The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is back for it's 39th year this weekend. The largest citizen science study in the UK, it is a chance to spend an hour of your weekend watching the birds in the garden and enjoying a bit of relaxation whilst doing so. It also helps us gather important information about the fluctuations in the number of our bird species. Find out more about the Big Garden Birdwatch here. Want to know more…

A selection of our RSPB binoculars have been reduced in price for a limited period:

RSPB Ramblers 8x25 WAS £95 NOW £90

RSPB Ramblers 10x25 WAS £95 NOW £90

WPG 8x32 WAS £195 NOW £185

WPG 8.5 x 42 WAS £205 NOW £195

WPG 10.5 x 42 WAS £215 NOW £205

BGPC 8x32 WAS £349 NOW £329

BGPC 8x42 WAS £379 NOW £359

BGPC 10x42 WAS £379 NOW…

A regular visitor and I were just discussing collective nouns for birds. We knew of a murder of crows and a charm of goldfinches, but we wondered; do all bird species have a collective noun? It appears not but there are some good ones such as a flamboyance of flamingos, a parliament of owls and a bellowing of bullfinches to pick a few out of a fairly long list. I felt that a desert of lapwings fitted the title of this…

Thinking of buying binoculars or a telescope? 

Whether you know a bit or don't know where to start, come to the RSPB Dungeness Visitor Centre and get some hands on advice from our friendly, knowledgeable team and have the chance to try the products out.

We are holding events on some Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings and on one weekend in November/December – our friendly staff and volunteers will be on hand…

Firstly, I'd like to say Merry Christmas to those who read this blog post and thank you for your support over the year.

Robin on a frozen puddle - Graham Parry

We've made some fantastic progress over the year with various projects and activities. Here's a highlight of what's been happening on the reserve:

1. Our Re-Tern project; raising the islands on Burrowes Pit which now supports large groups…

After some much needed, heavy rainfall this week, today is a bright and sunny day on the reserve. Although we dislike the torrential rain and wind down here it benefits our wildlife so much more than we think. Our wet grassland fields are now wet again which provides a much needed source of food for our resident waders such as lapwing and redshank. It also heightens water levels in the pits allowing better feeding opportunities…

Just posting a quick update to let you know that Leo (as he is fondly known) has returned to us today for (hopefully) another winter! This will be the third year that he has roosted on the reserve during the winter time. It's nice to know that we are providing a good enough habitat, with an abundance of food, for the Long-eared owl to return to us again. He has been seen roosting in his favourite spot in the willow trees…

We had a sprinkling of snow here yesterday at Dungeness, where snow hasn't landed on the reserve for quite a few years! Even just the small bit we had made the reserve look extra special yesterday morning. Our Warden team even had a chance to make a mini snowman!

RSPB Dungeness with snow sprinkling - Louise Kelly

Tractor bonnet snowman - Angela Wood

It's amazing how much the wintry feel and the fact it is…

It was lovely driving in to a frosty scene at Dungeness this morning. A beautiful bright sky with a crisp chill in the air means winter is pretty much here and we have had an influx in winter visitors on our reserve this week. Look out for the tiny little goldcrest and firecrests on the reserve, they particularly enjoy the Willow Trail over at ARC and the willow trees in the stretch between Makepeace and Scott hide. Look…

Thinking of buying binoculars or a telescope? 

Whether you know a bit or don't know where to start, come to the RSPB Dungeness Visitor Centre and get some hands on advice from our friendly, knowledgeable team and have the chance to try the products out.

We are holding events on some Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings and on one weekend in November/December – our friendly staff and volunteers will be on hand…

With clear skies and warm sun we've had a full week of beautiful weather here at Dungeness, this is very unusual as the weather is always so changeable. Speaking of change, we've had a new till system installed in our shop which is very exciting and will hopefully be more efficient for us and our customers! Please be patient whilst we get to grips with it.

A view from the visitor centre

Remember, remember…

After a rather miserable week of weather, the sun is shining brightly today and we have been very busy here at Dungeness!

We are covered in gold this week as we have had lots of beautiful Goldcrests and hundreds of even more beautiful (in my opinion) Goldfinches been sighted around the reserve. To top it off we have had over 200 Golden Plovers at Denge Marsh and a female Goldeneye on Burrowes pit. 

