There has been a lot of activity on the reserve over the last week or so, with still more waterfowl returning . Goosanders are being seen mainly on the Village and Main bays and a female smew was present on a few days. Goldeneyes are being seen on Main bay and the river and 25 teal were seen feeding at Pickup hide yesterday. Seven white fronted geese has been resident in the Lin Dyke area and good numbers of pink feet…

There is even more open water on the reserve now and we are starting to see ducks like goosanders, shovelers, goldeneyes and teals returning to the lakes. The female smew has moved from its residence at the kingfisher screen and has been seen at Lin Dyke over the last couple of days. On Thursday a little egret was seen fishing from Pickup hide before it moved down to the moat where it joined a great crested grebe.Two adult…

At last there is a little bit more open water on the reserve and we hope that more ducks and other water birds will begin to return. On Sunday a little egret was seen landing in willows along main bay. Shovelers are returning to the water in front of Pickup hide. The smew is obviously very happy on the stream at the kingfisher screen as it has been a resident here for over 10 days now.

Up to 4 water rails have been seen…

It has been an exciting few days on the reserve with the female smew being present at the kingfisher screen each day. I have never seen a smew before and to have one so close is amazing. It has been fustrating some visitors by swiming out of sight up stream but with a little bit of patience most people have been rewarded by cracking views. The smew has remained in this one place for so long because it is still one of the…

Join in with Big Garden Birdwatch at Fairburn Ings on Sunday Jaunuary 30. Open the attachment to find out more!

A very Happy New Year to everyone from all the staff at Fairburn Ings!

Today was a very  busy day for visitors and a lot of  people were treated to great views of the kingfisher at the screen it spent most of the day perched in a bush on the right hand bank of the stream, an added bonus was the female smew that was also present there on and off all day. Siskins were putting on a good show around the board walk and the water…

Alan Halsall aka Corrination Streets Tyrone Dobbs visited Fairburn Ings the other day and was photgraphed at our swan feeding platform! 

As 2010 draws to a close we had a fantastic day on the reserve. Now that the thaw is continuing there is a lot of open water at Lin Dike and the waterfowl as started to return. The highlights were 2 goosanders, 6 goldeneyes, 7 tufted ducks, 140 canada geese, and 8 greylags. Other birds in the same area were a green woodpecker, a jay  and 4 bullfinches.

A woodcock and water rail were seen at Pickup hide along with a flock…

The bank holiday was a busy one at the reserve with a lot of visitors coming to walk off the excesses of Christmas and see what was about. The warmer weather is certainly a change from the last few weeks with temperatures reaching a balmy 5 degrees centigrade! Despite the change in weather it is still important to feed the birds and we are still seeing a lot of activity at our feeding stations. A flock of up to 9 long…

It's Christmas Eve and its not just the elves that are busy getting ready on the last day before Christmas! Here at Fairburn Ings our wardens and rangers are dashing around the reserve filling bird feeders and scattering seed for ducks, swans and even water rails. Then off to the far reaches of the reserve to deliver supper to our roaming cattle and sheep. We'll keep checking in on the wildlife and livestock throughout…

The reserve has been a great place to see woodcock this week with sightings close to the visitor centre on most days. Water rails are still showing really well and can be seen regularly at the duck and swan feeding station and also around the bird feeders at Pickup hide. Long tailed tits have been seen in small flocks at most of the feeding stations. Willow tits and bullfinches are also regular visitors to the seed feeders…

Yesterday morning I braved temperatures of -10 to do an outside radio interview for BBC radio Leeds. The time was 8am and the sun was just rising at the top of Redshale road. The frost on the trees as they disappeared in the mist was stunning and the whole sight was bathed in an orange light.The Idea of the interview was to talk about the landscape and the wildlife and to talk  about the importance of  feeding the birds in…

I'm going to start with one of the most adorable members of the mustelidae family, the Weasel. There have been lots of sightings around the Visitor Centre this week. Usually observations are only fleeting as they are incredibly swift, but will just be long enough to appreciate how miniature and charming this little mammal is.

