Good afternoon. We have had a very enjoyable day today thatching and filling up our new bug hotel near the visitor centre with our reserve Wildlife Explorer's Club, the Lakenheath Fen Kingfishers. I thought I would share these images of what we got up to:

Image credits: Emma Cuthbertson & David White

Thank you very much to Warden Emma for giving up her Saturday morning to help us to create…

Please note that the Barn owl walk on Sunday 19 March 4pm-6.30pm is now FULLY BOOKED. Unfortunately, we can only accommodate those who have booked places in advance. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.

 The next barn owl walk is scheduled for Sunday 26 November 2pm-4.30pm. Please ring 01842 863400 or e-mail lakenheath@rspb.org.uk; to book your place on this walk.

Alternatively, you are more than welcome to…

Good morning. There has been a definite spring like feel over the last couple of days so here are some recent sightings from Monday lunchtime onwards:

Our regional director e-mailed us mid-morning to say that he was 99% sure that he had just seen a great grey shrike near the reserve entrance as he passed the reserve on the train. Several of us went looking for it but didn't see it unfortunately. I did see a drake …

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

I will begin with some late news from Thursday (2 March). Volunteers Norman and Linda were down at the far end of the reserve at dusk. They saw two cranes and a merlin. They also saw at least three barn owls and 130 pied wagtails flying to roost.

On Saturday afternoon, there was a good count of eight…

Hello there! It is a lot milder today so here are some more recent sightings for you:

I ended up walking all the way around the reserve before work yesterday morning and just as I got up to the Washland viewpoint, a female barn owl flew right in front of me which was a great start to the day. A curlew flew overhead and a great white egret was feeding alongside the river. 

As I walked along the riverbank, a male ston…

Good afternoon. Apologies for the lack of updates recently, I have been off and the reserve team have been very busy with reserve management work.

I will start off where I left off on a very spring like 17 February with some more recent sightings. It was so spring like in fact, that a peacock butterfly was on the wing behind the visitor centre! 

There was plenty to see over the course of the day. Volunteer Steve Gill…

It has been really busy with work on the reserve since Christmas.  If you have visited us recently you will have seen all the reed cutting we have done in New Fen North.  This is part of the cycle of rejuvenation work we undertake over a 15 to 20 year period to keep the reedbeds in tip top condition for the range of wildlife they support.  With the cutting completed the wardens Emma and Alan raised the water levels to the…

Good morning. It has finally warmed up. Thank goodness for that! Here are some recent sightings from Sunday morning onwards. It was a good morning for finches with a flock of 14 siskins in the visitor centre alders and a female brambling on the visitor centre feeders.

On Tuesday, Suzanne saw two common buzzards over Brandon Fen. Site Manager Dave and Warden Alan saw a good selection of birds out on the reserve. They saw…

Good afternoon. Well, whether or not there is ever a dull moment here at RSPB Lakenheath Fen, we have certainly had plenty of dull weather recently! It has been cold, murky with the odd snow flurry just for good measure.

However, there has been plenty to see nonetheless so here are some more recent sightings from Thursday lunchtime onwards:

I went up to the Washland viewpoint and I saw the following:

• Pintail: 2 …

Please note that if you are planning to visit the reserve next week, Lakenheath High Street will be partially closed Monday-Friday 9am-4pm. This will affect through traffic from the south (.i.e. from the Barton Mills roundabout and Eriswell village).

If you are planning to visit the reserve from the south between 9am-4pm next Monday-Friday, we recommend that instead of heading through Lakenheath village, you take the…

Good morning. As the weather conditions have not really been conducive for photography for the majority of the week, here are some photos of some of our grazing animals that Site Manager Dave took at the end of last week:

Highland cows:

Herdwick sheep:

Image credits: Dave Rogers

I will start off where I left off on Saturday with some recent sightings. I went up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime and saw…

Good morning. February has started very well here and lot's has been seen over the last couple of days:

On Thursday morning, an early blackbird was singing in East Wood. and a drake pintail was showing well from the Washland viewpoint. A water pipit flew up from the riverbank alongside East Wood and a great white egret flew east along the river. 

As the day went on volunteer Steve spotted a ruff flying over the visitor…

Good afternoon. It has finally warmed up a bit so here are some more recent sightings:

I will begin with some lovely pictures of bearded tits that were taken on the reserve last Tuesday (24 January):

Image credits: Christine Nelson

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

On Friday afternoon, a coal tit was singing in front of the visitor centre which was nice to hear.

