The most complaints we've had since we opened have been about the state of the roadway along the main thoroughfare from our main entrance off Bodymoor Heath Lane.  In particular the road surface or lack of it found just beyond our inner gateway. 

GOOD NEWS!

Our hardy volunteers braved almost sub-zero temperatures to re-distribute 10 tonnes of road planings and ensure a smooth surface to what was a notorious stretch…

November 2011

It has been a good year for beech nuts and acorns  - many people calls these the mast – the fruits of the trees. So it's been called a good mast year. But it was a poor year for butterflies and dragonflies, despite an early flowering year when flowers came out 2 weeks earlier than usual. The fungi were in short supply in September but a wet October gave a later boost of a few specimens around the site. Nature…

I know it's the main topic of conversation at the moment but I thought I must mention it anyway. Yesterday was a glorious day on the reserve and the warm sunshine certainly enticed people to come and look around our reserve.

The POD was out in the car park and our PEAs did their stuff meeting and greeting the 150 or so visitors. Many thanks to Nicky, Pete & Peter for their stamina - a long day!  

By far the…

October 2011

After our late Indian summer the windy days came. The acorns and conkers started to fall, later they will rot and be eaten by squirrels, mice and other creatures. The golden leaves of autumn were everyone.

There was some activity on site. At heron corner, a lesser spotted woodpecker was clinging on to the feeder nut cage. The tube swung about in the strong, blustery autumn winds on the last of the warm…

What glorious weather for an October half-term - just the weather to bring the family out here to enjoy a couple of hours playing at Nature Detective!

As part of the BBC's Live 'n' Deadly project, we've been chosen to host a Deadly Scene Investigation event and we had no idea how popular it would be. Over 100 children have been here this week so far and everyone has enjoyed tracking down the culprit of the dastardly…

Yesterday proved to be one of the busiest on the reserve since we opened. The day started well with the Alzheimer's Society holding a Memory Walk around the reserve. Over 50 people turned up to walk behind our Walk Leaders who acted as Pied Pipers. The weather went from dark overhead to bright sunshine and warmth which helped the walkers enjoy their journey.

Next up were the ex-Barclays Bank Ramblers Club who appeared…

What a difference a week makes - after the scorching temperatures of the previous weekend, last Saturday was a reminder that Autumn was quickly approaching. A chilly wind welcomed us to Middleton Hall as we attended the Wildlife Photography Workshop. Nick gave a very informative and enjoyable talk leaving us all enthused and itching to get outside to start snapping away! We've persuaded him to hold another such event…

The start of the latest series of Autumnwatch heralds the count down to the first half-term of the school year.  I am pleased to say we have a full programme of events for the week.

Starting on Saturday 22nd october and running for the whole week, we are hosting a DSI: Deadly Scene Investigation event based on the popular BBC childrens programme. Families can turn themselves into forensic scientists as they go around…

I, like many people, were very pleasantly surprised by the hot weather over the weekend. The sunshine certainly brought out the visitors to the reserve over the weekend asI worked as a PEA out of the POD (you must visit to see the meaning of this). My fellow PEAs and I must have greeted more than 350 visitors over the course of two days! Everyone making the most of the perfect weather to be outdoors, many of them holding…

September 2011

Autumn  finally arrived and there were more leaves flying than birds during our windy days. The grasslands were mowed so there were closer views of the pools and lakes in the area.

Mowing prevents thistles, docks, bramble, willows and scrub taking over and swamping the more delicate grass which supplies the food for birds, insects and mammals. It is hoped to extend grazing over the site in the future.

Visitors to the wetlands trail here at Middleton lakes will quickly notice the latest phase of habitat management. The wetlands area has had its annual 'haircut' reducing the high growth to stubble in some areas. We do this cut regularly to encourage the most appropriate habitat regrowth. I don't pretend to understand the reasons why we cut it but I do know the effect is stunning. Birdwatching opportunities have been…

Sightings for August 2011

After  a rainstorm late one afternoon, the swallows returned to the carpark. It was hectic: flying over, around and between the wooden posts. Were they playing tag or only searching for small insects disturbed by the raindrops?  You get the picture – total mayhem. The winner got the chance to perch on the top of a pole. Did this really happen , I hear you say.

