Good morning. There has been plenty to see over the last week so here are some recent sightings:

Suzanne helped out with the bittern survey last Thursday morning and on the way down, she heard a grasshopper warbler reeling near the photography station. She saw three bitterns chasing eachother over New Fen viewpoint and she also saw two cranes in flight over Mere Hide.

Later on in the day, two little terns were seen…

Good afternoon. Apologies for a lack of updates this week, I have been out of the office. I will post some more detailed recent sightings on Thursday. However, I can’t resist posting these excellent pictures that were taken on the reserve on Wednesday 18 April by local photographer Ken Clegg:

Two bitterns in flight (including our resident bird with the slightly injured leg):

Two cranes in flight:

A male

Good morning. We have been treated to some lovely weather recently so here are some more recent sightings from Monday onwards.

There were at least two roe deer grazing alongside the entrance track as I drove in on Monday morning. I walked around Brandon Fen before work and had a lovely view of a male blackcap that was singing its heart out in the morning sunshine. 

As the morning went on, a cuckoo was calling in East…

Good afternoon. I have a rather long list of sightings in front of me from Friday onwards so here we go from Friday onwards:

I had a really close view of a barn owl hunting along the river before work on Friday morning. I finally managed to catchup with the male garganey that has been present for the last couple of weeks. It was feeding on the washland pool north of East Wood before it flew into New Fen North (the first…

Good afternoon. Things are now slowly starting to happen here on the reserve. Before I launch into some more recent sightings, here are some pictures that I took on the reserve last Friday which I hope you like: 

Image credits: David White

There were good numbers of warblers around on Saturday morning with a willow warbler singing in Brandon Fen and a reed warbler reported alongside East Wood. At least three…

Good afternoon. There has been plenty to see here this week so here are some more recent sightings:

On Tuesday, Katherine heard at least three chiffchaffs singing around the reserve. She saw a ringed plover in flight over the Washland viewpoint and there were at least three bramblings feeding in Brandon Fen. 

Meanwhile, further down the reserve, there were several bitterns booming. Katherine and Dave also saw two bi…

Good morning. Although the weather hasn't been great this Easter weekend, there has still been plenty to see so here are some more recent sightings:

On Friday morning, a male brambling was showing well on the visitor centre feeders. A black tailed godwit and four common snipe were feeding in New Fen North, the first area of reedbed. 

There were 74 shovelers and 32 wigeons feeding in front of the Washland viewpoint…

Good morning. We hope you are all having a good Easter. Our Wild Things at Easter trail around Brandon Fen started yesterday and here are some pictures of what activities will be on offer until Sunday 15 April:

The first challenge is pond dipping. You can use the nets and trays provided to find out what lurks underneath the depths of the reserve pools:

The nets and trays will be always down there when you get there…

Good morning. Apologies for the lack up updates recently, I haven't been here much. Here are from sightings from yesterday onwards:

Most of the team were in early yesterday morning to do various surveys. Suzanne and I did our first Common Birds Census (CBC) of the year around the Brandon Fen family trail.  As we drove in, there were two roe deer grazing on the entrance track. 

We left the visitor centre at 6.30am…

Good morning. I will do a full recent sightings post tomorrow but as we have been sent lots of great photos, I thought I would do a bumper photo post: 

Oystercatchers flying along the river:

Image credit: Martin Peake

Water rail in front of the photography station:

Male brambling:

Bank vole: 

Great crested grebe:

Adult spoonbill:

Imagre credits: Nicky Garrett

Marsh harriers tussling:

Image credit…

As Easter is now on the horizon, it is time to let you know about our Wild Things at Easter trail!

The trail will be around the Brandon Fen family trail, which is a circular, all accessible route that is around three quarters of a mile long. The trail will run daily 9am-5pm from Friday 30 March- Sunday 15 April. 

There will be plenty to do on the way round the trail including several challenges.