Goldcrest - Graham…

Well, our new islands are already living up to a few expectations. We have been seeing a hive of activity on Burrowes Pit over the last few weeks. From large flocks of waders such as lapwing, golden plover, oystercatcher and dunlin feeding and roosting on the islands to huge feeding frenzies from cormorants, gulls, egrets and herons there has been so much to watch just from the visitor centre, let alone the hides along…

Thinking of buying binoculars or a telescope? 

Whether you know a bit or don't know where to start, come to the RSPB Dungeness Visitor Centre and get some hands on advice from our friendly, knowledgeable team and have the chance to try the products out.

We are holding events on some Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings and on selected weekends in October and November – our friendly staff and volunteers will be…

Lots of birds are passing through the reserve now as they head off back to warmer climates to spend the winter. I think the chillier weather in recent weeks has produced a flurry of birds desperate for some warmer nights!

This photo was taken this week by local birdwatcher Martin Casemore showing our Hirundines (swallows, sand martins etc.) lining up on the power lines ready to head off over the Channel. Now is one…

Over the summer, we have hosted lots of different Wild Family events. 'Wild Families' does what it says on the tin and invites families with children of all ages down to the reserve to take part in full day activities with us here, getting wild, [sometimes] wet and wowed! 

During the school holidays we discovered what lives in our ponds, what our barn owls eat, learning about our moths, butterflies and bees and…

Thinking of buying binoculars or a telescope? 

Whether you know a bit or don't know where to start, come to the RSPB Dungeness Visitor Centre and get some hands on advice from our friendly, knowledgeable team and have the chance to try the products out.

We are holding events on some Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings and on selected weekends between August and November – our friendly staff and volunteers will…

Work is steaming ahead on Burrowes Pit. Since starting the project we have completed clusters A, B, C, D and F. We are leaving cluster E until last as we have had nesting terns on these islands and we want to minimise disturbance around them as much as possible and give them a few more weeks to be able to fledge. 

Shallow walkways or causeways are being left between islands to assist with the ongoing management of them…

It's that time of the year again where we are starting to get a build up of waders and warblers on our reserve. Willow warblers in particular have been heard and seen in fairly high numbers (50 at Lade Pits!). Now that they have bred and their young have fledged this will be the highest population of warblers we will see all year. From now until early September they will be gathering along the coast in their numbers to…

Thinking of buying binoculars or a telescope? 

Whether you know a bit or don't know where to start, come to the RSPB Dungeness Visitor Centre and get some hands on advice from our friendly, knowledgeable team and have the chance to try the products out.

We are holding events on some Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings and on selected weekends between August and November – our friendly staff and volunteers will…

After years of planning, we are now undertaking work on Burrowes Pit to raise the heights of the islands. This will increase the amount of breeding space for seabirds and roosting space for our wintering wildfowl as well as creating a better viewing experience for our visitors.

Common tern - Graham Parry

In total 46 islands will be raised by an average of 44cm, which will create around 22,000m² of exposed shingle…

We've had a week full of interesting things! Our weekend started off with an Open Day at our historic Sound Mirrors over at Lade Pits. The day proved very popular and attracted 700 visitors! Thanks to all who came and to the volunteers that helped us out on the day, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Secondly, an interesting bird was spotted on Monday - a Ruddy Shelduck. A beautiful bird which looks rather different from…

Phew, what a hot week it's been here. Thank goodness for the Dungeness breeze. The warm weather has been bringing out plenty of insects and basking lizards and grass snakes.

Can you spot the grass snake under the corrugated iron sheet?

Emerald Damselfly - Dave Clarke

The flowers are in full glory too with the amazing vipers bugloss out and all over the reserve, covering the shingle landscape in beautiful purple…

Thinking of buying binoculars or a telescope? 

Whether you know a bit or don't know where to start, come to the RSPB Dungeness Visitor Centre and get some hands on advice from our friendly, knowledgeable team and have the chance to try the products out.

We are holding events on some Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings and on selected weekends between June and November – our friendly staff and volunteers will…

Gale force winds blew in at least 2 Spoonbills to our reserve on Tuesday! These magnificent birds took shelter on Burrowes pit and at the ARC to feast up whilst the winds made flying pretty impossible. We had wonderful views from the warmth and dry of the visitor centre!

Spoonbill - Martin Casemore

Our beautiful yet very vocal Oystercatchers have also finally made up their minds on where they would like to nest. After…