To the delight of St Aidan's staff and visitors we’ve had sightings of a male hen harrier at the beginning of this week. Spotted early Monday morning at the North of Ridge and Furrow and up onto The Hillside.
Deciding to stay for a little B&B in the area he was seen late on towards Western Reed beds and again the following morning over Ridge and Furrow and Hillside.
Hen harriers, currently on the RSPB red…

January. You could be forgiven for thinking it’s just a drab, grey, dive under the duvet month. The tinsel and fairy lights have been packed away, and the festive season feels like a distant memory.

But a squelch round St Aidan’s is probably just what you need to refresh your spirits – and work off some of those Christmas calories. Even on the dullest of days, there is a splash of colour - and possibly a patch…

From the moment my little girl was born, I just wanted to show her the world around us. I am well aware that without getting the next generation interested in nature and teaching them how to look after it, there may not be much left to see in the future.

Wanting to get Poppy interested in wildlife and nature from a young age, I racked my brains to think of ways to grab her attention and funnily enough it was her who…

George has been in the Aire Valley again , this time Fairburn Ings- here's her sightings blog for the week:

The new year has been welcomed in with a dusting of snow and icy clouds. A chance to sit with a cup of your favourite brew and take pleasure in watching our feathered visitors at the Fairburn feeders. Although the house was warm and there were still plenty of leftovers, it was time for trip to see whats been…

Happy new year to all of our visitors and readers, we've had some lovely sightings to report since the festive period. 

The big focus of the last week has been the great white egret. It's been seen from the visitor centre every day this week, which has provided brilliant views and photo opportunities! The egret is certainly getting its fill from the fish in Bowers Lake. Had a tasty pike (well done to Gavin for his…

The third and final of our new team of blogging volunteers is Gael - she recently started photographing wildlife and hasn't looked back! Here's her experience of a blustery walk around St Aidan's with me before Christmas:

'One of my few memories of primary school is a lesson where we were given a selection of pamphlets about birds, and had to choose one and write about the bird. I chose lapwing, and because…

Sometimes we all get carried away with how rare the birds we see are, to the point where the more common but still amazing sights are overlooked. Our new blogger, Phil - took one of his first trips around Fairburn Ings and shares his experience.

He'll be writing frequent blogs, and teaching his young daughter Poppy all about wildlife and why we should protect it along the way.

'There is honestly nothing better than…

George, one of our very first blogging volunteers in the Aire Valley, visited St Aidan's this week. An eager self-proclaimed 'newbie' to bird watching, here's her experience:

Bundled up from head to toe, with a new set of binoculars and enough enthusiasm to warm me on this very icy day, I set out on my first exploration of St Aidan's.

This time of year is a great opportunity to see many species…

It's been a while since our last blog, but in the new year we'll be welcoming three new volunteers to the Aire Valley. Our social media and blogging volunteers, Gael, Georgina and Phil will be out on site collecting stories and information to share with our visitors and readers. 

The ducks of St Aidan's may have had their own blog last week but they're showing up in great numbers at Fairburn too! We've had hundreds…

Winter is definitely here. In addition to the ice and snow, more goosanders are on Lemonroyd lake and the river. And winter, is the trigger for ducks to start their quest to find their breeding partner by exhibiting display behaviours until spring, when they nest.

Female goosander; a sawbill has a hooked bill and teeth-like lamellae to grip fish

In most duck species, it is the female incites the males into courtship…

Fieldfares - Rob Hunton (Swillington Ings Bird Group - sibg1.wordpress.com)

Many sightings are very similar to last week - marsh harriers are sighted daily (and at close quarters!) around the ridge and furrow/reedbed, joined by regular sparrowhawks, red kites and peregrine.

Winter thrushes are on the up - redwing and fieldfare are being spotted regularly around the hillside.

Marsh harrier - Rob Parsons (Swillington…

Winter is bringing in the migrants at St Aidan’s now, and the Hillside has proved a good spot to see them. Monday brought in some great sighting of fieldfare this week. These are very social birds, spending the winter in flocks of anything from a dozen or two, to several hundred strong.

This sighting was shortly followed by a flock of the UK’s smallest true thrush - the redwing. It’s creamy strip above the…

As autumn marches towards winter, there are weather benefits for the wildlife seeker despite the cold. The magic of iridescence reveals usually invisible colours if sunlight falls on a subject in the right way. These colours are visible in a summer sun but now the sun is lower and softer, it brightens anyone’s day. Even the visible colours are more vibrant and shiny.

