For once, I was right about the weather! I have been secretly terrified of saying that I’d heard it was going to be a mild Christmas, just in case the weatherman in the sky decided to send another winter like last year, with the car being marooned for two weeks and travel ANYWHERE being a mammoth undertaking. So, now that I’ve let it out, I’ll be thinking of all the wonderful things that all that snow and ice will bring…

Hi all, I hope you've all had a fantastic few days over Christmas opening your presents and eating your turkey. As for birds you won't be eating, there have been a fair few around in the last couple of days here at RSPB Fairburn Ings! As the visitor centre was closed over Christmas Day and Boxing Day we don't have any reported sightings for those days so if you were about, please let us know what you saw as …

We haven’t done a ‘what’s about at RSPB Fairburn Ings?’ for a week or so, and I decided it was time for a catch up. We are still seeing the kingfisher(s) daily, both a male and female were seen today and we also continue have sightings of 200+ fieldfares and redwing across the reserve.

On Thursday of last week we had reports of the Long Eared Owls at Lin Dike, a Peregrine Falcon outside the…

Yesterday saw Fairburn Ings host our Christmas Family Fun Day, on possibly the last cold and frosty day for a short while.   The white ground certainly helped to make the place feel suitably Christmas-ey in preparation for a day of bauble decorating, visiting Santa in his grotto, and a whole load of other activities for the kids.  I hope everyone who came along had a great time.  As I was helping Santa to see so many children…

Did any of our loyal readers think they saw some suspicious looking Highland Cattle eating rush (Juncus) in the flashes this week, and then have to look again to see that it was actually our outdoor team of volunteers armed with three brush cutters and a lawn mower?

Well, if you did, you were witness to them doing an absolutely fantastic job. The reserve team have been braving the elements yet again this week and have…

The past couple of days have certainly made me feel like Christmas is fast approaching. The frosty starts and snow in the air have put an end to the surprisingly mild weather we've been having here, which I was reminded of just yesterday when I saw a duckling behind the Kingfisher Screen! Did anyone see the ducklings mentioned on Autumnwatch? I hope there aren't too many about! The unsettled weather we experienced yesterday…

This week has witnessed a Kingfisher being seen by visitors every day down at the Kingfisher Screen, an opportunity I couldn’t miss – and I was lucky enough to watch one for a good twenty minutes on a cold, grey day this week. A fairly dull day was suddenly brightened by its appearance, and it’s been seen frequently by our visitors today.

We’ve had our first Waxwing today, at the Feeder Screen…