This week has seen a few interesting migrants passing through or stopping off on the reserve. On 2 October we had our first redwing flying over, making their distinctive ‘seep seep’ calls as they went. Our work party counted around forty-six and I saw a further twelve at lunchtime. Leaving after dark on the same day I could hear more, somewhere way up above me in the black sky. In fact 2 October was a good day…

Our main fundraising event of the year- our Race for Wildlife- is now just ten days away on the 13 October and we are getting everything ready for the big day! Our warden Emma has been out spray-painting 1km markers along the routes and preparing our plastic-free water station! There are so many little jobs that need doing ahead of the event but it’s something we all love as there is such a lovely atmosphere on the day…

Yesterday a beautiful cattle egret graced us with his/her presence on the Washland- spotted by one of our regular visitors and enjoyed by several more once word got out. These birds have an amazing history- in the 20^th Century they expanded their range so rapidly- from being found just in southern Spain, Portugal and tropical areas of Africa and Asia, to colonising the Americas (where is it believed they flew of their…

Hello! We have had an interesting week here at the reserve, thanks in part to an exotic visitor in the moth trap on Sunday night- a big, beautiful, blue clifden nonpareil! It's an odd name which originates from the first British record coming from the Cliveden estate in Berkshire (in the 18th Century) and the French word 'nonpareil' means 'without equal'- a suggestion of how beautiful it is! It drew in crowds earlier…

We've been regularly running the moth trap near the visitor centre, and yesterday we had a rare moth amongst all the more common ones.  The moth of the moment is Clifden Nonpariel, which has a large grey forewing and broad violet blue band across the hindwing.  It is an immigrant moth, probably from eastern Europe or Scandinavia.  Only a handful of these moths reach the UK each year, so we're really chuffed to see one…

Following on from our yellow wagtails and green sandpipers of last week on the washland, we have seen another migrant pass through the reserve this week- our site manager Dave saw three wheatears on 3 September on Joist Fen South, and we are still seeing swallows and house martins in the skies above the reserve, with the odd hobby too. Yesterday a lunchtime walk rewarded me with a hobby, a kestrel and a little egret over…

Aside from yesterday's birds, if you like your insects the reserve won’t disappoint either- we are bursting at the seams with migrant hawker, brown hawker and ruddy darter dragonflies. Common darter, red-eyed damselfly, common blue damselfly and southern hawker are plentiful too. The butterflies taking centre stage at the moment are the late summer specialists- red admirals and painted ladies, both of which are everywhere…

This is my first blog post and the wildlife has been kind to me in giving me something to write about- what a week it has been for sightings. Some of our star species have been showing well and the reserve is sitting somewhere between late summer and early autumn now, with wildlife and sights from both seasons sharing the days, so it’s an interesting time to visit the reserve. There’s ripe berries and early fungi starting…

It's been another quiet week for us here, with not a lot of sightings to report. 

Keeping ahead of the rain clouds yesterday were small numbers of hirundines, including five swifts and a dozen or so house martins and swallows.  Also overhead were a group of four yellow wagtails.

On the small wash beside Wilton Bridge (not on the reserve), there have been up to two green sandpipers, and single wood and common sandpipers…

With the strong winds forecast for the weekend we’ve been making the most of the nice weather whilst we can, meaning this has been the first opportunity we’ve had to blog for a little while!

It’s still a little quiet on the bird front, which is usual for this time of year, but we’ve still got plenty of sightings to report….

A family of kingfishers have been showing off nicely in front of…

Due to the poor weather forecast for this weekend we've taken the decision to postpone the Big Wild Sleepout this weekend.  We decided that camping in thunderstorms and heavy rain would not be a very good idea!  We have, however, rearranged it for next Saturday 3 August.  We do now have spaces, so if you would like to experience Lakenheath Fen after dark, please contact the reserve direct on 01842 863400, or email lakenheath…

I'd just like to start by apologising for the lack of blogs since David left.  We are doing what we can, but please bear in mind, we are short staffed, and with lots to do out on the reserve, we just haven't had the time to do more of the blogging side of things.  David's replacement will start in mid August, when hopefully the blogs and recent sightings will be updated a bit more regularly!  Here's what's been…

