Good morning. Well, December is here once again! Here are some sightings from Thursday afternoon onwards:

On Thursday afternoon, A sparrowhawk dashed over the visitor centre pond and a group of goldcrests were feeding in front of the visitor centre. 

On Friday morning, at least 75 whooper swans were on the washland first thing along with a great white egret. A green woodpecker flew over the visitor centre and a king…

Good morning. To be honest, I am never sad to see the back of November! However, there have been some interesting reserve sightings this week so here is what has been seen:

I went for a rare walk out on the reserve during the day on Monday and things started well when I spotted a green woodpecker perched up in East Wood. A small group of bearded tits were feeding near the disable parking bay next to New Fen viewpoint…

Good afternoon. As Christmas is now on the horizon, here are our Christmas opening times for this festive season:

• The reserve will be open at all times throughout the festive period
• The visitor centre and toilets will be open daily until 23 December
• The visitor centre and toilets will be closed from Christmas Eve until Boxing Day
• The visitor centre and toilets will be open daily 9am-4pm from 27 December until New…

Good morning. Shortly after I finished blogging on Friday, I took this photograph of the sunny scene  behind the visitor centre:

Image credit: David White

It was a cold start to the weekend but local birder Nick was here early to see at least 300 whooper swans on the washland. He also saw a great white egret in the same area

He walked down to the far end of the reserve and saw another two great white egrets. He also…

Good morning. We have had some typical November weather this week which hasn't been ideal for wildlife watching. However, plenty has been seen nonetheless.

I will start with some photos that were taken on 13 November by local photographer Ron Smith:

Leucistic wren: 

Whooper swans:

Kingfisher:

Image credits: Ron Smith

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

On Monday, a great…

Good morning. We have had some chilly weather recently so here are some more recent sightings:

I went for a walk before work on Friday armed with my camera and I took these photos of the frosty washland:

Image credits: David White

As you can see distantly from the second photograph, there were lot's of whooper swans present. I tried my best to count them and I got to around 212 adults and eight cygnets…

Good afternoon. It was a lovely day on Monday and a common darter dragonfly was on the wing in the sunshine. 

There was an unprecedented count of 460 whooper swans on the washland first thing on Tuesday morning. We have certainly never had this many roosting overnight in that area so it was a great record. A single black tailed godwit was also present. Presumably, it was slightly intimidated by being surrounded by that…

Please note that the Ghosts of the Fen guided walk on Sunday 26 November is now FULLY BOOKED. Unfortunately, we can only accommodate those who have booked places in advance. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. 

Also, the Swan Lake trip on Saturday 9 December is also now FULLY BOOKED.

We hope to see you on the reserve soon.

Good morning. There has been plenty going on here over the last couple of days so here are some more recent sightings (editors note: apologies, the section of the RSPB website with bird guides on it doesn't seem to be working at the moment so apologies for the lack of usual hyperlinks!):

On Thursday afternoon, a greenshank appeared on the washland and a lesser redpoll was making regular visits to the feeders behind…

Good morning.I will begin by tying up some loose ends from last week. Firstly, here is a photograph of our resident leucistic wren that was taken here last Thursday:

Image credit: Garth Peacock

Thank you very much to Garth for sharing this lovely image with us.

It is incredible that this bird has been here for so long, as it has been present since last September. If you haven't seen it yet, its territory is along…

Good morning. As it is a bit damp out this morning, I will begin with a few pictures that I took last week in slightly brighter conditions:

Image credits: David White

I went up to the Washland viewpoint before work yesterday morning. I was pleasantly surprised to find a flock of 64 whooper swans, which is a great count for here. They were joined by the following:

• Black tailed godwit: 23
• Redshank: 3
• Great…

Good afternoon. I have another long list of sightings in front of me so without further ado, I will begin...

... I will start though with some images that were taken on the reserve last Friday by Martin Peake:

Male bearded tit:

Great spotted woodpecker:

Image credits: Martin Peake

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

Here are some sightings from Saturday afternoon onwards…

Good morning. There has been a lot to see over the last couple of days so without any further ado, here are some recent sightings from Wednesday onwards:

I led two sessions of family activities and up at the Washland viewpoint mid-morning, we saw the following:

• Great white egret: 1
• Little egret: 10
• Stonechat: 3
• Common snipe: 1

In the afternoon, a kingfisher was showing at the edge of the visitor centre pond…

Good morning. Apologies about the lack of updates this week, we have all been very busy here.

