• Wildlife Sightings April/May

    2 ring ouzels were seen on the heath on Friday the 13th April. The ring ouzel (or “mountain blackbird”) were stopping off on their migration up north to breed in the hills and mountains of Northern England and Scotland, this was a new record for the site so brings the total for the reserve to 98!. I reported the sighting to the ring ouzel study group who are monitoring their migration patterns, you can find out more here…

  • Wildlife sightings 17/11/17

    Winter wildlife has started to return to Broadwater Warren in the last few weeks. Look out for flocks of finches on the heath, a mixed flock of 40+ chaffinches and linnets has been seen feeding on the heathland near gate 1 and you never know if a brambling might be joining them. The odd redwing and fieldfare has also been seen feeding on site, these numbers will probably increase over the coming months. Last year there…

  • Wildlife sightings 21/07/17

    Its a quiet time of year at the moment for birds on the reserve. But despite this a few interesting things have been seen in the last month. A king fisher was seen at decoy pond as well as grey wagtails on both decoy and the pond on the northern heath. 

    Initial results from our bioblitz event indicate that we recorded over 350 species in on day including over 50 birds with highlights being redstart, spotted flycatcher…

  • Wildlife Sightings 08/06/17

    A honey buzzard was reported by a member of the public Alex Reiss, he saw the bird fly off from the track on the way to the heathland viewpoint. He and his dad George managed to get some record shots which show the distinctive tail pattern of the honey buzzard. This brings us up to 94 species of birds at Broadwater Warren since we acquired the site in 2007.

    Note the small head and black "ring" like markings on the tail…

  • Successful Sleepy Dormouse Hunt

    The adults and children who joined our licence holders on the Sleepy Dormouse Hunt on Saturday all had the chance to see these wonderful animals close-up. The looks on the children's faces as they cradled a sleepy dormouse in their hands was something special. The event coincided with our monthly dormouse nestbox check during which we found a total of 11 animals. That's a good result for May and we hope it's a sign…

  • Exmoor Ponies are back for the summer

    The Exmoor ponies have been welcomed back on the reserve, 15 ponies are here for the summer to graze the heath. They do an important job on keeping the purple moor grass grazed as well as taking some of the scrub, this all creates perfect habitat for nesting and feeding for our heathland birds. Please remember that these are wild ponies so do not try to feed them as it cause them to become ill.  

    Ponies being let back…

  • Dormice Out of Hibernation

    We've done our first check of our dormouse nestboxes for the year and were pleased to find 3 dormice (all males) in the boxes. It's a little early for them to be out of hibernation (they only use the nestboxes for breeding) but we hope its a sign that they'll have a good year after a disappointing 2016. Here's a photo of one of them.

  • Wildlife sightings 5/4/17

    Spring has arrived on the reserve in the last few weeks. Willow warblers are singing across the reserve and we had our first tree pipits on the heath today. Woodlarks continue to sing across the reserve and several yellowhammers and linnet were heard singing. Other species seen on the heath include stonechats, raven, kestrel and green woodpecker.

    The last week has been a good week for birds of prey, with a Peregrine…

  • Wildlife Sightings 27/01/17

    Its been a frosty start to the year on the reserve. The last month has seen the start of woodlarks singing across the heath, a sign that the bird breeding season is not far away. A Dartford warbler was heard from the nightjar viewpoint with several stonechats being seen perched on top of the lone pine saplings. A raven was heard “cronking” over the heath yesterday.

    Flocks of up to 12 crossbills have been…

  • Fungi Foray and wildlife sightings 18/11

    Last month saw our annual Fungi Foray walk take place. Local expert (and previous site manager) Martin Alison led the walk around Broadwater Warren.  44 species were recorded on the day with highlights being green elf cup and stink horn. Only on the guided walk was a small selection of the fungi aloud to be picked to allow us to show identification of specific species. It is advised to leave fungi where you find them for…

  • Wildlife sightings 08/06

    With summer now upon us, we have seen several late summer migrants return to Broadwater Warren. Nightjars can be heard churring on the heath and spotted flycatchers can be seen catching insects near to decoy pond.

    The Dartmoor ponies are now back on site, with 9 on the main heath and 6 on the western heath. They continue to carry out conservation grazing to ensure the structure of the heath and acid grassland is perfect…

  • Wildlife Roundup 18/04

    The last month has seen the arrival of some of our summer migrants back to the reserve. Tree pipits can be heard singing from the tops of lone pines on the heath and seen carrying out their “parachuting” display. The whitethroat’s scratchy song can be heard from the scrubby areas of heath, willow warblers in the heath margins and swallows have been seen flying over the reserve.

    Species seen in the…

  • Wildlife Roundup 18/03

    The arrival of spring is on its way with bluebell plants starting to emerge in the woods and an array of singing birds and drumming woodpeckers marking out their territory.

    Species seen in the last few weeks and ones you should listen our for across the heath include up to 7 male yellowhammers singing their “a-little-bit-of-bread-with-no-cheeeeeese” and woodlarks with their fluty serial lū-lū-lū-lū-lū-", toolooeet toolooeet…

  • Wildlife roundup 19/02

    The recent dip in temperature has prolonged the early arrival of spring somewhat, but plenty of birds are beginning to sing, investigate nesting holes and compete for territories across the reserve.

    Our first woodlark survey this week produced an estimated 12 males singing over the heath. Woodlarks are very early at nesting and setting up territories, because of this and the fact they nest on the ground is why are dogs…

  • Wildlife roundup 5/11

    This week we had a very exciting sighting at BWW. The first confirmed sighting of a Dartford Warbler since the rspb started managing the site this week, it was seen Tuesday and Wednesday this week north east of the crossroads in the heath. It seemed to be hanging around with a group of 5 stonechats, so keep your eyes peeled if you see any stonechats on the reserve!

    Other species seen this month include large flocks of…

  • Wildlife roundup 16/10

    With the arrival of the autumn weather comes the arrival of a few wintering species of birds. This week the first fieldfares and redwings were spotted on the main heath at Broadwater Warren. A flock of at least 100 thrushes were seen on Thursday, comprising of mainly fieldfares as well as redwings, song thrushes, mistle thrushes and blackbirds. These birds have traveled from Scandinavia and northern Europe to over winter…

  • Wildlife Roundup 4/9/15

    It has been a quite month for bird activity on the reserve. But look out for flocks of tits which are starting to group together; recently there have been a variety of other species in them including bullfinch, spotted flycatchers, chiff chaffs, tree creepers, nuthatches and willow warblers.

    Its a good time to look out for migrants passing through at this time of year so keep an eye out for species such as whinchat or…

  • Wildlife Roundup 05/08

    The emergence of flying ants at the start of the week caused a frenzy of feeding by several species at Broadwater Warren. Up to 10 spotted flycatchers with fledged young, Willow warblers, Chiffchaffs, Chaffinches and Greater spotted woodpeckers were all seen within a small area near the zigzag boardwalk. A male lesser spotted woodpecker was also seen feeding on some of the birch trees near the boardwalk.

    Fledged young…

  • Wildlife Roundup 26/6

    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…

  • Wildlife roundup 17/6

    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.

  • Wildlife Roundup 5/6

    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…

  • Weekly Roundup 19th May

    Welcome news of the first Nightjar of the summer came when one was found on the 11th of May and then 2 churring males heard on 16th, 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…

  • Exmoor Ponies back on the heath

    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…

  • Nightjars have returned!

    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). 

  • Early Bird Walk

    The early bird walk on the 6th 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…