The turtle dove continues to be seen from the Western Heath. Woodlarks, tree pipits and yellowhammers are being heard and seen across both heaths as well as 7 churring nightjars in the evening. The grey wagtail has been seen feeding on the island on Decoy pond this week and a spotted flycatcher has been seen carrying out its typical aerial feeding forays from perches on some of the surrounding trees.

At Decoy Pond, s…

This week we carried out one of our Nightjar surveys at Broadwater Warren as well as our Nightjar guided walk. 6-7 males were heard churring across the reserve and several were seen displaying including carrying out their wing claps. The best place to stand and see them is at the cross roads just north of decoy pond.

3 pairs of spotted flycatchers have been seen on the reserve at decoy pond and the zigzag boardwalk.

The last week has seen an abundance of fledglings with blue tit, great tit, coal tit, marsh tit, chaffinch, robin, dunnock and woodlark chicks all being seen. Several greater spotted woodpecker nests have been found across the sight, with one or two ready to fledge with chicks being seen poking their head out of the nest hole.

Song thrushes continue to sing from the woodland as well as a few bullfinch and a lesser spotted…

Welcome news of the first Nightjar of the summer came when one was found on the 11^th of May and then 2 churring males heard on 16^th, the earliest recorded return of nightjar since the rspb took over management of Broadwater Warren. Tree pipits continue to be seen across the site. Woodlark, skylark and stonechat have all been seen with food in their mouths confirming breeding, with confirmed fledging of woodlark when a…

This afternoon 11 Exmoor ponies from the Sussex Pony Conservation Grazing Trust arrived at the reserve. The ponies have been a popular feature on the reserve in recent years and it's great to have them back. They do a wonderful job grazing grass, birch and scrub and that gives the heather a chance to thrive. They seemed very keen to get out of the horsebox and were soon at work, looking very much at home. They are currently…

After having completed a long journey back from wintering in Africa Nightjars are back on the reserve. We had our first record on 11 May when Assistant Warden Chloe Ryder came across a single bird on the western heath and have just had reports of Nightjars churring on the heath last night (13 May). 

The early bird walk on the 6^th of May resulted in an impressive 35 bird species being seen on Broadwater Warren. This included the first Wheatear since the rspb took over management of the site. The list is as follows:-

Mandarin Duck

Pheasant

Grey Heron

Common Buzzard

Herring Gull

Wood Pigeon

Cuckoo

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker

Skylark

Woodlark

Tree Pipit

Dunnock

Robin

Northern Wheatear

S…

A Dawn Chorus event was held at Broadwater Warren on the Sunday. We heard a lot of different species throughout the site from wrens to blue tits as well as some lesser heard species including Tawny Owl and Lesser spotted woodpecker, which were heard not far from the decoy pond. Several song thrushes were heard across the site as well as Blackcaps in the car park. Tree pipits seem to be abundant across the site, the best…

The first Cuckoo of the year was heard during the week at Broadwater Warren as well as the first common whitethroat. Willow warblers have started to be heard singing along the eastern track with several males displaying, blackcaps have also been seen in the scrub behind the car park. Chiffchaffs are being heard across the woodland as well as a lesser spotted woodpecker that was seen and heard calling near the veteran…

Spring has started to arrive at Broadwater Warren with the return of summer migrants and emergence of woodland plants such as wood sorrel and primroses. Willow warblers have started to be heard singing along the woodland edge as well as several blackcaps. Chiffchaffs are being heard across the woodland as well as a lesser spotted woodpecker that was seen and heard calling near the veteran oak last week. A sparrowhawk

Gorse is an important habitat and nectar source for a lot of different species especially at this time of year, so keep an eye on the bushes we have at Broadwater Warren. Last week a bee survey found several different species including Tree bumblebee and Buff Tailed bumblebee.

(Buff Tailed Bumblebee)

Several Butterflies were also seen on the wing including the first Comma of the year as well as Brimstones, Red …

Accompanied Nick on a bee survey this morning in beautiful sunny weather. Flowering gorse provided an early nectar source and some of the bushes were humming, mainly with Honey Bees but we also recorded Buff-tailed and Tree Bumblebee, plus 2 mining bees that require further identification. In addition the gorse attracted Brimstone and Red Admiral butterflies and we also saw our first Comma of the year.  Woodlark were singing…

This week a pair of Grey Wagtails have returned to Broadwater Warren at the Decoy pond. This is where they successfully reared two broods last year.

