• News from the reserve - 8 March 2024

    I am very pleased to be able to write this latest blog whilst surrounded by signs of Spring. On Tuesday, our first booming Bittern survey resulted in seven booming males- we have never had so many this early on in the season so we hope this bodes well for the coming Spring. One was seen and heard booming by a visitor on 7 March from Mere Hide, and the area here is always a stronghold for booming. Marsh harrier numbers…

  • News from the reserve - 2 February 2024

    Now that we are in the last month of winter, you can see signs of a change in the seasons when you walk around the reserve- Reed buntings are singing from sheltered locations in reed and scrub, and on the pools many ducks are paired up- yesterday (1 February) I counted six pairs of Gadwall at New Fen, and one pair of Tufted duck. It’s a similar situation on the Washland- volunteer Paul counted two Shoveler, three…

  • Recent sightings and news from Lakenheath Fen - 19 January 2024

    As I start this blog on Friday morning, there’s a gentle breeze blowing through the trees and a beautiful blue sky. We’ve had a couple of days of superb weather- colder than normal, but bright and sunny with heavy frost decorating every part of the reserve. The bird feeders have been VERY busy as tiny birds seek to eat plenty to restore their energy reserves after a few very cold nights. Marsh tit, Coal tit

  • News from the reserve - 5 January 2024

    We are now five days into 2024 and we have made a good start with our bird list, which now stands at 45 species. You can see the full and current list if you wish to- attached as a pdf file at the bottom of this blog. As usual, because of our rural location and wetland nature, it’s a few days before we spot all of the commoner ‘garden birds’ which many of us many have seen on 1st January without much…

  • Recent sightings from the reserve - 30 November 2023

    Hello and welcome to our latest blog. Tomorrow we'll move into the first month of winter, and across the reserve it's quite easy to spot a variety of winter birds now. The tiny, colourful Siskin can be heard most of the time in the tops of the Alder trees by the feeders at the Visitor Centre, and these have not necessarily travelled far to be here- some nest locally in the conifer plantations of Thetford Forest…

  • November so far at RSPB Lakenheath Fen

    November 2023 has so far seen lots of wet and windy days but we've had some lovely moments of sunshine in amongst it- appreciated all the more for their rarity. Here's the highlights of what visitors, volunteers and staff have spotted or heard in November so far:

    Siskin - these can be seen daily in the tops of the Alder and Silver birch trees around the Visitor Centre and car park area.
    Redwing - 72 flew overhead…

  • 26 October 2023 - finding pleasure in the ordinary...

    Hello and welcome to the latest blog from the reserve. In the past couple of weeks, wet weather has reduced our visitor numbers significantly- today, for example, we've only had four people through the doors. We realise this may be partly to do with us not having much shelter on the reserve, aside from at New Fen and Joist Fen viewpoints, and Mere Hide. However it's partly a trend that affects all visitor attractions…

  • Race for Wildlife 2023 - photos from the run!

    Hello and welcome to the latest blog from the reserve- here I am going to share most of the photos taken by our two photographers on the day- our volunteer David White and Site Manager David Rogers. I have omitted images which show folks who did not want their photos shared publicly, according to the Consent section of the Registration Form that all runners filled in on the day. However, if you see yourself here and aren…

  • Race for Wildlife Results 2023

    Hello and welcome to the latest blog- this time it's a little different from the usual- as it's got the results from today's Race for Wildlife in it! Thanks to ALL of our runners for booking onto and attending our Race- your support makes the world of different to not just the wildlife here but also our morale- it is heartening for the staff and volunteers to have seen the reserve and the Visitor Centre busy…

  • Race for Wildlife 2023 - a guide to what to expect on the day!

    Our main fundraising event of the year- our Race for Wildlife- is now just seven days away on Sunday 15 October and we are getting everything ready for the big day! Our warden Emma will soon be out spray-painting 1km markers along the routes to help runners on the day. There are so many little jobs that need doing ahead of the event but it’s something we all love as there is such a lovely atmosphere on the day.

    The…

  • The latest from Lakenheath Fen - 6 October 2023

    We kicked off this week in style, with two Spoonbill seen sleeping (what a surprise!) on the Washland on Monday morning (2 October). They didn't stay for long, but we believe it to be only our second record- the first being years back in 2018. They seemed to be comfortable with the Great white egrets up there, of which we have 18 today (6 October) with most of them being on the Washland and a couple further down the…

  • Race for Wildlife Registration Form

    For participants on 2023's Race for Wildlife, please find the Registration Form below:

    community.rspb.org.uk/.../1537.8764.Race-for-Wildlife-Registration-Form-23.docx

    And in PDF format (not editable) if you prefer to print and fill out by hand:

    community.rspb.org.uk/.../6253.1018.Race-for-Wildlife-Registration-Form-23.pdf

    If you don't have access to a printer, or find it easier, we will have paper forms ready at the Registration…

  • News from the reserve - 15 September 2023

    Hello and welcome to the latest blog. In this one we'll cover our latest wildlife sightings as well as a round-up of what our weekly work parties have been up to, and some events that are on the way which readers might be interested in.

