Well the sighting of the week, it has to be said, was the snow. I love it when it snows at Fairburn, it’s like the reserve holds its breath. The hustle and bustle slows and looking out across main bay, or taking a stroll down to Pickup feels more indulgent , like it’s somehow more precious.  I have to stop and let myself be in awe for a moment, because all too soon I know it will turn to drizzle and slush.

There has been lots of excitement this week with the arrival of a male smew! First there was one red-headed smew, then a juvenile joined her, and Monday last week saw the arrival of a third female and a male.

They were first spotted from Lin Dike hide and have since given us a right old run around by switching between Lin Dike and Village Bay almost daily. If you are coming to the reserve in hope of seeing them your…

Cupid has been hard at work this weekend and since 'tis the season, several of the staff here on the reserve have decided to share just what it is about Fairburn they love so much. Here is our Retail Manager, Dawn:

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Fairburn changes a little…

Cupid is hard at work this weekend and since 'tis the season, several of the staff here on the reserve have decided to share just what it is about Fairburn they love so much. Here is our Assistant Warden, John:

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Where do I start? The fact…

Cupid will be hard at work this weekend and since 'tis the season, several of the staff here on the reserve have decided to share just what it is about Fairburn they love so much. Here is our Assistant Warden, Karen:

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I was going to write…

Cupid will be hard at work this weekend and since 'tis the season, several of the staff here on the reserve have decided to share just what it is about Fairburn they love so much. Here is our Visitor Operations Manager, Kate:

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I have always…

Reed bunting sightings have exploded this week, there is at least one pair that has been regularly seen at the wildlife garden feeders, and we’ve had some lovely views of them from the office windows!

Male reed bunting, Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

Each week we get one or two recorded sightings of roe deer on the Riverbank trail and up on the Coal Tips, they’re always a lovely sight, even if all you see is a little…

It has been a fantastic week for birds of prey again with the marsh harrier out at about almost every day, visible from both Lin Dike and Pick-up. Also from Lin Dike there have been buzzard, peregrine and sparrowhawk seen. A sparrowhawk and buzzard down near Charlie’s, a couple of red kite over Fairburn village and a short-eared owl up near Big Hole.

The view from Pick-up hide, Sally Granger

A bittern has been…

Signs of spring are popping up around the reserve, hawthorn has already been spotted coming into flower, and this week we had our first snowdrop sighting in the grass by the visitor centre. Skylarks have been seen on the stacks and around the Lin Dike link a few times, and they have also been heard singing, while both herons and tree sparrows have been seen carrying nesting material. We are go!

First snowdrops, Sally…

The Big Garden Birdwatch Lounge is thrumming with activity. Those two nuthatch have been busy at the feeders, we have also had a reed bunting, bullfinch and a siskin sat almost within touching distance of the visitor centre windows.

Beyond the balcony a flock of around 20 siskin were spotted in the trees around the visitor centre, and down in the wildlife garden in full view of the lounge there has also been a weasel…

Fairburn may have been flooded but the wildlife doesn't seem to be too bothered! The recent sightings book is as full as ever and there is plenty to see. 

The flashes were busy with 70+ curlew and 30+ goldeneye on New Years Day, and more than 100 golden plover were seen over this week.

It’s also been a busy week for birds of prey with peregrine and marsh harrier over Lin Dike, a red kite, sparrowhawk and a very busy…

It’s the first couple of weeks back from the holidays for the reserve team and we’ve come back to the aftermath of the biggest flood the reserve has ever seen! The plus side to this dank, damp, dreich weather is that there is a fantastic range of fungi around. I’ve never spent much time trying to identify fungi before and found it a bit like the first time I tried to identify moths - tricky and confusing. However I’m…

It's New Year's Eve so I thought I'd reminisce over the past year at Fairburn Ings and share with you a few of my highlights.  I've only worked at Fairburn since April so my favourite bits are a bit summer and autumn heavy - feel free to share your own highlights though and tell me what I missed in the early months of 2015!

First of all, I have to start with the avocet explosion of 2015! And by explosion…

As you may be aware, West Yorkshire, as well as many areas in the north of England, has experienced widespread flooding this week.  At Fairburn Ings, we're thinking of everyone across the region who have been affected by the floods and hope you're all staying safe.