It's always fun to come out…

Firstly I'd like to apologise to all those visitors who turned up expecting to sample their favourite spirit. When I said 'Optics' I meant things like telescopes & binoculars, not those devious devices found in bars!

Despite arriving in drizzle and murky weather conditions, the team were soon up and running with their display and what a display! We must have had every type of telecope and binocular found…

Yesterday marked the first of our annual 'Great Scarecrow Days' held in the playmeadow under leaden skies. Over 200 visitors came and tried their hand at making scarecrows of all shapes, sizes and themes.

Everybody really enjoyed their time here despite the occasional watering from above, vowing to return next year armed with more clothes, more hats and more ideas of how to be crowned Middleton Lakes Scarecrow…

This afternoon whilst walking from our office to the main car park to close the height barriers on the car park gates I heard a great deal of chatter coming from our new den building area in Villa Wood.  I went to have a look at who was making so much noise and found 3 generations of the same family enjoying themselves whilst constructing a substantial den. It was obvious the more mature members had done this before but…

We must apologise to our visitors expecting to pick up one of our trail guides from the leaflet holders. We have underestimated the popularity of the reserve and have therefore had to order a reprint ahead of schedule. The new supply should be with us by the Bank Holiday but in the meantime, if you require a trail guide, there is a copy available to download from our website. Otherwise we do have a map on our Information…

In preparation for our forthcoming Scarecrow Day - Bank Holiday Monday 29th August - our ever young volunteers took up the challenge to produce a few scarecrows to be used around the area to advertise our event.

There was no shortage of volunteers offering their help in going back to their youth building these scarecrows. Great fun was had by everyone involved.

Recent sightings for July 2011

We have a new homemade, Blue Peter style sightings board, by our car-park welcome sign, on which our keen-eyed, nature-loving visitors, volunteers  and surveyors have been recording their sightings (thanks everyone).

The weatherman said it was still summer but the signs of autumn were there. It was that time of year when people say autumn coming in meets the summer going out. The waders…

A work party went down to the woods yesterday - and now everyone's in for a surprise.

5-star example den with warden for scale

As you can see above, they did a fantastic job finishing off the den-building area ready for National Playday tomorrow, Wednesday 3 August. We'll have lots of fun on our play meadow from 10 am till 4 pm, including the den area's grand opening in the morning...

Bring along your family…

I know that's not the sentiment echoed by all those who are enjoying their summer holiday but for a wetlands reserve like ours, we need more water. Plain and simple.

We've been open for 11 weeks now and by now the reserve should be lush with green vegetation but the lack of rain has left large areas of brown earth in need of refreshment. One such place is at our main entrance on Bodymoor Heath Lane. With the help…

Hi all,

This is my first blog post and I am going to hand it over to our work experience students!

My name is Zak and I was at Middleton lakes for two weeks on work experience. I found the reserve excellent to work on, and totally enjoyed my experience! I learned loads about wildlife, and found all the animals and insects were living happily on the reserve. I also helped with some school groups visiting the reserve…

It must be a sign of the popularity of our reserve that we've already had to have our main car park footpath resurfaced. The work may cause a short term inconvenience as we've had to close the path through Villa Wood and along on to the farm track crossing by the heronry. Sorry. However the finished path will be a whole lot more manageable for everyone, especially for buggies and wheelchairs.

The title says it all really. I arrived on site this morning thinking the car park would be empty and any potential visitors would have looked outside their bedroom windows, seen the rain hammering down and decided to stop in bed. Easy day I thought. Catch up with paperwork I thought.

No way Jose! The car park was crammed with cars, people, waterproofs, umbrellas - was this a retake from the 'Singin' in the rain' movie…

Do you have a Wild Thing to entertain over the school holidays?  Maybe even more than one?  Read on...

For two weeks in August, RSPB Middleton Lakes' education team is running a holiday club for all those who enjoy exploring nature, getting muddy and helping wildlife. 

We've got a fantastic programme lined up for each week (so much so that other members of staff at the reserve are getting jealous and wish they could…

Last Saturday we attended an event in the castle grounds at Tamworth, hosted by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.  There were stalls from a number of local nature reserves, all of them promoting their particular interest in enthusiastic displays as well as demonstrating that Tamworth is surrounded by great natural places to visit.

Rebecca and I were helped by 2 young work experience volunteers who got stuck in from the…