It really feels like autumn has arrived now – leaves are crunching underfoot, the nights are drawing in and there’s a noticeable chill to the air in the mornings. However, my favourite sign of autumn has to be the flocks of redwing and fieldfare returning to the reserve, a sure signal to the changing of the seasons.

The best spot to see our newly arrived visitors is around the Brandon Fen trail, where a flock…

Good morning. You may have seen yesterday that I posted the results of our Race for Wildlife, including a couple of pictures from the event. As it was such a great event, here are some more. We hope you like them!

The start:

Image credits: Dave Rogers

Lisa Herron:

Richard Jones:

Laura (10k first lady)

Ade Yeneralski:

Jonny Rankin & Gareth Lamb:

Matt Horsham & Lorraine Reeves:

Image credits…

Thank you very much to those of you who took place in our Race for Wildlife on Sunday. I have attached the results to this blog post. All in all:

• 100 people took part
• Just over £1000 was raised from entrance fees
• £150 was raised from sponsorship
• £90 was raised from the sale of homemade cakes

Lot's of fun was had by all and we have received lot's of positive feedback from participants and marshals…

Good morning. There has been plenty going on over the last couple of days so here are some more recent sightings. I will begin with some images that have been taken on the reserve recently:

Bittern:

Great white egret:

Bearded tits:

Image credit: David Gowing

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

On Thursday afternoon, volunteer Jerry saw three swallows flying east along…

Good afternoon. It was eight years ago to the day that I started here at RSPB Lakenheath Fen as a a "green" but enthusiast 23 year old on a six month contract as Community Information Officer. If you asked me whether I would still be here (albeit in a different role) eight years later I probably wouldn't have believed you! The rest as they say is history though so here are the latest recent sightings, from Sunday morning…

Good morning. One of the great things about October is that so much changes during the month. I will start off where I left off with some images and sightings from Thursday:

Brandon Fen:

Highland cow in the grazing marsh:

The washland:

Image credits: David White

I walked round Brandon Fen and at least 35 redwings flew south over the reserve. Two goldcrests were feeding at the edge of the car park and a grey…

Good afternoon. You may have heard that our Race for Wildlife is now FULLY BOOKED. If you have not registered in advance, please do not turn up on the day as it is very unlikely that there will be any places available.

If you have registered in advance, here is some more information about the event:

Registration closes at 10.30am and the event begins at 11am. Please note that the start for both the 5k and the 10k is…

Good afternoon. If you read my blog post from Monday, then you will know that it was really rather foggy that morning. Local photographed Matt Walton photographed this bizarre looking bird along the interior path that runs through New Fen North near New Fen viewpoint:

Image credits; Matt Walton

Thank you very much to Matt for sharing these extraordinary images with us. If you are thinking that this bird looks…

Please note that our Race for Wildlife is now FULLY BOOKED. Unfortunately, we can only accommodate those who have registered in advance. If you have not registered in advance, please don not turn up on the day as it is unlikely that there will be any places available. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. 

Good morning. It has definitely felt very autumnal over the last couple of days. Although it was a nice day yesterday, it was quite breezy. I went for a walk around Brandon Fen before work and a female stonechat was perched on the riverbank. There were also a couple of goldcrests feeding at the edge of the car park. 

I popped up to the Washland viewpoint and I saw six little egrets and a lapwing. When I got back to the…

Despite the weather forecast, October is off to a bright and sunny start here at RSPB Lakenheath Fen. I will begin by sharing some images that have been taken on the reserve over the last week or so:

Bittern at the edge of the visitor centre pond on Tuesday: 

Image credit: John Ingham

Otter feeding in the visitor centre pond on Tuesday: 

Image credit: Ellie Walliker

Bearded tit:

Image credits: Martin Peak…

Good morning. I have now returned from the best part of two and a half weeks "down south" to find that Autumn has arrived at RSPB Lakenheath Fen. It's incredible how much the reserve has changed in such a short time. 

I will start with sharing a some pictures that have been shared with us over the last couple of weeks:

Osprey:

Image credit: Matt Walton

Image credits: Ian Goodall

Image credit…

It seems like only yesterday that I was last writing a recent sightings update, however a week has once again sped by (where does the time go?!), so apologies for this week’s update being a little delayed!

