Another reserve rarity turning up recently, this time a UK resident species which means we now have a full complement of the tit family at Fairburn with the arrival of a marsh tit. It is very similar to our other scarce breeder, the willow tit, careful identification is required to separate the two species as they look identical at a glance. Marsh tit plumage has a duller overall appearance and the bill has a pale patch…

Autumn migration is in full swing and this is the time to be on the lookout for birds passing through on migration south. One such bird which always creates excitement is the marsh harrier, a regular passage migrant and occasionally over-winters on the reserve. The largest harrier species, typically seen flying low over marshes with steady wing beats between glides on raised wings whilst hunting. If you are walking around…

More star turns make a brief appearance on main bay, two juvenile black terns to be precise. They appeared on the morning of the 27^th August and stayed until mid-afternoon, a great start to the week for the observers who were lucky enough to see them. The black tern is a scarce spring and autumn migrant to the UK coast and inland waters, they occur in North America and Europe, our visitors are migrating from Europe to…

Autumn bird migration has rolled around again and our summer visitors are starting to depart as those who pause or winter here are arriving. Without today’s facilities or technologies, migration was a mystery to be explained and by, did some imaginations run riot.

Catching insects yellow wagtail style on the eastern reedbed.

In 1745, in “Inquiry into the physical and literal sense of the scriptures” the unknown…

As we move ever closer to autumn birds are starting to move from their breeding grounds in preparation for migration. This is the time to keep your eyes open for birds passing through the reserve which you wouldn’t expect to see as they drop into fuel up for their long journey. A surprise find on the 24^th August on the path through Lin Dike was a Tree Pipit. Tree pipits can usually be found in sparsely timbered…

St Aidan’s continues to delight as summer rolls towards autumn and migration time.

 Across the site, the hirondines are feeding up and getting ready to head south. Swallows and swifts, house martins and sand martins are still to be seen on the wing plucking insects out of the air. Within the next few weeks they will be off to feeding grounds thousands of miles away.

On the hillside, greylag and Canada geese are…

The summer is almost over, as far as the birds are concerned anyway, as many species begin to move south in preparation for their long journey to warmer climes for the winter. Cuckoos of course are short stay birds, arriving late April to early May and departing for Africa in July. An all too short a stay for one of our iconic summer visitors it’s call is instantly recognised by everybody, whether a keen birder or somebody…

At this time of year our gardens seem to be populated by sickly looking birds such as ragged robins, bedraggled blackbirds, shabby starlings, jaded jays, mussed magpies and tatty tits. The subject of feather moult is fraught with variation by species, birds within species, frequency, timing, duration, life-style and is full of exceptions but most go through a post-breeding moult, hence the “pulled through a hedge…

The school holidays are here, and we're welcoming families to St. Aidan's Nature Park to go wild!

The RSPB's Wild Challenge is home to tonnes of ideas about how you & your children can get close to nature. You can sign up as a family for free & work your way towards your gold award.

The Aire Valley have always welcomed families, and now St Aidan's is in its second summer - we've upped the possibilities…

If I could write a fanfare I would be doing it now, after another excellent spring for our rarer breeding birds. To add to the breeding success of the spoonbills, black-necked grebes and bearded tits we had our first sighting of a pair of juvenile bitterns on the 19^th July. What a day to choose to make an appearance, the very day Chris Packham was on site as part of his bioblitz tour, talk about timing!

Juvenile…

This week Fairburn Ings was delighted to take part in Chris Packham's UK Bioblitz 2018. We were one of 50 wildlife sites chosen to undertake a wildlife audit, the results of which will be used to create a benchmark to measure the rise and fall of many different species in future years. Visitors to the reserve joined RSPB staff and volunteers to identify and count bugs, birds, plants and pondlife.

I spotted a P…

It may only be July but autumn migration is underway, waders are starting to move and the timing couldn’t be better with water levels dropping around the reserve. The top visitor would have to be the scarce wood sandpiper which has been present since the 10^th July on spoonbill flash. The wood sandpiper is an elegant small wader with spangled upperparts, white supercilium (stripe above the eye) and either greenish…

That fiendish bird sneaks an egg into a much smaller bird’s nest and what hatches is a blind, naked murderer who immediately pushes overboard any “siblings”. A chick that runs its “parents” ragged and grows rapidly to monstrous proportions that could swallow a “parent” whole. It has such a mesmerising gape that even passing birds can’t help giving it food destined for their own. The long held belief that most birds are…

A much overlooked bird around the reserve is the tree sparrow, there is a very healthy population concentrated around the visitor centre. There are screens in the visitor centre from which you can watch the comings and goings of the breeding tree sparrows in the nest boxes around the centre, a nice way to have a breather out of the sun with an ice cream.