Flocks of Meadow Pipits can still be seen feeding on the heaths as well as a pair of Stonechats near the Shooting buts. A flock of about 100 finches, mainly made up of Lesser Redpoll and Siskin continue to be seen in the Larches as well as drinking from puddles on the tracks…

Plenty of birds are now starting to sing on the reserve which is a encouraging sign of spring on its way. Woodlarks have been singing on the Western heath and the Eastern heath off the main path from the car park. Around decoy pond Great Spotted Woodpeckers have been heard drumming and a dozen Bullfinches have been seen around the car park.

Even though signs of spring are on their way, large flocks of finches are being…

Huge thanks to the RG Group team who joined our regular volunteer work party yesterday. Having enjoyed joining in with last year's pre-Christmas work party they asked if they could come again and very generously funded the purchase of 4 more benches for the reserve. The team helped install one of the benches and create a brand new view down over the restored heathland. We are sure that the new bench and view will be very…

On Tuesday our staff and volunteers helped Monty Larkin from the Sussex Pony Conservation Grazing Trust to move our resident herd of 9 Exmoor ponies from the Shooting Butts Paddock in the east of the reserve to Park Corner Paddock in the west where they will help manage the newly-restored heathland by grazing grass and other plants to give the emerging heather a good chance of establishing. We have had ponies on site for…

The restored heathland is looking wonderful at the moment with the heather in full bloom. In the foreground of this photo is an area cleared of dense young conifer just 3 years ago which has been transformed. Some of our Exmoor ponies can be seen in the background on a very contrasting landscape. They are grazing on land where conifers were removed last year. The photo illustrates well how letting the light in stimulates the dormant…

It's been a busy few months at Broadwater in wildlife terms. Out on the open heath we've had the return of nightjars, with up to five breeding territories established this year. Six territories each for the tree pipits and woodlarks have successfully raised chicks, which can be seen in family groups of half a dozen or more. Yellowhammers can been heard from patches of scrub wheezing out their notorious "little bit of…

During our May check of the nestboxes at the reserve we found 13 dormice - our best ever result for May in the 5 years we have been contributing data to the National Dormouse Monitoring Scheme.  There are still places on our Sleepy Dormouse Hunt this Sunday (see events section of the reserve webpage for details) so if you'd like the chance to hold one of these -----

get in touch with us soon.

Our neighbour Andy informed us at the weekend that he had heard Nightjars on the reserve from his porch (lucky him!) so we went down ourselves last night. It was a perfect evening - warm, still and dry - and it wasn't long before we heard our first churring male on the restored heathland on the eastern side of Broadwater. In all we heard 3 churring males and saw 2 birds in flight. Great to know that they have survived…

I went along to Broadwater yesterday to do some measuring up (an essential skill wardens need to have - mastering a 50 metre tape) and ended up by the Decoy Pond. What a transformation from the winter!

The bluebells line the pond fringe and carpet the ground in the woodland nearby; a pair of grey wagtails have made their home on the island; you can just make out blobs of tiny tadpoles writhing in the pond vegetation;…

If you liked the photos in my last blog and would like the chance to see a dormouse and take some photos of your own, why not join us on our Sleepy Dormouse Hunt on Sunday 25 May. Full details are in the list of events on this webpage 

Spent an hour walking round the reserve this morning in beautiful weather and was treated to singing and displaying Tree Pipits, singing Woodlark, Linnet , two pairs of Marsh Tit, a Grey Wagtail at the Decoy Pond, Siskins in the larches and a number of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff in full voice. Then it was time to start this month's check of our 200 dormouse nestboxes to see if the recent warm weather had encouraged…

On Monday afternoon, as I walked along the All-ability trail at Broadwater, I heard my first Woodlark of the year.  I caught just tiny fragments of the distant song on the breeze, coming from somewhere on the eastern side of the reserve.  But the crispness of the sound brought a smile to my face and tells me that a new season is well on the way.

Several colleagues, volunteers and visitors have already heard Woodlarks at…

Today's Broadwater Warren volunteer work party was a special occasion because we presented John Martin with his silver Bittern badge in recognition of 30 years' volunteering with the RSPB. What a fantastic achievement. John started volunteering with the Battle RSPB Local Group in 1984 and organised the Group's outdoor birdwatching trips for 29 years. He began volunteering at Broadwater Warren when the RSPB first opened…