It is always exciting when you get a visit from a species specialist as you never know what new things they may turn up on the reserve.  Last week we had Pete Stron on the site from the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) and he found two rare Breckland plants growing in the lawn in front of the visitor centre.  The first was perennial knawel Scleranthus perennis, a species which likes the dry, sandy acid soils…

And hello from us!  With David having left, it will be up to the rest of the team to fill in with recent sightings and blogs posts, but before I go any further, I just want to say a huge thank you to David for his hard work over the last 10 years.  He has contributed massively to the reserves bird list and has done a fantastic job with the blog posts, promoting the reserve and keeping everyone informed, in his own unique…

So, we have come to it at last, my last recent sightings blog post as a member of staff at RSPB Lakenheath Fen! As it's impossible to sum up the last 10 and a half years in just one post, I thought I would just write one more post in my own unique (!) style!

Although the weather wasn't great on Thursday, I assisted the reserve team with the work party. While we were out and about, two Mediterranean gulls flew…

Good afternoon. Although the weather hasn't been great recently, I will start by sharing some lovely images that have been taken on the reserve recently:

Bittern:

Great crested grebe family:

Blue tailed damselflies: 

Image credits: Steve Moore-Vale

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

As you can seen from the images above, bitterns have been showing very well recently. This includes…

Good afternoon. As I am going away for a long weekend, this will be my last recent sightings post until the middle of next week:

The spare pair of cranes were flying around a lot on Tuesday and here are a couple of pictures of them courtesy of Matt Walton:

Image credits: Matt Walton

Although we are not quite sure who they are, Norman, our ex-Site Manager, seems to think that they may be the two juveniles that fledged…

Good morning. I will begin by sharing some lovely images that have been taken on the reserve over the last couple of days, mainly from Mere Hide:

Bitterns:

Presumably the same ringed bird that was present last year:

Great crested grebes:

Hobby:

Image credits: David Gowing. 

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

As far as we know, our resident nesting cranes are still OK. The spare…

Good morning. There are a variety of things to update you on so without any further ado, I will begin!

This lovely image of a bittern was photographed from Mere Hide on Thursday:

Thank you very much to Bob Britton for sharing this image with us!

I also took a couple of pictures in the sunshine on Friday morning, that I hope you like:

Image credit: David White

An otter was seen from the Washland viewpoint on Friday…

Good morning. So, we have reached the end of May. Doesn't it go quickly every year!

There have been some interesting sightings over the last couple of days of a variety of wildlife so without any further ado, here we go:

Our first large skipper butterflies of the year are now on the wing and they can be seen in various places on the reserve.  Local bird ringers Pete and Simon were here on Wednesday and they ringed…

Good morning. I will begin by sharing some images that I haven't had an opportunity to share yet:

Male reed bunting:

Kingfisher:

Little egret:

Image credits: Stephen Reeve

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

There have been a couple of sightings of two cranes flying over recently. They flew over on Saturday and presumably the same pair were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint yesterday. 

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

We have recently found out that our crane family are still on track which is a great sign! A single bird was seen in flight over Joist Fen viewpoint on Thursday so if you are lucky, you may see one yourself if you come and visit.

Our resident bitterns are continuing to show well and I saw one in flight…

Good morning. May is marching on at a rapid rate so here are some more images and recent sightings for you:

I will start off with sharing some more images that have been taken here recently:

Misty riverbank:

Common whitethroat:

Image credits: Scott Grear Hardy

Great crested grebe:

Image credit: Matt Walton

Thank you very much to Scott and Matt for sharing these lovely images with us.

The view from the high seat overlooking…

Good morning. Well, it's that time of year when bitterns start getting quite visible on the reserve. In honour of that, here are some wonderful pictures of bitterns that have been taken on the reserve during the last week or so:

Image credits: Les Bunyan

Image credits: Heather Peeling

Image credits: Stephen Reeve

Image credits: Ann Karin Solheim

All of these images have been taken from Mere Hide. 

Whilst…

Good morning. I will start off by apologising for the lack of updates recently. There has been a lot going on here. 

Our resident cranes have been very elusive all week and there have been no sign of the extra birds that have been present recently. Bitterns have been showing well though, including a male that has been seen booming in front of Mere Hide on several occasions. I will post some pictures of it when I next blog…