight, with some now very large looking lapwing chicks, only a week or so from fledging feeding around the wet edges of the scrapes. There are at least…

Last Friday I held my first corporate work party at Beckingham Marshes and welcomed a team of seven people from CEMEX onto site for a day revitalising our visitor infrastructure. Our viewing platform and 'discovery domes' are great assets to the site and we like to keep them looking smart, so every year, they get a much needed lick of paint. This helps to preserve the structures and covers over all those bare areas where…

Just a quick one for today to let everyone know that we are delighted to have the first lapwing chicks on site for the year! I counted 4 chicks, 2-3 days old on the edges of the wet scrapes viewable from the platform, there are however more hiding somewhere in the grass! As they grow, they will be easier to see, so keep an eye open from the platform for them. There are now 12 pairs of lapwings breeding within the predator…

Anyone familiar with the term WeBS will know that it stands for Wetland Bird Survey, a BTO led national survey that monitors populations of non-breeding water birds, within a core period of October-March, but also year round. Here at Beckingham we have been taking part in WeBS since last July, counting all ducks, geese, swans, rails, gallinules, herons, egrets, gulls, terns, waders and kingfishers on site. The counts…

It's been some time since the last entry on here - apologies for the long delay! We have had some recent staff changes here at Beckingham, with our previous Warden, Paul Bennett moving to pastures new over at our Coombes and Churnet Valley reserves in Staffordshire.

So without further ado, I would like to introduce myself as the new Warden for Beckingham. I know the site fairly well, having been involved with it…

An exhibition by Amanda Willoughby The Trinity Arts Centre, Gainsborough - December 12^th 2014 to January 22^nd 2015

Award-winning artist Amanda Willoughby is exhibiting her work at the Trinity Arts Centre, Gainsborough over the Christmas period. Her exhibition is entitled Marsh, Meadow and Metropolis, to reflect the different habitats in which plants are found, including city environments.

Amanda has an interest in botanical…

For weeks now, my message on our 'What's about?' sign at the reserve's entrance has stated 'look out for the first returning fieldfares and redwings and for numbers of overwintering wildfowl building up'.

Until yesterday, this hadn't really materialized, but then neither had winter.  Yesterday's volunteer work party were treated to the sight of an almost constant stream of the aforementioned…

The video clip in the link below was put together using footage taken during the 2013 breeding season - you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the page.

The pair of owls are still there and have bred again this year, rearing a further six young.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/seenature/reserves/guide/b/beckinghammarshes/ourwork.aspx

Jack Perks is a Nottinghamshire-based wildlife photographer and is about to embark on the creation of photo book all about the wildlife of the county.

However, he needs some financial backing first to help him kickstart the project and you can donate as little, or as much as you like.  

Here are a couple of useful links:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2078840041/nottinghamshires-nature

https://www.youtube.com…

Join me for a guided walk at RSPB Beckingham Marshes, this Sunday 12th October.

Find out about the story of the Beckingham Marshes project so far and see some of it's wildlife.

Details below:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/seenature/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-371746

The Old Willow Works was one of two venues where last Saturday's Marsh Fayre was staged.  The Fayre, a partnership between Kismet Theatre Company and the Beckingham and Saundby History Group, was part of last weekend's celebrations to mark the end of the Heritage Lottery Funded part of the RSPB Beckingham Marshes Project.

The ground floor of the Old Willow Works hosted various traditional and not so traditional…

Both Friday's premiere and Saturday's performance of Michael Hatfield's 'MarshSongs' were well supported and went down very well with the audiences.

The play, performed by Kismet Theatre Company, was a real team effort, with additional performances by the young people of the Performing Arts Club of St. John's (PACS), music written by Russell Booker and performed by Russell and his team of musicians…

This evening sees the premiere of Kismet Theatre Company's 'MarshSongs' play being performed at Beckingham Village Hall. The performance, which starts at 7.30 pm is a celebration of the Heritage Lottery Funded project and if the rehearsals are anything to go by, it should be a highly entertaining evening. See Kismet Theatre Company's website for further details. If that weren't enough, you can visit the Marsh Fayre…

Firstly an update on the pair of Barn Owls and their young. Last month I mentioned that there were four young birds. There were actually six eggs that hatched and grew to a good size. I’ve recently only counted five of them on the camera monitor, but that’s not to say that the sixth bird wasn’t hiding out of view.

Talking of young birds, volunteer Chris du Feu, who keeps a very close eye on the reserve…

The pair of barn owls that reside in The Old Willow Works, just over the road from Beckingham Marshes have bred again, just a few months after last year's late attempt.

The pair didn't attempt breeding until August of last year, but successfully reared three chicks, which fledged in late November.

This year's attempt was much earlier, with four eggs seen on the nest box camera monitor in mid-April .  Four…

BTO/RSPB volunteer Chris du Feu has been keeping a close eye on Beckingham's tree sparrow population for quite a few years now.  The last two breeding seasons have been very productive with 180 fledglings ringed each year.

Last year's young were raised by 19 pairs, so when Chris told us at the start of this season that we had 23 pairs in his nest boxes, we were hopeful for yet another good year.  Well, Chris has…

Watching dragonflies and damselflies colonise Beckingham's ditches and scrapes has been one of the highlights of the project over the last four years.  Another species was added to the list last year in the shape of Hairy Dragonfly and one was seen again a few weeks ago.

Whilst on the reserve in the middle of the month, I was delighted to add Red-eyed Damselfly to the site list and if that wasn't enough, Banded Dem…