When you are ready to…

Good morning. There has been plenty to see over the last couple of days so here are some more sightings:

There was a nice surprise on Sunday afternoon when local birder Gary saw a bar tailed godwit in flight over New Fen viewpoint. The adult spoonbill from earlier on in the day was eventually located on the river near Joist Fen viewpoint. Local birder Pete also saw nine water pipits along the river which is a fantastic…

Good afternoon. We have had a few surprises here over the last couple of days so here are some more recent sightings: 

It was warm enough on Friday for our first brimstone butterflies of the year to be on the wing and several were seen out on the reserve. Warden Emma led a group around in the afternoon. They saw two peregrines and a red kite over Joist Fen viewpoint in the afternoon sunshine. They also saw a smart male…

Good morning. Although it has been relatively mild here this week, it is going to be cold again this weekend. Here is what has been seen since Sunday onwards: 

There were four roe deer on the entrance track as I drove in on Sunday morning. A chaffinch was singing in the staff car park when I got out of my car and two green woodpeckers were displaying on the visitor centre lawn.

A great white egret and six whooper swan…

Good afternoon. We have had a couple of interesting days here so its time for another update!

Just in case you weren't aware, it was International Womens Day on Thursday. In order to celebrate this, here are a couple of pictures of some of the female members of tthe team out at work on the reserve that morning:

Warden Emma chainsawing:

Emma and Administrator Suzanne posing for the camera:

Image credits…

Please note that our Ghosts of the Fens guided walk on Sunday 18 March 4pm-6.30pm is FULLY BOOKED. Unfortunately, we can only acommodate those who have booked places in advance. We are very sorry for any inconveience caused. 

Good morning, now that that the weather has warmed up and the snow has disappeared, there has been plenty to see so here are some recent sightings from Sunday morning onwards:

There was plenty to see over the course of the day and Ex-Site Manager Norman saw four cranes in flight from Joist Fen viewpoint. A green sandpiper flew along the river and a single golden plover flew over the viewpoint, which is a good record…

Good morning. It is now warmed up so hopefully, we have seen the last of the snow that the "Beast from the East" has bought us!

We had one more dose of snow on Friday night so the reserve was looking very wintery as I drove in yesterday morning. A common buzzard flew over the snowy entrance track which was nice to see.

I went up to the Washland viewpoint and saw a great white egret in flight. There were five…

Please note that if you are planning to visit the reserve on Monday 5 March, our biodigester is being serviced. Unfortunately, this will mean that the toilets will be closed for part of the day. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and hopefully the work will be completed as quickly as possible. 

Good afternoon. The wintry weather continues so here are some more recent sightoings:

Rather than sharing some more wintry pictures. here is a sequence of crane pictures that were taken on the reserve on Saturday, before the snow came:

Image credits: Nicky Garrett

Thank you very much to Nicky for sharing these images with us. 

On Wednesday afternoon, a sparrowhawk flew over the visitor centre pond…

Please note that our: "A spotlight on cranes" guided walk on Sunday 4 March has been cancelled due to a lack of bookings and the poor weather conditions. We are very sorry for any inconveninece caused. 

As you may know, we currently charge £4 per car for non-members of the RSPB. Our nature reserves are special places that support a host of wildlife. We’re only able to carry out our valuable work through the generous support of people like you. To help us continue our vital conservation work, from 1 April 2018, we will be asking non-RSPB members to pay an entrance charge per person.

The new entrance charge…

Good afternoon. We have had some wintry weather over the last couple of days so here are some recent sightings from Friday morning onwards:

Volunteer John Ingham had a very successful trip down the reserve on Friday. He saw three cranes in flight from Joist Fen viewpoint and a stunning male hen harrier from New Fen viewpoint. He also saw around a dozen redwings along the entrance track.

Meanwhile, closer to the visitor…

I wanted to let you all know about our latest visitor facility - a dedicated photography station.  It is a short walk from the visitor centre and has bird feeders and natural perches to provide opportunities to get good images of some of the commoner species of bird at Lakenheath Fen.  We have thought about the location and setting to enable visitors to get good close up images of birds in a natural setting.  The station…

Good morning. Here are some sightings from Monday afternoon onwards:

A kingfisher made a brief appearance at the edge of the visitor centre pond during the afternoon. A barn owl was also hunting near the visitor centre as we were leaving.

A water pipit was seen from the Washland viewpoint on Tuesday. A small group of redwings were feeding near the visitor centre.

Local bird ringer Simon was ringing in Brandon Fen on…