As I write this it is a beautiful sunny morning and we are finally beginning to see more butterflies! The stalwarts of summer- Peacock, Red admiral and Comma are increasing in number here, as are Large and Small Whites. There are plenty of flowers dotted around the trails that attract them down for visitors to see- such as the buddleia by the Visitor Centre, as well as natives such as Hemp Agrimony in wetter places, and…

Now that we have moved into early Summer, the bird scene is subtly changing- it's unusual now to hear a booming Bittern and Cuckoo are not calling as much as they were, as most females will now have mated, and most males will consider their work done and will soon be heading back to Africa. Females will stay a few weeks longer as they lay their eggs one-by-one in host nests, commonly Dunnock, Reed bunting, Reed warbler…

I thought it was high time we issued a quick update with our latest sightings from the reserve, as May is our peak month for visitors and with good reason- it is quite easy to see many of our star species, and the reserve is full of summer migrants now.

Bitterns have been showing pretty well recently, with quite a few visitors getting lucky each day with a sighting- two birds were seen from New Fen Viewpoint yesterday…

As we enter May, our busiest month of the year for visitors, we have been gifted with some beautiful weather and a full range of beautiful wildlife for visitors to enjoy. Hobby numbers are now climbing- our volunteer Mark counted 21 from Joist Fen Viewpoint yesterday (4 May), and no doubt with today's warm and calm conditions, visitors will see plenty. If you would like to see these, you should see more from mid-morning…

Today it's fairly windy outside but on better weather days there's plenty to see on the reserve at the moment- and perhaps the most obvious thing is the myriad of singing warblers here to greet you as you walk the trails. Whilst Chiffchaff have gone quiet (they will be raising their first broods now), Blackcap, Willow warbler and Cetti's warbler are particularly vocal, as they compete for territories and mates…

Well, it's quite difficult to know where to start with this blog, as so much has been seen here in the last week or two. Maybe the best idea is to start with a few photos which visitors have kindly shared with us, illustrating some of our highlights. On 26 March, this White stork took everyone who was lucky enough to see it by surprise- when it was spotted by Andrew Bradford as it flew overhead at Joist Fen Viewpoint…

During the winter months at RSPB Lakenheath Fen, whilst we are outside of the nesting season for our breeding birds, we try to focus as much as we can on reedbed management. Towards the end of February, we had a couple of Volunteer Days for the staff of Morgan Sindall Group at the reserve, whereby they donate their time (and energy!) into helping us to manage the reserve. Here’s a video filmed by our Site Manager Dave…

I am very pleased to be able to write this latest blog whilst surrounded by signs of Spring. On Tuesday, our first booming Bittern survey resulted in seven booming males- we have never had so many this early on in the season so we hope this bodes well for the coming Spring. One was seen and heard booming by a visitor on 7 March from Mere Hide, and the area here is always a stronghold for booming. Marsh harrier numbers…

Now that we are in the last month of winter, you can see signs of a change in the seasons when you walk around the reserve- Reed buntings are singing from sheltered locations in reed and scrub, and on the pools many ducks are paired up- yesterday (1 February) I counted six pairs of Gadwall at New Fen, and one pair of Tufted duck. It’s a similar situation on the Washland- volunteer Paul counted two Shoveler, three…

As I start this blog on Friday morning, there’s a gentle breeze blowing through the trees and a beautiful blue sky. We’ve had a couple of days of superb weather- colder than normal, but bright and sunny with heavy frost decorating every part of the reserve. The bird feeders have been VERY busy as tiny birds seek to eat plenty to restore their energy reserves after a few very cold nights. Marsh tit, Coal tit

We are now five days into 2024 and we have made a good start with our bird list, which now stands at 45 species. You can see the full and current list if you wish to- attached as a pdf file at the bottom of this blog. As usual, because of our rural location and wetland nature, it’s a few days before we spot all of the commoner ‘garden birds’ which many of us many have seen on 1^st January without much…

Hello and welcome to our latest blog. Tomorrow we'll move into the first month of winter, and across the reserve it's quite easy to spot a variety of winter birds now. The tiny, colourful Siskin can be heard most of the time in the tops of the Alder trees by the feeders at the Visitor Centre, and these have not necessarily travelled far to be here- some nest locally in the conifer plantations of Thetford Forest…

