Please note that due to the recent hot weather and lack of rainfall, we will not be able to do any pond dipping during our Children's walk & pond dipping event tomorrow. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. We will still go for a walk around our Brandon Fen family trail to look for some of the bugs and beasts that call the reserve home. Details on how to book places can be found by clicking the event…

We're finally working out what our bitterns are up to here at Lakenheath Fen.  During a very, very hot bittern watch yesterday morning things started to click into place at various locations.  It was a very interesting day, not just in terms of bittern sightings but also understanding more about the surveying technique.

To confirm a bittern nest, you need to record four 'in and out' flights from the same location…

The sun continues to shine on us and lots of our local wildlife have been taking advantage of it over the last couple of days. Although there have been plenty of species of birds showing themselves (more about them later!), a special mention has to go to the fantastic variety of insects showing themselves. 

A male banded demoiselle was whizzing about outside the visitor centre on Friday and several more were on the wing…

Please note that the butterfly walk tomorrow (Sunday July 14) has been cancelled due to lack of bookings. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. The reserve will still be open from dawn until dusk so you are more than welcome to come and visit us anyway! 

Another week has raced by and we seem to be delving deeper and deeper into the depths of summer. Although it hasn't been quite as warm this week, our "locals" have been out and about on the reserve. 

The local kingfishers have been very active with two being seen regularly in front of New Fen viewpoint. One has also been making occasional visits to the visitor centre pond which has been  lovely to see. Small…

This morning Katherine and I caught a glimpse of a common lizard warming itself on our staff and volunteer picnic table.  Katherine remarked that the lizards seem to be getting more use out of it than us at the moment, as we’ve been so busy here at Lakenheath!  On closer inspection the lizard seemed to be using it as a nice surface on which to shed its skin.  I didn’t get a photo of that particular lizard unfortunately…

Literally!  Norman (original site manager of Lakenheath) brought a reed stem over to volunteer Nigel and I yesterday morning to show us a creature that, for a certain stage of its life, lives within the reed stem itself.  Fen wainscot moth larvae burrow into the reed stem near the bottom then make their way upwards, feeding and ‘depositing’ as they go.  When they’ve eaten all they can from one reed, they will…

Let’s face it; the weather on Friday just wasn’t that great! However, several things were seen over the course of the day. Ali saw her first ever garden warbler alongside East Wood and some colleagues saw a bittern and some bearded tits from New Fen viewpoint.

There was an intriguing report of a great white egret from Joist Fen viewpoint later on in the day. Although these birds are still very rare visitors…

Please note that the Beginners photography workshop tomorrow has been CANCELLED due to lack of bookings. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. 

The next workshop will take place on Sunday August 25. Please click here for more details. 

It was a rare sunny morning on Tuesday so I went to join Suzanne at New Fen viewpoint to look for bitterns. Suzanne had already seen one flight so hopes were high of seeing another. Although I didn’t see one, we had superb views of two juvenile bearded tits feeding on the grit tray in front of the viewpoint. This is the first time either of us had ever seen these charming little birds using grit trays here (I had…

Grass.  Something that a lot of people walk straight past and pay little or no attention to.  After all, it’s ‘just grass’, isn’t it?  But this particular group was one of the big eye openers for me when I started learning more about nature.  It turns out, it’s not ‘just grass’.  There are many different species of grass and they are surprisingly beautiful when you see them in flower…

I have just returned from a week away and it is amazing what has changed. Firstly, my uniform has changed colour from black to blue. This coincides with the launch of the Giving Nature a Home campaign, which you will be hearing a lot about over the next couple of years. Please click on the link above for more information about what you can do to give nature a home near you. Secondly, despite the fact that it is only a…

Guest blog by volunteer Karen Langley:

"It has been a mixed week of weather, from sunshine up until Wednesday changing to overcast and rain for the rest of the week.  Despite this there has been an excellent variety of sightings; with bitterns continuing with feeding flights and bearded tits being particularly conscientious in showing themselves.  After the five red kites and the return of the red-footed falcon

A similar title to a blog I did the other week but not quite the same!  It covers a few different small things this time too.

First off, we’ve had time to do some small jobs around the place again.  When you get the chance to do small jobs, the ‘to do’ list gets a good crossing off which always feels good (to me anyway – I like lists!)  Following on from the tasks completed by the volunteers last…

One of my favourite things about this time of year is the shear array of colours that are on display. There are lots of plants in flower and lots of insects of different shapes, shades and sizes. There are also lots of lovely birds around as well of course!

There were plenty of birds of prey around on Friday. A red kite drifted along the river and a peregrine was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. A coal tit was singing…

Please note that the bat night tonight has been cancelled due to the weather. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. The next bat night will take place on Friday August 16. Details on how to book can be found here. 

Please note that due to the poor weather forecast and a lack of bookings, all of the events this weekend apart from the bat night have been CANCELLED. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.

A decision will be made at lunch time tomorrow as to whether the bat night is still going ahead. There are still around 8 places available on the event. 

Well, that has definitely seemed to be the case this week anyway. We started the week on northerlies and we are now on southerlies. Apart from the odd burst of sunshine, it has still been rather chilly for the time of year. As usual, this hasn’t put the local wildlife off though, as these lovely pictures from last Friday show:

Some formation flying from the local bitterns: Peter Allen

Two juvenile bearded…

When I blogged last week we were in between school visits.  The children were very lucky with the weather and pond dipping was just as much fun on the Friday.  Unfortunately, no dragonfly nymphs were caught for me to photograph (always the way) but I did get a picture of a damselfly nymph – turns out it’s difficult taking photographs of things in pots filled with water!

Photo credit: Ali Blaney – damselfly…

There has been a distinct contrast between the weather on Friday and the weather this weekend. .i.e. it was a LOT better on Friday! In the sunshine on Friday, Ali saw a species of leaf hopper whose given name was Cercopis vulnerata south of Trial Wood. If you know where to look, these little red and black insects are very numerous at this time of year. Also on Friday, the Savi’s warbler was singing intermittently…

Please note that the crazy cuckoos guided walk tomorrow is FULLY BOOKED. Unfortunately, we can only accommodate those who have booked places in advance. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. 

Good morning! Just in case you are wondering, I still haven’t recovered from last weekend’s wild camp out and dawn walk! I have now processed my photos that I took so here are my favourite two. They were both taken before 4am on Sunday morning:

The moon

Sunrise over Brandon Fen

We have also been sent in some fantastic pictures that were taken by visitors over the course of the week:

 Male bearded…

It only seems like yesterday that I last blogged!  In fact, it’s been five whole days.  A lot of the things we have been doing over that time have involved working with children – the animal part of the title is inevitable!  On Saturday we had our first wild camp out of the year, which David mentioned in his blog.  During the camp out they heard and saw all sorts of birds and bats, including a stone curlew,…

Just in case you are wondering, I will get to the answer of the above question below! The reserve was very busy on Friday morning and there was also plenty of great wildlife to see. I heard my first turtle dove of the year purring away in Brandon Fen and the Savi’s warbler was still showing well just east of New Fen viewpoint. A male golden oriole was seen in East Wood before it was chased out by one of the local…

Please note that the wild camp out this evening and the dawn walk tomorrow morning are both FULLY BOOKED. Unfortunately, we can only accommodate those that have booked places in advance. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.