The osprey continues to be the star of the show and has been seen daily across the reserve for the past week. It’s treated us to some spectacular views from both Joist Fen and New Fen viewpoints whilst fishing…

It’s hard to believe that for the last few days the reserve has been basking in sunshine and ever increasing temperatures, as today the skies are dark, rain is falling and thunder is grumbling!

As I headed down the reserve this morning to check the route for this Sunday’s Ramblers Ramble event (more details below!) there was a definite feel of autumn in the air. Despite the rain showers, juvenile marsh harriers…

Good morning. It's a bit damp this morning but we definitely do need the rain! I will start of where I left off on Thursday with some recent sightings. Local bird ringer Simon Evans was ringing in Brandon Fen and while he was out, an osprey flew south over his head just after 09.30. It was being mobbed by an adult and two juvenile hobbys. He saw a grey wagtail flying south and he also saw the following on the washland…

Good morning. It's a lovely sunny morning here so it's time for some more recent sightings. Although I have been out with my camera this morning, I will start by posting a couple of sunny pictures that I took on the reserve over last weekend:

The Little Ouse river:

New Fen viewpoint:

Image credits: David White

I will start off where I left off on Saturday with some recent sightings. There was some excitement…

Good morning. I will get to "who" made a welcome return to the reserve yesterday below, but before that, I will post some pictures of this day last year and tell you a bit about what what was seen on Thursday.

I took a photo for this blog post this morning and while I was trying to save them, I found these photos that I took exactly a year ago today:

As you can see, the weather wasn't exactly great! I…

Please note that the bat night in Saturday night has been CANCELLED due to a lack of bookings and a poor weather forecast. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. 

Good afternoon. It's the last day of August so here is the last recent sightings blog post of the month.

On Monday morning, local birdwatcher Nick counted six garganeys and 271 teals on the washland. 

As the day went on, a bittern, a bearded tit and a hobby were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. A water rail was also skulking in front of Mere Hide. 

Meanwhile, back at the visitor centre, up to three kingfishers were…

Good morning. Our Race for Wildlife 2016 is now only a month and a half away! On Sunday 16 October, two multi-terrain courses of 5 kilometres and 10 kilometres will be way-marked around the reserve. The 10k route will include parts of the reserve that are not usually open to the public, so this is your annual chance to explore different parts of this beautiful fenland reserve.  Registration closes at 10.30am and the event…

Good morning. We have had another busy week here so without further ado, I will start where I left off with some sightings from Wednesday afternoon.

Our second willow emerald damselfly of the summer was photographed by the pond dipping platform along with a female red eyed damselfly. 

Meanwhile, there was some excitement when visitor centre volunteer John spotted an otter feeding in the visitor centre pond. Sadly, by…

Apologies, it has been a while since we last did a management blog so here are a few things that we have been up to in the last few weeks.

Katherine, Emma, the Thursday volunteer team and I have been pulling ragwort - it is that time of year again.  It is a great nectar source for insects and is home to a few specialist species but it is also toxic to many grazing animals so we try to keep it in check in the grazed parts…

Good morning. I am pleased to say that our “wader fest” has continued recently so the majority of today’s blog post will be about that. Before we get to our long legged friends though, here are a couple more of Ken Clegg’s pictures that were taken recently on the reserve:

Kingfisher:

Female emperor dragonfly laying eggs: 

Image credits: Ken Clegg

Thank you very much to Ken for sharing these…

Good afternoon. Wading birds have continued to dominate the headlines here recently but before I get into that, here are some images that have been taken recently on the reserve by regular visitor Ken Clegg:

Juvenile green woodpecker:

Stoat: 

Marsh harrier:

Grass snake:

Image credits: Ken Clegg

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

On Thursday afternoon, there were 88 lapwings on…

Good morning. I have a large list of sightings from the last couple of days in front of me so without any further ado, I will begin.

There was plenty of crane activity from Joist Fen viewpoint on Sunday. Our family were seen in flight along with two extra birds. Our family of four were also calling in the reedbed. This meant that there were at least nine cranes present on the reserve! A bittern was also seen in flight…