The first Chiffchaff of the year was heard at the reserve this morning. Other birding highlights over the last few days have included a calling Tawny Owl, large mixed flocks of Lesser Redpoll and Siskin and 4 Crossbills (the latter near the car park).

On a glorious early spring day Weald Sites Manager Steve and some of our fantastic volunteers finished installing the interpretation panels and waymarkers for the new History Trail. A special leaflet guiding visitors around the trail is now available in the car park, so why not come along and take a walk to get a feel of what life was like here over the past few hundred years. Or join Chris Butler, our archaeology consultant…

Seven members of Maidstone RSPB Local Group kindly gave up their Sunday to help with the clearing up of material left over from this season's forestry work.  This has turned out to be a monumental task for our regular volunteers and we were very grateful to the Group for spending the day collecting and burning brash around the Decoy Pond. It will be fascinating to monitor developments in the newly-exposed areas as they are…

The beautiful warm sunshine today produced some great signs of spring, most notably the wood ants nests, and surrounding woodland floor were swarming with activity.

Reports today of a Yellowhammer singing near the southwestern boundary at Broadwater Warren.  It's little song of "a little bit of bread and no cheese" is a true sound of spring.

These illustrations by Mike Langman (rspb-images.com).

I saw my first butterfly of the year at Broadwater Warren - a Red Admiral.  This beautiful butterfly will have emerged from it's pupae last year, then overwintered in a sheltered and secluded spot.  I found it today basking in the sunshine on a bracken frond in a sunny clearing - a wonderful sign of Spring.

This photo of a Red Admiral is by Mike Pepler, owner of a small woodland in East Sussex.

There has been lots of positive work taking place on the reserve this week.

The entrance gate opposite Fairview Lane had been removed and closed to visitors to allow contractors lorries in and out.  The gate is now being reinstated and reopened, in time for Spring.  The work was carried out by our contractor, Rob.

At the Decoy Pond students from BTCV (the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) have been helping to clear…

The weekend volunteer team carried on where the Tuesday group left off by clearing more of the brash above the Decoy Pond. We were pleased to be interrupted by a number of reserve visitors who stopped to say how impressed they were with the results of last autumn's forestry work. It seems that everyone is looking forward to seeing the heathland coming back and to how the plants and wildlife will respond to the removal…

Yesterday's volunteer work party spent the day clearing brash from one of the banks leading down to the Decoy Pond. The brash was left behind after the recent felling of trees on this bank to allow more light into the pond. There was a lot more than we thought and it will take another two or three days of work to finish.  The bank faces south and there are high hopes that it will become a hot spot for butterflies and reptiles…

If you visit the reserve during the snowy weather you'll be rewarded with some lovely scenes.  The snow completely transforms the reserve.

A normally well-used trail through the conifer:

One of the paths to the pond:

The iron-rich water looks superb from the zig-zag boardwalk.  A Woodcock was nearby, on the edge of the pools:

Even the old tank turret is transformed: (with birch gun barrel)

Please take…

The first step towards heathland restoration has been completed and paths around the reserve have reopened allowing you to enjoy the new views across the reserve.

In order to restore the landscape from dense conifer plantation, work has been carried out mulching self-seeded young conifer trees and harvesting blocks of mature pines.

Hopefully this will mean the return of rare and threatened birds such as Woodlark and Dartford…