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…

Difficult to believe after all this bad weather, but Woodlark have already started to sing and display on the restored heathland. The beautiful song of the Woodlark returned to Broadwater in 2012 as a result of the heathland restoration programme and last year visitors were treated to some wonderful views of the birds as well as enjoying the melodic song. It's normal for Woodlark to begin singing quite early, but this year…

 A lot of work has been going on over the last month at Broadwater!

The stumps have been ground out and the last of the debris from the conifer clearance has been scraped off. A wetland area has been created on the heath by damming and reshaping the watercourse. Look out for bathing larks and feeding woodcock in spring! Work around the Decoy Pond is well under way, with only a bit more coppicing left and native tree planting…

Our volunteers recently installed a new bench in the east of the reserve where there are great views across the restored heathland. After setting up the bench Sally, Leslie, John and Alan took a well-earned rest to take in the views.

This afternoon I was amazed to see a Great Grey Shrike on the reserve, the first time this species has been recorded. It was perching on lone trees left standing after this year's conifer clearance, part of the ongoing heathland restoration programme.  A scarce autumn/winter visitor to the UK, Great Grey Shrikes visit open areas, including heathland and need perches from which to hunt. Just 2 months ago the area where I…

In just a few days we've had some amazing records of wildlife at the reserve.

Earlier in the year with our neighbours from Sussex Wildlife Trust's Eridge Rocks we cut and hung up some oak branches on the reserves. That might seem a strange thing to do but we were looking for evidence of the Olive Crescent moth, one of RSPB's priority non-avian species. The larvae of this moth feed on withered oak leaves so we were…

We've completed two thirds of all the open ground creation at Broadwater Warren.  The final third of the open ground will be created over the next three years.  This ambitious project involves removing pines that were planted on this previously open ground.  As we remove the planted pines, the heather seeds germinate and the land springs back into life.  The result will be a nature reserve that is roughly 50% woodland…