Good morning. I will begin this morning with some great images that were taken on the reserve last Friday morning, courtesy of Ron Smith:

Bearded tits:

Muntjac deer: 

Barn owl:

Cranes:

Kingfisher:

Roe deer:

Image credits: Ron Smith

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

I will now start off where I left off with some sightings from Sunday afternoon onwards:

Three cr…

Good morning. I will begin this mornings post with some images that were taken on the reserve on Thursday:

Marsh harriers:

Great tit:

Bittern on the boardwalk approaching Mere Hide:

Image credits: Pam Taylor

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

I also took a photograph of the visitor centre pond at the end of the day, just to show the recent damage to the crack will…

Hello there. Apologies for the lack of updates recently, I have been away for most of the week.

I will start off where I left off with some sightings from Sunday afternoon. The probable wood sandpiper that was reported on the washland earlier on in the day was confirmed at about lunchtime. A little ringed plover was seen in the same area and a bittern was seen in flight over the large pool in front of the Washland viewpoint…

Hello there! I can't believe that another month has gone and it is now July. Doesn't time fly?! 

I will begin by posting a couple of photos that I took on the reserve the other day that I haven't had the chance to post on the blog yet:

Small tortoiseshell butterfly:

Some views of Brandon Fen in the sunshine:

On Friday afternoon, there were three kingfishers feeding at the edge of the visitor centre…

Good morning. The recent rainfall has had quite an impact on the reserve's wildlife so here are some more recent sightings:

I went for a walk before work yesterday morning and I saw a barn owl from the Washland viewpoint. I saw five avocets which is the highest count of this species here for quite some time. I could also hear some cranes bugling from the far end of the reserve. This probably means that the group…

Please note that the Early morning reedbed ramble guided walk on Sunday 2 July has been CANCELLED due to a lack of bookings and the poor weather forecast. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Good afternoon. Before the rain started, there was plenty to see so here are some more recent sightings:

I will start off with a fabulous selection of images that were all taken on the reserve on Sunday:

Staphmopoda pedella (a scarce species of micro moth):

Flecked general (a scarce species of soldier fly):

Musk beetle (what a whopper!):

Red longhorn beetle:

Sulphur beetle:

Agrypnus murinus (a species of…

Good morning. There has been a lot going on over the last couple of days so here are some more recent sightings:

I went for a walk around the reserve before work on Thursday morning and there was plenty singing around the car park. This included a goldcrest and a coal tit. A barn owl was also hunting over the washland.

The reserve team did a bittern survey and as well as seeing plenty of bittern flights, 25 black tailed…

Good morning. Well, we have reached the longest day of the year and it's a scorcher! It has been really rather warm here over the last couple of days so here are some more recent sightings:

I will start though with a couple of pictures that I took on Monday morning.

Comma butterfly:

A beetle and some hoverflies feeding on the cow parsley alongside East Wood:

I had the pleasure of leading Brandon Guides around…

Good afternoon. One of my favourite events, our annual Big Wild Sleepout event will take place 28-30 July. This provides event attendees the opportunity to camp out under the stars on the reserve for either one or two nights on Friday 28 July and/ or Saturday 29 July. Several of the reserve team (including myself) will also be camping out and we are really looking forward to it!

The event begins on the Friday evening…

Good morning. It has been really rather warm recently so here are some more recent sightings:

The reserve team did a bittern survey on Sunday morning and Site Manager Dave photographed this bittern at New Fen viewpoint:

Image credits: Dave Rogers

Volunteer Cat was stationed at New Fen viewpoint and a red kite flew east over the viewpoint, heading towards the visitor centre. Sadly, it didn't make it that far though…

Good morning. We have been treated to some lovely weather over the last couple of days so here are some more recent sightings:

I went for a walk before work on Sunday morning and saw a little ringed plover displaying over the Washland viewpoint. A male stonechat was showing well along the riverbank and a painted lady butterfly was showing well along the riverbank. 

As the morning went on, a glossy ibis was reported in…

Please note that the rescheduled dusk walk at RSPB Lakenheath Fen on Friday mentioned here has been CANCELLED due to a lack of bookings. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. 

