Our first brood of kingfishers have fledged, hurrah!

As has been the story with this pair in 2015 things did not go as you would expect!  The first chick fledged on Tuesday 11 June, followed by another on Wednesday with a third seen at the entrance to the burrow. However at the end of the day the adults were still taking fish in to the burrow and this continued until the end of the day Thursday.  Today, Friday,  chick number…

We had a good day on Saturday doing minibeasting, pond dipping, birdwatching and generally surveying all the wildlife that lives at Rye Meads. A big thank you to all those that participated as we got some really good results and managed to ID a fair few. In the absence of experts in the field of some of the invertebrates there are many we couldn't identify down to species level, but we gave it a good go and 110 is a fairly…

So, following on from our last post a couple of days ago, it seems that our Kingfisher pair have successfully thrown us all off the scent yet again! In latest developments it seems that possibly their first brood of the year have actually hatched within the last few days and they are now actively feeding the youngsters!!

[Photo: Keith Bedford]

Most people will know that we got off to quite a shaky start this season.. 

Hi All

Migrants continue to pass through site with a whimbrel on Draper 24 April (in 2014 we had a whimbrel stop off on the day of our first Fun Day 21 April so only a few days late this year), 2 whinchats on the meadow 25 and 26 April and 1 female on 27 April, again the Draper gave us  dunlin, 4 little ringed plover and 2 redshank  on 26 April with a cuckoo reported on the same day, common sandpiper and little ringed…

With election day nearly here we just wanted to urge you all to consider nature in your decision tomorrow, and encourage our leaders to act on preserving countryside and creating homes for nature throughout the country. You have just today left to Vote for Bob the little red squirrel, so if you haven't done so it's well worth doing to show that we stand together to support birds and other wildlife, and that we want nature…

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Haven't we been enjoying some lovely weather.

The early part of April bought us migrating sand martin on 3/4, marsh harrier on 1 and 3/4, willow warbler 3/4, and the first little ringed plover 6/4. Although the highlight for me was a fly over short eared owl. By chance i was out the front of the visitor center talking to a member of the public visiting an event at the speedway and caught sight of this bird…

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Just a quick update on the kingfishers, to say currently we don't know whats going on!!

Last week we were sure that incubation had started although the female did seem very reluctant to leave the nest chamber when the male came to do a change over.  And we had calculated hatching to be around 12-14 April. However yesterday at 3.30 and again this morning we have seen the pair mating. Once a clutch is laid and…

Hello All

We are opening a seasonal trail tomorrow, the first of April 2015!

This will allow you access to an area of site not usually open to the public. The trail follows access usually used in the winter by heavy machinery  such as a digger clearing out ditches or the Truxor cutting reedbed and for management work. Therefore it undulates and does not have a laid surface and may not be accessible to all, so please…

Just a quick one to remind you all that our annual family fun day is happening again on Sunday 19th April (the last day of the Easter holidays) from 10 am - 4 pm!

Plenty to do for all the family, pop along and find out more about nature and what lives on the reserve and in the wider area. Check out the flyer and please share with friends, family and anyone else you think might like to come along!

Hope to see you all…

Hello all

Spring is definitely in the air today, a beautiful frosty morning with blue skies and sunshine! The last few weeks have seen plenty of spring signs emerging with the arrival of the pure and pristine snowdrops, buds bursting on the sallows revealing the pussy willow inside, leaves emerging on the hawthorns, and birds singing- claiming their territory and announcing "I am here!" We even have some blackthorn in…

Hello

The paths are all open.

Clearance of the ditch is complete and the blockage has been removed which means the path is no longer flooded, however it is a bit gloopy in places where the digger has been so no white trainers advised.  We will endeavor to clear up the worst of the mud and hopefully the rain that is just starting to fall will help wash some away.

Thank you for your patience while this work was carried…

Staff at Rye Meads made green hearts today to support the Climate Coalition's #showthelove campaign, all about the things we love in nature and making sure they are not lost to climate change. You can read more about the idea here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/390517-stephen-fry-emilia-fox-alison-steadman-dermot-oleary-david-harewood-jarvis-cocker-and-more-show-the-love-in-ridley-scott-associates-latest-film-

Hello

Contractors will be on site clearing the blocked ditch that is causing flooding to the path between Ashby and Tern and Gadwall Hides next week. This means there will be no access beyond the Ashby hide from Monday 16 February to Wednesday 18 February 2015.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

We will keep you posted of any changes to these arrangements.