Tree sparrows suffered a severe decline since the 1970’s, the UK…

And now, MOTHS.

Everyone loves moths, and if they don't, they should.

I've been regularly moth trapping at Fairburn Ings since the end of March. It got off to a fairly slow start, the temperature throughout April not seeming to get much above freezing the entire month, but with the recent warmer weather things are REALLY starting to kick off.

After meeting the intern & residential volunteer from RSPB Saltholme…

My name is Emma and I am the current warden intern at St Aidans & Fairburn Ings. I will be here until September after which I will move on to RSPB Saltholme for another six months. I started back in March and I have loved my time here so far. I've been very lucky to have arrived at a great time of year. I've witnessed the arrival of many spring migrants, the trees bursting into blossom and the emergence of wildflowers…

The path to the new spoonbill viewing area is well trodden and with good reason, a maximum of six spoonbills have been reported over the past two weeks. The big news is that the breeding pair, who can be seen clearly from the viewing area, are now the proud parents of three chicks. If you are lucky enough to be able to watch the nest using a scope then on occasions you can just see the heads of the chicks or a flexing…

It's been quite a week at St Aidan's, what with Springwatch coming to visit, the sun coming out for a bit, kestrel chicks hatching.... I could go on. Well, I will, because this is a sightings blog.

June has brought a real taste of summer. The site is a mass of flowers now, hosting red-tailed bumblebees, common blue and blue-tailed damselflies, common blue butterflies, painted ladies, and dingy skippers.

A…

Well the news is out now, the exciting press release stating that we have a breeding pair of spoonbills for the second year running. The new viewing area will provide excellent views of these extraordinary looking birds, and don’t forget the coal tips which is the best place to see these majestic birds in flight. It’s quite something to witness the spoonbills graceful flight coming from such an ungamely looking bird,…

Today we are focusing on our Thursday Volunteer Reserve Assistants.

This group of volunteers work across the reserve to support the wardens in maintaining the reserve for wildlife and visitors.

Sam, who is one of our Thursday volunteers, says “In my working life I realised I wasn't spending any time outside and certainly wasn't getting enough exercise, which was soon to change. I joined RSPB St Aidan’s in October…

Lesley is one of our Wednesday Reserve Assistants at Fairburn Ings and is very enthusiast about the team “We are a friendly group of usually 6 who work well together. We even have a WhatsApp group chat called ‘Wot’s ‘Appning Wednesday’ where we keep in touch with each other with photos of the work we are doing on the reserve. I didn’t know what I would be doing when I started volunteering but I knew I wanted to work mostly…

Today’s volunteer is one of our youngest Volunteer Rangers a St Aidan’s, Georgia.

Always enthusiastic Georgia told us: “I started volunteering at the RSPB because I wanted to inspire people to love St Aiden’s as much as I do. The birds I’ve learnt and people I’ve met while I’ve been here have shown me how noticeable a small change can be and how, when working together, we’re all able to help give nature…

Introducing Keith and Val, who describe themselves as ‘the Sunday morning novices’, having joined 6 months ago. 

Val says “Keith is a Ranger and is trying hard to sound like a walking encyclopaedia on all things bird-like.  He is getting there with the help of our other wonderful and knowledgeable experienced Rangers.  I am an assistant in the visitor centre and now, at last, becoming familiar with the…

Introducing Janine and Chris, our new Volunteer Coordinators at St Aidan’s and Fairburn Ings. They recruit and support our wonderful team of over a 100 volunteers.

Chris says “I’m a relative newbie, having joined the team in January. So pleased I decided to volunteer with RSPB (and that they were prepared to take me on!). I’ve missed being part of a team since I retired and have been made to feel so welcome at…

The four birds that epitomise summer, namely screaming swifts, jabbering sand martins, prattling house martins and trilling swallows are now all here. Sand martins arrive first (usually late March/early April), followed by swallows, house martins and finally the swifts (usually late April/early May) and depart the earliest, during August. By now they are all extremely active hawking for aerial insects as their time is…