On Friday, there was a great white egret on the washland along with two black tailed godwits. A water pipit was also feeding near the Washland viewpoint.

Fast-forward to Monday and these fabulous kingfisher pictures were taken from New Fen viewpoint:

Image credits: Ian Ireland

Thank you very much to Ian for sharing these…

Apologies for the delay, but we have now sorted out the images of from our Race for Wildlife on Sunday 15 October. I will begin with a couple of Site Manager Dave's images:

Gathering in front of the visitor centre:

...And they're off!:

Image credits: Dave Rogers

As we have so many photos from this year's event, we have actually set up a dedicated Flickr page for the event;

Please follow this link

Good afternoon. Now that our Race for Wildlife is now over for another year, here are some more recent sightings for you from Friday morning onwards: 

I will begin though by posting some photos that were taken on the reserve on 6 October: 

Male bearded tit:

Sunrise over New Fen viewpoint:

Image credits: Matt Walton

Thank you very much for Matt for sharing these great images with us.

There were plenty of wagtails…

I have attached the results of this year's event. Thank you very much to everyone who took part. Although the totals are still being toted up, we know that we raised £129.80 through the sale of homemade cakes. More details and photos will come later on this week. Thank you very much to everyone who took part.

If you are unable to download the results, please ring the office on 01842 863400 or e-mail: lakenheath…

Please note that as our FULLY BOOKED Race for Wildlife will take place tomorrow, the reserve is likely to be very busy in the morning. If you are planning to visit, we recommend you either get here early or after around 2pm, in order to guarantee that you can get a parking space.

Also, unfortunately, we will be unable to allow visitors to drive their cars down to New Fen viewpoint tomorrow morning. This is to ensure…

Good morning. If you are registered for our FULLY BOOKED Race for Wildlife on Sunday, here is some more information about the event.

Car parking

Reserve staff and volunteers will be parking cars when you arrive. Although there is plenty of car parking space, we would recommend car sharing if possible.

Registration

As there are around 150 runners taking part on the day, please allow yourself plenty of time to get yourself…

Good afternoon. Although we have had some changeable weather over the last couple of days, there has still been plenty to see here so here are some more recent sightings:

Shortly after I posted my blog post from Monday, local photographer Martin Peake send over some pictures of bearded tits that he had taken on the reserve earlier on in the day. Here is one of them, that was taken between New Fen viewpoint and Mere Hide…

Please note that our Race for Wildlife on Sunday 15 October is now FULLY BOOKED. Unfortunately, we can only now accommodate those who are registered for the race. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. 

Please note that if you are registered for the run, we recommend getting here in good time before the race starts at 11am. This is to ensure that you give your self enough time to get through registration and to get…

Good afternoon. There was plenty to see over the weekend so here are some recent sightings:

On Saturday, Warden Alan counted nine ruffs on the washland. A kingfisher was also making regular visits to the visitor centre pond. 

There was plenty going on yesterday and local birder Mo saw a curlew sandpiper on the washland. He also saw a flock of around 40 bearded tits near Joist Fen viewpoint and peregrine flew over the…

Good afternoon. We have had some good weather for bearded tits over the last couple of days so here are some more recent sightings:

It was windy and wild for my walk around the reserve before work yesterday morning. However, I just about managed to keep my telescope vertical for long enough to see 180 lapwings and two ruffs from the Washland viewpoint.

Despite the fact that it was still rather windy, a flock of around…

Good afternoon. Please note that our Race for Wildlife, which takes place on Sunday 15 October is now almost fully booked. If you are planning to take part in the event, we recommend booking as soon as possible in order to avoid disappointment. All of the information that you will need to book your place can be found here.

Please note that if you are planning to visit the reserve on the day of the race, the reserve is…

Good morning. October has begun in typical autumnal fashion so here are some more recent sightings:

I went and had a look over the washland on Sunday morning and saw the following:

• Little stint: 3
• Ruff: 11
• Dunlin: 1

A chiffchaff was singing in Brandon Fen and a great white egret appeared on the washland shortly after I got back to the visitor centre. As the morning went on, three garganeys were found on the washland…