Thank you

Vicky

Hello 

As many of you will be aware we currently have a blocked ditch that is causing flooding on areas of the path between the Ashby hide and the Tern and Gadwall hides.  We are due to have contractors on site in the next 2 weeks to clear the ditch at which time the path will be closed from just beyond the Ashby hide for the duration of the works (approx 3 days). We will update this notice as soon as we have exact dates…

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This cold spell has caused our bittern to become a bit more showy and mobile, with sightings on 13 and 18 January and 4 February in the Lee Marsh (seems to be his favored spot) and 17 and 25 January from Tern hide and 31 January flying from Draper hide to Lee Marsh (Ashby hide to kingfisher hide).

A lucky visitor also recorded a barn owl on 31 January so fingers crossed that the boxes are used this year.

We've been getting ready for the Big Garden Birdwatch here this weekend! Wildlife Explorer's Club were out improving their observation skills yesterday with a special un-nature trail, and even though it started to snow, they still managed to spot most of the items hidden in the wildlife garden! But it still goes to show how easily you can miss things that are right in front of your eyes!

We practiced our garden…

We're slowly getting back into gear at Rye Meads after the Christmas break, and despite a weekend where the weather spent one entire day pouring with rain on us, and one day where the entire reserve was shrouded  in freezing fog (!) we managed to gather a reasonable list of sightings together, including: Snipe, Water rail, Kingfisher, Goldcrest, Pintail, Sparrowhawk, a pair of Bullfinch and exceptional views of a resident…

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The work parties have been busy this week clearing views into the reedbed near the kingfisher hide and off the boardwalk.  Cutting the vegetation in front of the kingfisher hide has opened up a few pools and ditches that have been hidden away for a while and we have cleared the vegetation from around the nesting bank and the CCTV camera, ready for the 2015 breeding season.  While working in this area we were…

Hey all!

Just a quick reminder of the last few events we have running at Rye Meads this year.

We're counting down to Father Christmas visiting the reserve on Saturday and Sunday, and all the other festivities that will be going on all weekend. Make sure you come down and take a break from Christmas shopping!

We will be running natural Christmas craft sessions in the classrooms during both Saturday 20th and Sunday…

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The last few mornings have been glorious with heavy frost , blue sky and sun creating some great conditions. It really feels like winter now.  The car park has become a popular area with thrushes as redwing, blackbird, song thrush and fieldfare all enjoy the hawthorn berry crop.  The teasels have offered food to a nice goldfinch flock and a number of mixed tit flocks do the rounds  of the hedges and feeders.  

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Only the weekend left and then its December! Then before you know it another year will be over.

I popped the moth trap on over night and was rewarded with the aptly named December moth.

Once we finished working on the Draper area we started to gradually increase the water level in order to mimic natural winter flooding. This has  proved popular with  teal as they are feeding on the seeds as they start to…

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A lovely female marsh harrier has been present on site since Thursday. Spending most of her time hunting over the meadow she was sighted again today buy a couple of visitors.  A group of 10 lesser redpoll were reported feeding in the silver birches over the weekend and the male pintail continued to show well from the Gadwall hide.  The Gadwall was also the place today for sightings of  pintail and an actively fishing…

Join us on Thursday evening from 7 pm when Tom Mason shares with us his stories of a recent trip to Serbia, illustrated with some truly amazing pictures of Long-eared owls!

All ages are welcome and there is tea, coffee and biscuits provided. Arrive 7 pm for a prompt 7.30 pm start. The talk is approximately an hour and a half long and there will be plenty of time for questions and a chat afterwards for those interested…

Hello

Yesterday i spent 2 hours in the Gadwall hide covering one of the regular wildlife watches.  It was a lovely morning, some nice wildlife and i got to chat to some visitors.  A very obliging grey wagtail kept me company on and off as it kept returning to the stream mouth and shallows in front of the hide hunting for insects.  The pintail though still not in full plumage is much more obvious now and was also showing…

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Haven't we been lucky with some glorious autumn weather, sadly it now seems like the tide is turning and the rain is becoming more of a feature.

While working on the Draper clearing the vegetation from the scrape, cutting views into the reedbed and clearing bank side vegetation we have been rewarded with some lovely blue sky days as well as some great wildlife to enjoy as we work. An unusual sighting was…