This is especially noticeable among the current…

It’s a busy busy Saturday here at Fairburn today – so here’s a speedy low-down on the wildlife we’ve been treated to this week!


On the Riverbank Trail end of the reserve (Main Bay and beyond) we have lots of wildfowl, such as shoveller (with their ridiculous bills!) in numbers reaching 250+, shelduck, pintail (with their ridiculous tails!), goosander every day, about 10 goldeneye, and an immature…

You may have heard or seen on our social media pages - we had quite a surprise visitor over the weekend! Rob Hunton (Swillington Ings Bird Group) spotted a Dartford warbler on the hillside on Saturday morning. I had to have stroll up and catch a glimpse - I spent hours over summer scanning every gorse bush in Dunwich Heath but without any luck!

- Why are they so exciting? Well, Dartford warblers' numbers crashed to about…

It has been a busy summer and it looks set be an even busier winter for the warden team at St Aidan’s nature park. With just under 1000 acres of habitat and 12 kilometres of paths to maintain the work never stops!

So what has happened this summer?

With a big reserve like St Aidan’s comes a lot of habitat management and maintenance of paths and utilities. This means a lot of tools and equipment which need a space…

A quick guide to what’s about at Fairburn Ings this week! A very diverse bunch but well worth exploring the coal tips and flashes. What better on a sunny and crisp autumn day?

The Flashes

Whooper swans started the week on a high of 8 individuals which have lessened a little down to 5 on New Flash. They’ve been joined by my favourite – 12 curlews. The RSPB’s Curlew Recovery Programme is a great read for those…

Although the clocks were only turned back just over a week ago, those long summer evenings seem a distant memory. At St Aidan’s winter is really beginning to show its face. The first frost of the year made an appearance yesterday and the numbers of birds don’t seem to slow.  This morning we've had sightings of woodcock and water pipits! 

Although not as frequent, St Aidan’s Nature Park is still a pit stop…

Earlier in the week I got one of the best jobs at Fairburn - usually reserved for volunteer rangers but on Saturday morning it was down to me to get my layers on and fill the feeders. 

Perhaps it was the blue fleece and three buckets of suet, seed and fatballs - but the Discovery Trail came alive! Huge flocks of long tailed tits passed over in waves, robins were demanding their fill and chaffinches were flitting above…

After the weekend's successful litter pick, Gavin - St. Aidan's Community Engagament Officer has shared a blog with us!

This was our second Community Litter pick at St. Aidan’s and once again we were well supported by local folk. It’s fantastic to meet so many people who care about the site. It is this support that helps keep St. Aidan’s looking wonderful. It’s also vital work to help protect the habitats for…

For some weeks now, visitors have heard calls from the ‘scarlet pimpernel’ that is the water rail around the eastern reedbed. Its repertoire called ‘sharming’ is varied and includes a piglet-in-pain squeal and a weary-I-am-totally-past-it choking moan. So, charming it isn’t.

On Monday several were heard calling from the path that dissects the reedbeds and are probably declaring their territories…

Over the past couple of weeks, the wardens at Fairburn have been making wildlife rafts! Here’s an update from warden Karen:

The rafts are a great way of increasing wetland features on lakes and ponds quickly – creating a great habitat for birds, fish, invertebrates, amphibians or even small mammals.  Creating fish refuge is really important, obviously for the fish themselves, but also as lots of fish means…

A bit of wind, a bit of drizzle and lots of colours...I cracked out the bobble hat this weekend, which makes me very happy. Autumn is here!

Redwing numbers are building and more than 500 migrated over Fairburn yesterday, plus 40 fieldfare. Redwings are one of my favourite birds and I saw my first of the autumn when I was setting out the Halloween props in the Discovery trail this weekend, I disturbed a flock in the bushes…

We left the last blog with a promise of short eared owls arriving soon - and now is that time! They have been spotted most days this week patrolling the hillside and causing quite a stir with the already-here crows and marsh harriers. Well worth coming down after 3pm to catch these beautiful owls.

Short-eared owl

Stonechats are still everywhere! A great place to spot them is the long path from the visitor centre to…

Since the 10^th, the Kingfisher Screen has been providing daily sightings. We have multiple kingfishers on the reserve, and when the water is clear enough the screen is a brilliant place to linger. You may need to be patient though – there’s plenty of fishing territory for them to have a go at.

Up on the Tips, we’ve had many of the usual/long-term sightings such as little grebes, bearded tits (although less…