A great few days at the reserve with 2 Red Crested Pochard seen on bank holiday Monday, this is a rarity for the reserve as they are usually seen in Southern and Eastern England.

The nice weather has brought out a number of raptors including Hobby, Red Kite, Buzzard, a Peregrine and I had a rare wildlife moment when I saw a Sparrowhawk take a dive for the bird feeders outside the visitor centre- I think they all managed…

It has been an exciting start to the week so far with sightings of a Common Redstart seen near the visitor centre on Monday. These small thrushes are starting to head towards their wintering grounds in Africa and are now turning up in places away from there usual breeding grounds.

There has also been a report of a whooper Swan seen down at the Lin Dike part of the reserve, as well as Little Egrets, Green Sandpipers, Dunlin…

Waders are being seen more and more frequently now at the reserve as the breeding season is coming to an end. A lot of birds are moving away from their breeding sites and starting to head to different feeding grounds in preparation for their winter migrations. Greenshank, Common and Green Sandpipers and Dunlin are regularly being spotted from various parts of the reserve. Pickup hide, Lin Dike and along the Flashes are all…

The start of this week has seen reports of visits from the loveable Little Egrets, as well as Dunlin, Green Sandpiper and Greenshank. Most of the sightings were made from either Lin Dike or Pickup hide, which are the best hides on the reserve to see waders. There are the usual suspects too, which include Little Ringed Plover, Common Terns, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and a few reports of Snipe. Snipe are regulars here to the reserve…

There has been lots of activity around the reserve today starting with 3 Little Egrets seen from Lin Dike hide, feeding on Spoonbill Flash. From the same place there were Green and Redshank also spotted along with 5 Dunlin and 3 Little Ringed Plover. There were sightings of around 20 Common Terns fishing over Moat as well as Ringed Plover at the waters edge.

Loads of usual suspects seen from our Pickup hide also today…

It has been a busy weekend for Sandpipers here at the reserve. Saturday there were sightings of Common Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper from Pickup hide, also 3 Little Ringed Plovers and a Hobby!

On Sunday Lin Dike hide was the best place to see Sandpipers, with reports of 6 Common and 5 Green. There were Redshank and Greenshank both spotted from the hide as well as a Kestrel and a Green Woodpecker.

Today we have seen 2…

Fairburn Ings is a fantastic place to see all manner of different species of Damselflies and Dragonflies this summer. From around late May right up until September or October time (depending on the weather) there are many opportunities to see the great array that we have living here at the reserve.

The Damselfly species that you are likely to see are the Emerald, Large Red, Azure, Common Blue and Blue Tailed. As for …

Pickup hide is the place to be this week. Monday we were treated to a selection of different visitors. A Greenshank and Green Sandpiper were seen along with a Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker. A few of our warblers can still be heard around the reserve such as the Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat. Pickup was also graced by one of our stunning Kingfishers along with one of my favourites, the Yellow Wagtail.…

This week has been great for spotting Green Sandpipers at the reserve and they were seen most days from Pick Up hide. Pick Up was also a good place to be on Wednesday and Friday to see the Yellow Wagtail visitors we had. This is a nationally declining species, which used to breed here at Fairburn Ings so any sightings are always greatly welcomed.

On Monday we were graced with a visit from 34 Black Tailed Godwits. They hung…

This morning we were treated to a pair of Little Owls perched on the fence near the visitors centre along Newton Lane. This appears to be a favourite spot for the Owls with weekly sightings being reported. From Pick Up hide a Hobby was spotted as well as a Common Sandpiper. Down at Lin Dike hide  today there are Redshank feeding along the waters edge, Lapwing and juvenile Lapwing, a Little Ringed Plover and the rest of the…

On Monday and Tuesday, a quail has heard calling down near Lin dike hide and the surrounding flashes. This is particularly exciting as there hasn't been a recorded sighting of this bird for a while.

Lots more sightings of a male Marsh Harrier have been reported which is great news. Still no sign of a female unfortunately but we are keeping our fingers crossed. In the last week 4 out of the 7 days there has been sightings…

Many Warblers can still be heard around the reserve including Garden Warblers which were seen and heard many times on Friday. Reed and Sedge warblers are very much about with their distinctive songs. Friday was also a good day to see Yellowhammers, they are visible from the Visitor Centre and up along Red Shale road heading towards Bob Dickens hide. A little Grebe was also spotted from Red Shale road as you look down…

The first Great Crested Grebe chicks are now on the reserve and these can be seen from our Cut hide. So far there are two broods, both with two chicks each. The chicks can be seen catching a ride on their parents back and fighting over food when the other adult returns. Also from the Cut two Little Ringed Plovers have been spotted today and there has been a Goosander seen every evening this week.

A Common Sandpiper was…

Wood Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plovers spotted again at Pick Up hide at the beginning of the week, with the latter being seen almost on a daily occurrence at both the Pick Up and Lin Dike hides. The female Marsh Harrier has been spotted from Lin Dike today and a Hobby sighted yesterday flying over Cut lane. There are two pairs of Kingfishers which can be viewed from Cut hide as well as Oystercatchers, Shovelers, Tufted…

On the first of our Dawn Chorus walks of the year we saw and heard around 63 different species of birds and wildlife. 7 of the warblers that are present on the reserve: Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, Reed Bunting, Blackcap. These were all on the Riverbank trail and can be heard on a daily basis as well as Lesser Whitethroat and if you're lucky Grasshopper Warbler, although they…

The Kingfisher have been showing well for the last few days, they have been seen daily, with a mating pair being seen in the area of Cut hide on Monday.

Again the raptors have been showing well, with a Hobby flying over Main Bay on Saturday and then seen again at Lin Dike on Monday, there was also an Osprey seen flying up river yesterday, along with a male Sparrowhawk outside the Visitor Centre. Also around the Visitor…

There have been a number of raptor sightings across the reserve over the last few days. A male Peregrine was seen from both Cut hide and Village Bay hide on Wednesday, an Osprey flew over the stacks on Thursday and there have been reports of 2 Red Kites flying across newfield, the area just opposite the car park entrance, this morning.

The Garganey are back on Village Bay, as are 2 Common Terns. Shoveler were seen at pickup…

With so many reported sightings over the past couple of days we wanted to keep everyone up to date with what can be seen during a visit to Fairburn Ings.

The number of Grasshopper Warbler just keep increasing with 10 now being a cautious estimate, these little birds are now being heard, if not seen across the whole of the reserve. There have also been a number of cuckoo heard calling, at the moment they seem to be around…

The Grasshopper Warblers have been out in force this weekend with up to 6 being heard across the reserve. One of the advisory group was lucky enough to get a picture of one of these secretive birds, have a look at the Gallery for this and other reserve photographs.

The first Common Terns of the year were seen over the weekend as well, with a single individual on Saturday and 3 seen yesterday flying around Village Bay…

There have been a number of sightings of Grasshopper Warbler at Lin Dike this week. Also at the West end of the reserve have been pairs of both Goldeneye and Gadwall, a small flock of Avocet, up to 23 Black Tailed Godwit seen on Tuesday, and a Whimbrel was seen flying West over the flashes on Wednesday. Also seen by the flashes on Wednesday were 3 Little Ringed Plover and a Marsh Harrier.

At Main Bay on Monday was a single…

The Wagtails have been out in force during the last few days. Whilst it looks like the Grey-headed might have moved on, we have had reports of around 10 Yellow and 30+ Pied on the Flashes. The flashes have also given further good sightings this week, 11 Avocet were seen there on Monday, along with 1 Green Sandpiper and a Little Egret, with the highlight on Tuesday being a female Merlin.

Across the rest of the reserve…