    But first thing's first- the wildlife- and today we can report a new record for Great white egrets- the number on the Washland continues to climb steadily, and is showing no signs…

  • The first signs of Autumn – 31 August 2023

    On the last official day of Summer, you can definitely see signs of two seasons on the reserve at once. Migrant birds like Hobby and Swallow are still here, and as you walk around the trails it’s easy to hear Blackcap, Whitethroat and Reed warbler singing. However, passage migrant birds have been spotted too. Whilst it’s still easy to find dragonflies and butterflies, more autumnal bugs like ladybirds, Dock…

  • On the reserve this week - 11 August 2023

    Hello and welcome to the latest blog. Here I will aim to give a quick round-up of the weeks' wildlife highlights, ahead of the weekend. Kingfishers have been showing particularly well across the reserve, with sightings most days from various places, notably the pools at New Fen (from the viewpoint shelter), Mere Hide and the Visitor Centre. Two Hobbies were also spotted hunting in the air above Mere Hide yesterday…

  • News from the reserve - 3 August 2023

    Hello and welcome to the latest blog! Before we cover the usual wildlife sightings and happenings on the reserve, i'd like to announce on behalf of the reserve team (and the reserve itself!) that we have one successfully fledged Common crane chick! He, or she, is the juvenile of pair B2, our newer (and presumed younger) pair of cranes. So far, most of what we have seen of the young family has been via trail camera…

  • It's summer at Lakenheath Fen! 2 July 2023

    Hello and welcome to the latest blog. It's been a good few weeks since the last one, regrettably, as various other projects and tasks have got in the way. But, there's plenty to see on the reserve at the moment- we have a wealth of butterflies and dragonflies flitting about along the trails, Kingfishers being more often seen now at Mere Hide, and there's still a handful of Hobbies about. Recent rain has helped…

  • A wealth of migrant birds... and the reserve looking at it's best - 10 May 2023

    Hello and welcome to our latest blog. As I write this, the reserve is alive with birdsong! As well as the resident Blackbirds, Song thrushes, Cetti's warblers, Wrens and Robins, joining the chorus is Whitethroat, Willow warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Garden warbler too. We have one or two Nightingales and Grasshopper warblers too, but these are proving trickier to pin down- apart from one more reliable Nightingale…

  • News from the reserve - 21 April 2023

    On the reserve, Spring is well underway now with many migrant birds making their first landfall in recent weeks. The first dates we have so far (21 April) are below:

    Avocet 8 February Sand martin 17 March Garganey 18 March Wheatear 22 March Swallow 1 April Willow warbler 1 April Sedge warbler 14 April House martin 14 April Nightingale 15 April Reed warbler 15 April Whitethroat 15 April Hobby
  • Booming bitterns and chirpy chiffchaffs - 30 March 2023

    Now we are well into Spring, it is a joy to be on the reserve, especially on warm sunny days like today. It’s a bit breezy but that hasn’t stopped the chiffchaffs from singing- there is one near the Visitor Centre (by the bug hotel) and it’s difficult to go for even a short walk without hearing one now! We have had a few sand martins spotted in flight over the Washland too, and the migrant garganey

  • The changing of the guard has begun... 26 February 2023

    Hello and welcome to the latest blog. We are certainly noticing the longer evenings and the extra heat in the sun (when it isn't windy or cloudy!) and so is the wildlife. On 15 February we recorded our first butterfly of 2023- a peacock in flight near the Washland Viewpoint. We've had a bit of colder weather since but it won't be long before we record our first brimstone, small tortoiseshell or red admiral flying…

  • On World Wetlands Day- 54ha of new land at RSPB Lakenheath Fen!

    With it being World Wetlands Day today (2nd February) it seems an appropriate time to announce to you the addition of new land to the Lakenheath Fen reserve. Thanks to the support of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, a charitable trust, and Morgan Sindall Group, a leading UK construction and regeneration group, we’ve been able to purchase 54 hectares of arable farmland adjacent to existing land which the RSPB owns…

  • Frosty mornings, blue skies and hungry birds - 22 January 2023

    Hello and welcome to the latest blog from Lakenheath Fen. This morning (22 January) we arrived to a reserve shrouded in hoar frost and fog that has not yet lifted (12 noon!)- probably because the air is calm and very cold. It was -6c here at 8am and is now at -2c. Everything is covered in frost, and it looks absolutely beautiful- every branch, leaf, tiny plant and fence post is glittering with ice particles. It makes…

  • Looking back and looking ahead - 2023 so far

    Hello to all and welcome to the first blog of 2023. The month of January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was the God of beginnings, endings and transitions. In January we might look back at the year that has passed, and ahead to 2023, and this will be the theme of this blog too. This morning (4 January) I completed the list of bird species recorded on the reserve in 2022- we seem to have had 141, compared to 155…

  • The latest from Lakenheath Fen - 18 November 2022

    Hello to all and welcome to the first blog in a few weeks. Various other things have got in the way of me sitting down to update you all about the wildlife sightings and news from the reserve recently, but here we are at long last. A fair few of our November days so far have been wet ones- sometimes windy too- and although this doesn't make for quite as nice a walk as a sunny blue-sky day, we have welcomed every drop…