On Saturday…

Good morning. The days are definitely starting to get longer which is very encouraging! It has been pretty cold here this week though so let's hope it warms up a bit soon!

I will start off where I left off on Sunday. Local photographer Lee McCarthy was out and about on the reserve and took these great photographs:

Sunshine over the railway hut:

Chinese water deer:

Grey heron:

Image credits: Lee McCar…

Good morning. This is just a quick notice to say that a little bunting was reported on the riverbank on Monday afternoon. This is a scarce winter visitor to Britain that winters in Scandinavia. Here is a picture of one, that was unfortunately not taken on the reserve:

 Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

It looks quite similar to a female reed bunting, but as it's name suggests, it is slightly smaller than its more common…

Good morning. It has been really rather chilly over the last couple of days! Before I launch into some more recent sightings, I thought I would post a picture of the new addition to the reserve infrastructure that was built by the volunteer work party on Thursday:

It's a new bug hotel and it has been built very close to the visitor centre. The idea is that the RSPB Lakenheath Fen Kingfisher's Wildlife Explorers Club…

Good morning. We have been treated to some great light conditions this week so I thought I would use this opportunity to share some of the great images that we have been sent over the last week that have been taken on the reserve. I have arranged them by species. We hope you like them!

Bearded tits:

Tuesday 17 January:

Image credits: Ian Goodall

Wednesday 18 January:

Image credits: Martin Peake

On the weekend of the 28 – 30 January, people across the country will be settling down, binoculars at the ready and pens poised, for this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch.

The Big Garden Birdwatch began in 1979 and since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been counting birds in their gardens and letting the RSPB know what they have seen.

Blue tit and great tit. Chris Gomersall (RSPB-images.com)

The results…

Good afternoon. We have had some frosty weather this week so without further ado, here are some more recent sightings:

On Sunday, volunteer Pete saw a short eared owl hunting north of the river near Joist Fen viewpoint and also a stonechat near Mere Hide.

He then led the Talon Spotting guided walk and saw the following from Joist Fen viewpoint:

• Great white egret: 2
• Hen harrier: Adult male
• Sparrowhawk: 1
• Pereg…

Good morning. A lot has been seen on the reserve over the last couple of days so here are some recent sightings:

Site Manager Dave and volunteer Catherine were driving though the reserve on Friday lunchtime and they saw three cranes in flight. Hopefully, this means that they will be back on-site for good in the near future!

Meanwhile, closer to the visitor centre, three redshanks were feeding in front of the Washland…

Good morning. We have had some changeable weather conditions this week so here are some more recent sightings. Starting off where I left off on Tuesday, I went up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime and found a first winter Caspian gull. Four redshanks were also present along with two shelducks.

Meanwhile, further down the reserve, three different barn owls were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and Katherine also saw…

First things first, many thanks to Emma for her recent sightings blog post on Friday. It can be found here. I was off celebrating my birthday so I greatly appreciate it! 

I will begin with a photo that I took of the sunset over the visitor centre pond last Tuesday:

Image credit: David White

Moving on, here are some pictures that local photographer Lee McCarthy took on the reserve on Sunday:

Male bearded tit:

Good morning. Please note that there will be some disturbance on the riverbank Public Footpath over the next couple of weeks. This is due the Environment Agency will begin cutting the brambles on the riverbank today. As the riverbank is a flood bank, the Environment Agency monitor the amount of vegetation on the bank regularly and cut it every couple of years in order to mitigate flood risk. The Public Footpath will remain…

The first week back at work after the Christmas break can only mean one thing here at Lakenheath Fen – the start of our annual reserve year list competition!

As regular readers of the blog will know, staff and volunteers compete throughout the year to see as many birds as possible on the reserve. Strict rules are enforced, and with only a couple of exceptions, all birds must be seen not just heard.

The first few…

Happy New Year to you all. I will start off where I left of with some sightings from New Years Eve onwards:

I went up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime and a third winter Caspian gull was showing well in front of the viewpoint. Meanwhile, further down the reserve, two bearded tits were showing well from Mere Hide and two water rails were having a scrap in front of New Fen viewpoint. At least seven marsh harriers