As a designated washland, Fairburn Ings is designed to flood when the water levels in the river Aire become too high.  Because we take the excess water…

Sadly, this is going to be my final blog post as a Visitor Experience Intern at Fairburn Ings. I’m moving on to pastures new to start an actual grown up job in Leeds. I’ve had such as great time here and met some fantastic people, and I can’t quite believe it’s ending. Fairburn is only a quick trip over the M62 for me though, so I’m sure I’ll be back for a visit when I have a craving for some open space.…

Sitting with a cup of coffee in the centre and watching the usual squirrels hanging upside down to get the nuts from the feeders, and the pheasants and red legged partridge hoovering up dropped seeds is now my favourite way to start the day. Stoats and weasels are now on my list of things to watch for, as quite a few people have reported seeing them running around. One of my favourite sightings of the week was of a very…

Only two weeks until Christmas, and things are starting to feel very festive around the visitor centre. The Christmas tree is up, and outside we have a tree strung up with all kinds of food for birds to enjoy, including strings of monkey nuts and berries. It's proving particularly popular with robins, who will quite happily sit atop the tree and watch for whatever delicious food you're putting out for them next!…

Yesterday we had a visit from the volunteers and staff at Bempton Cliffs. Before coming to Fairburn Ings, I spent 6 months at Bempton Cliffs so it was great to see lots of familiar faces and have a good old catch up. I joined them for a walk around the reserve and a spot of bird watching, something I haven’t done in a while I’m ashamed to say!

First stop was Pickup hide, where we had our first sighting of…

As the water has gone down since last weeks flooding, our sightings have gone up! The reserve is now completely accessible, and clean up is well underway, which means more sightings to report from our lovely visitors.

The first siskin of this winter was spotted in the Wildlife Garden this week. They are regular winter visitors to the reserve, with larger numbers coming in from Europe. Bullfinches, long tailed tits, nuthatches…

Watching Fairburn Ings being engulfed by flood water always makes me a little anxious about how our wildlife can possibly survive the devastation.  However, we’ve seen plenty of amazing feats at Fairburn in the past, from swans building up their nests in sync with rapidly rising water levels, to entire coot nests being washed downstream, and the chicks successfully hatching days later. 

Our latest tale of survival…

It's been a bit of a soggy week at Fairburn Ings this week, with the flooding on the site.  However, the floods have brought a lot of wildlife up towards dry land at the visitor centre so we've had a fair amount of wildlife spotted from the comfort and warmth inside.

Flooding at Lin Dike

We've been unable to access the bird feeders at Pickup hide or the feeder screen because of the floods so the only feeders…

The Fairburn Ings site flooded on Sunday evening.  Since then, we've had lots of enquiries about why the site has flooded, how it happened and why it's such a large flood here when surrounding urban areas are seemingly left unscathed.  So here is the tale of flooding at Fairburn Ings:

Fairburn is a washland, designated by the Environment Agency, to protect the surrounding urban areas, such as Castleford, from flooding…

With the temperature starting to drop, things are starting to feel much more wintery on the reserve. Large flocks of migrating fieldfares have been seen flying over head. These thrushes are usually seen in large flocks and, along with redwings, are a sure fire sign that winter is arriving. There have been teals, shovelers, tufted ducks, goosanders, great crested grebes, pochards and goldeneyes spotted on the Main Bay and at…

I've spent a lot of time up on our new Coal Tips trail recently, and have been really enjoying the views it gives across the reserve.  However, the work I've been doing this week, lead me to head out along the Riverbank trail from the visitor centre to Charlie's hide and back.  And it was like seeing an old friend again!  So much so I thought I should share with you the sights, sounds and smells along this old…

Hello all,

I think it's certainly time for a long overdue update from me! After spending 4 months at Bempton Cliffs, coming to Fairburn Ings was a big change, but at the same time felt quite familiar. I originally hail from Huddersfield, so moving to Fairburn and getting to see that familiar landscape once again certainly felt like coming home. Moving to a new place is always a test of my navigational skills though,…