There is still a Long-eared Owl showing down near Lin Dike, and with 2 Long-eared Owl Safari…

The snow may have gone but the birds are still here! I visited RSPB Saltholme on Friday and was amazed to see that when I returned in the evening that the snow had all but melted. It is amazing what a couple of degrees rise in temperature can do! So only having been here for two weeks I was amazed to discover that there is actually grass and earth at Fairburn after all!

The snow was around for along time but it was…

It has stopped snowing but it has remained very cold and there is a lot of snow still lying on the ground and the lakes and pools remain frozen. This hasn't stopped the last few days being brilliant for birds and has pushed a lot of species closer to the centre.

The normally shy water rail is being seen all over the reserve, most notably at the duck and swan feeding platform where two have been seen every day and…

The long eared owls are back!!!

Two years ago we had 5 of these amazing owls roosting on the reserve which was fantastic to see, I'd never seen a long eared owl before so to see 5 of them together was something I'll never forget. They were in the same place every day for almost 3 months and proved very popular with our visitors. Last year, however, only one was seen and it was roosting in a different location.

The snow had been relentless this week but it has not stopped some amazing sightings of birds around the reserve. After almost a week of continuous snow fall the weather is starting to draw the more elusive species out of hiding.

Water Rails have been seen every day this week and the majority of reports have come from Cut Lane. They have also been seen at the feeding platform near the centre and at the Kingfisher Screen…

As there has been a lack of updates for the past few weeks, I shall run through the impressive list of bird sightings from around the reserve.

There have been good numbers of Fieldfare seen all over the reserve, with a large number of sightings coming from Pickup and Lin Dike. Now is an excellent time to see this wintering thrush as it feeds on the winter berries and fallen fruit, as well as any worms or insects that it…

Monday started off with a great selection of feathered friends. From Pickup you could see Brambling, Redpoll, and a Sparrowhawk. Around the Visitor Centre there were Willow Tits and a Song Thrush. Over the reserve were 5 Buzzards and a Kestrel.

Tuesday saw Mistle Thrushes, Willow, Blue and Great Tits, a Little Owl in the paddock and again 3 more Buzzards circling over the reserve.

Wednesday began with a Brambling at…

A Grey Phalarope was seen on the reserve on Saturday which is very exciting news, this is the 7th recording of this species to the reserve since 1956. It was reported to be on the pool down below Red Shale road. They are not usually seen inland, strong winds will probably have been responsible for blowing this little wader off course.

The second sighting this Autumn of the Long Eared Owl came in on Sunday from Lin Dike…

Even with some less than desirable weather this week there has still been good reports of bird activity around the reserve. The sounds of Chiffchaff have been great to hear, but also seem slightly out of place as they have not been heard since the breeding season. Redpolls are showing up around the reserve and this week; a few have been seen around the visitor centre. They are generally a winter visitor to Britain and…

What a week it has been for seeing the familiar and not so familiar around Fairburn Ings. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday there were sightings of a Spotted Flycatcher camped out along Lin Dike path near the hide, although it's probably been blown away now after the day we're having today.

There have been lots of reports of Blackwits, Ruff, Dunlin and Greenshank throughout the week which is great to hear. Lin…

As autumn starts to set in the weeks just keep getting better and better for viewing waders and other waterfowl around the reserve. The beginning of this week saw reports of a Golden Plover seen down on the Flashes, and the same day 4 Ruff and a Greenshank were spotted from Pickup hide as well as a Water Rail.

A Water Rail was again seen from Pickup hide on Wednesday and sightings of a Common Sandpiper from Cut hide, Goldeneye…

Yesterday there was a report of an Osprey hunting over Spoonbill Flash. One lucky regular to the reserve actually witnessed an Osprey catch a fish from the flashes, which is something you don't see here every day! This is not the first report of Osprey around the reserve recently, with people catching sight of this truly awesome bird of prey last week, and over the weekend. All these sightings have happened down near the…