November 2023 has so far seen lots of wet and windy days but we've had some lovely moments of sunshine in amongst it- appreciated all the more for their rarity. Here's the highlights of what visitors, volunteers and staff have spotted or heard in November so far:

Siskin - these can be seen daily in the tops of the Alder and Silver birch trees around the Visitor Centre and car park area.
Redwing - 72 flew overhead…

Hello and welcome to the latest blog from the reserve. In the past couple of weeks, wet weather has reduced our visitor numbers significantly- today, for example, we've only had four people through the doors. We realise this may be partly to do with us not having much shelter on the reserve, aside from at New Fen and Joist Fen viewpoints, and Mere Hide. However it's partly a trend that affects all visitor attractions…

Hello and welcome to the latest blog from the reserve- here I am going to share most of the photos taken by our two photographers on the day- our volunteer David White and Site Manager David Rogers. I have omitted images which show folks who did not want their photos shared publicly, according to the Consent section of the Registration Form that all runners filled in on the day. However, if you see yourself here and aren…

Hello and welcome to the latest blog- this time it's a little different from the usual- as it's got the results from today's Race for Wildlife in it! Thanks to ALL of our runners for booking onto and attending our Race- your support makes the world of different to not just the wildlife here but also our morale- it is heartening for the staff and volunteers to have seen the reserve and the Visitor Centre busy…

Our main fundraising event of the year- our Race for Wildlife- is now just seven days away on Sunday 15 October and we are getting everything ready for the big day! Our warden Emma will soon be out spray-painting 1km markers along the routes to help runners on the day. 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.

The…

We kicked off this week in style, with two Spoonbill seen sleeping (what a surprise!) on the Washland on Monday morning (2 October). They didn't stay for long, but we believe it to be only our second record- the first being years back in 2018. They seemed to be comfortable with the Great white egrets up there, of which we have 18 today (6 October) with most of them being on the Washland and a couple further down the…

For participants on 2023's Race for Wildlife, please find the Registration Form below:

community.rspb.org.uk/.../1537.8764.Race-for-Wildlife-Registration-Form-23.docx

And in PDF format (not editable) if you prefer to print and fill out by hand:

community.rspb.org.uk/.../6253.1018.Race-for-Wildlife-Registration-Form-23.pdf

If you don't have access to a printer, or find it easier, we will have paper forms ready at the Registration…

Hello and welcome to the latest blog. In this one we'll cover our latest wildlife sightings as well as a round-up of what our weekly work parties have been up to, and some events that are on the way which readers might be interested in.

But first thing's first- the wildlife- and today we can report a new record for Great white egrets- the number on the Washland continues to climb steadily, and is showing no signs…

On the last official day of Summer, you can definitely see signs of two seasons on the reserve at once. Migrant birds like Hobby and Swallow are still here, and as you walk around the trails it’s easy to hear Blackcap, Whitethroat and Reed warbler singing. However, passage migrant birds have been spotted too. Whilst it’s still easy to find dragonflies and butterflies, more autumnal bugs like ladybirds, Dock…

Hello and welcome to the latest blog. Here I will aim to give a quick round-up of the weeks' wildlife highlights, ahead of the weekend. Kingfishers have been showing particularly well across the reserve, with sightings most days from various places, notably the pools at New Fen (from the viewpoint shelter), Mere Hide and the Visitor Centre. Two Hobbies were also spotted hunting in the air above Mere Hide yesterday…

Hello and welcome to the latest blog! Before we cover the usual wildlife sightings and happenings on the reserve, i'd like to announce on behalf of the reserve team (and the reserve itself!) that we have one successfully fledged Common crane chick! He, or she, is the juvenile of pair B2, our newer (and presumed younger) pair of cranes. So far, most of what we have seen of the young family has been via trail camera…

Hello and welcome to the latest blog. It's been a good few weeks since the last one, regrettably, as various other projects and tasks have got in the way. But, there's plenty to see on the reserve at the moment- we have a wealth of butterflies and dragonflies flitting about along the trails, Kingfishers being more often seen now at Mere Hide, and there's still a handful of Hobbies about. Recent rain has helped…

Hello and welcome to our latest blog. As I write this, the reserve is alive with birdsong! As well as the resident Blackbirds, Song thrushes, Cetti's warblers, Wrens and Robins, joining the chorus is Whitethroat, Willow warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Garden warbler too. We have one or two Nightingales and Grasshopper warblers too, but these are proving trickier to pin down- apart from one more reliable Nightingale…