• But red campions are pink!

    Wildflowers are looking more and more beautiful this time of year with forget-me-nots, cow parsley, herb robert, daisies and buttercups popping up all over the reserve. Hawthorn is now everywhere, if you were unsure of whether it was hawthorn before, now you’ll definitely be certain with their lovely snowy blossoms giving them all away! Horse chestnut or ‘conker trees’ are now also holding their distinctive white candy…

  • Damselflies and dragonflies are here!

    The last few mornings here at Fairburn have been beautiful, with lots of fresh wildlife sightings to report! There have loads of damselflies emerging lately, with large reds being the first to appear a few weeks ago. Some of our newest editions are the blue-tailed damselfly and azure damselfly, with the azure having a blue and black striped abdomen and the blue-tailed with the striking blue tip on the end of its abdomen…

  • Sun is out... whats about?

    Fairburn Ings is definitely at its best when the suns shining! We’ve had ample sightings of ice creams, shorts, sandals, sun hats, shades... and if that’s not enough to prove that the May sunshine has joined us then maybe this weeks wildlife sightings will! Red campion is definitely in full bloom and there’s an impressive patch of greater stitchwort still blossoming just before the kissing gate by Bob Dickens hide. Bluebells…

  • Firsts for Fairburn!

    Firstly sorry for the delay since our last sightings blog! Although on a plus it’s great to come back to Fairburn Ings and notice all the new things about. Everything’s just looking greener and greener here on the reserve, with lush green hedgerows still teaming with new wildflowers and the trees swiftly filling up with leaves even if they are all sadly covered in rain droplets! The silver birch trees are drooping with…

  • Spring wonderland...

    So it’s been a lovely week here at Fairburn with plenty of exciting sightings to report once again! With wildflowers now emerging even more rapidly and counts of orange-tip butterflies reaching over 63 in one day the reserve really is becoming more and more like a spring wonderland. Cuckoo flowers, garlic mustard and bluebells are still becoming more and more frequent, and an arrival of another understated wildflower…

  • Have you heard your first cuckoo?

    I thought I’d get a sightings blog in today before the weather totally changes and the rain and wind takes over! Firstly I have seen loads of speckled wood butterflies fluttering about this week whilst walking amongst the birch trees! These butterflies feed on honeydew in tree tops and are only rarely seen feeding on flowers, hence why they are named speckled ‘wood’ butterfly as they favour woodlands. I was shown how…