Good afternoon. We have been busy with a school visit yesterday and a Wildlife Explorer's Club meeting this morning so we have all been busy embracing the spirit of adventure on the reserve. With that in mind, here are some more recent sightings:

Yesterday, we were busy entertaining around 75 school children from nearby Lakenheath Primary School. As most of my sessions were inside, I didn't see too much wildlife…

Good morning. Although the weather has been patchy at best this week so far, there has still been plenty to see so here are some more recent sightings:

I went for a walk down the reserve on Sunday evening and had a fantastic view of the short eared owl hunting up and down the riverbank. I spent half an hour at Joist Fen viewpoint listening for the reported little bittern from earlier on in the day. Although I didn't hear…

Please note that we have decided to reschedule the postponed "Evening Exploration" guided walk from Friday 2 June to Friday 16 June. The walk will take place 7pm-10pm and it will be around three miles in length. We will look for barn owls, bitterns, hobbys and a variety of mammals. If the weather is kind to us, we may also put the moth trap out and listen to bats using special detectors.

The cost is as follows…

Good morning. I will begin this morning by posting some pictures that I took on the reserve on Friday. I hope you like them!:

Male banded demoiselle:

White campion:

Water forget- me- not:

Hoverfly sp. which looks most like Helophilus pendulus:

Dragonfly exuvia on the yellow iris in front of the visitor centre. Most likely to belong to an emperor dragonfly, judging by its size:

Image credits: David Whit…

Well, sadly, that is May over for another year! The last day of the month, Wednesday 31 May, was also the last time that the marsh warbler was seen and heard. Unless it has moved to another part of the reserve, it may have gone which is a shame.

I will begin this morning by sharing some images that were taken on the reserve on Sunday:

Barn owl:

Bittern:

Image credits: John Gamble

Thank you very much to John…

Please note that the Evening Exploration guided walk this evening has been postponed due to the poor weather forecast. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. We are looking to reschedule the event soon so we will let you know once we have found an alternative date.

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

On Monday afternoon, two kingfishers were seen along the river and a bittern was seen from New Fen viewpoint.

Yesterday, the marsh warbler was still present along the riverbank just west of Joist Fen viewpoint. I decided to walk into the reserve from Lakenheath village yesterday afternoon and despite the…

Good afternoon. Although we have had some stormy weather this weekend, there has still been plenty to see. Before I launch into some recent sightings though, I will share a couple of pictures that have been taken on the reserve in the last week or so:

Male marsh harrier and a bittern having a scrap:

Image credit: Alison Playle

Female scarce chaser dragonfly:

Image credit: Simon Evans

Thank you very much to Alison…

Good morning. There has been plenty to see in the sunshine over the last couple of days so here are some recent sightings from Wednesday onwards:

I had a very pleasant walk around the reserve first thing and was rather surprised to fund an Arctic tern feeding in front of the Washland viewpoint first thing. A barn owl was hunting nearby and I saw a grasshopper warbler just east of the viewpoint.

I was armed with my camera…

Good afternoon. As yesterday's blog post was quite birdy, today's is going to include a bit more variety:

Dave, Suzanne, John and I went down the reserve after work last night to look for the marsh warbler. Just before we arrived at the spot on the riverbank just west of Joist Fen viewpoint, a short eared owl was hunting over the riverbank near Joist Fen viewpoint. We did see the marsh warbler (eventually!) Dave…

Good afternoon. I am very pleased to report that a singing male marsh warbler was found on the reserve yesterday afternoon. This species, which is closely related to the reed warbler is a rare bird in Britain. Back in the 1970's there were up to 70 pairs nesting in Britain but sadly, there are now less than 10 pairs nesting in Britain. This species has only been recorded on the reserve twice before. The first record was…

Good morning. We have had some pretty changeable weather this week so here are some more recent sightings:

I will begin though by posting some images that were taken on the reserve last week:

Hobby:

Image credits: Denise Randall

I will now start off where I left off on Saturday. An osprey flew north west over New Fen North, the first area of reedbed and two turtle doves flew over the Washland viewpoint. A pair…