• February Recent Sightings - By Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    It has been cold at times, the river Yare burst its banks on more than a few occasions resulting in path closures and very muddy conditions along the riverbank (keep an eye on our Facebook page for the very latest). Despite that, though, it is starting to feel more springlike. The broad outside Reception is actually attracting more wildfowl than most of this winter so far, including a few coot which have been absent on…

  • Spring at Strumpshaw Fen

    Some years, a bitter February can feel like the depths of winter. This year though, despite a week or so of hard frosts and a spattering of snow, it feels like winter has hardly even been. Perhaps I am forgetting the long nights and the soundless trees already, but so be it! Because today, 16 February, it feels like Spring.

    Don’t get me wrong, there’s been plenty things to love about winter - the winter migrants, the…

  • January's Recent Sightings by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    Can you believe it is the second anniversary since I took over writing these Strumpshaw highlight reports?! It is now my third January to write up and what a crazy month it has been. There's plenty to talk about, so lets get into it.

    The weather has once again stolen the headlines. It has been a stormy, chilly and wet start to the new year. Three storms, Henk, Isha and Jocelyn, created a lot of damage to our woodland…

  • Strumpshaw Fen - 2023 Round Up

    Long Eared Owl 

    Another year gone, and what a year. The weather flip-flopped from a cold winter that extended into March after a warm February, a summer that was a bit of a washout after a hot June and an autumn that became the scorching summer we didn't get before becoming stormy with the reserve being hit by a series of bad floods from October until the year's end. A complete contrast to 2022's dry and drought-like…

  • December Recent Sightings - by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    I hope you've all had a great Christmas. I wish we could say the same for the reserve itself, here at Strumpshaw Fen. This winter has already been a wet and soggy one with flood after flood forcing us to close paths. This continued into December. But on Dec 22nd, we were hit by the highest tides in the reserve's 47 years. There were very few places at Strumpshaw that wasn't completely underwater. We had to close the entire…

  • November Recent Sightings - by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    November has been another wet month at Strumpshaw. During the first and last weekends of the month, we suffered two massive floods (the latter being one of the worst in recent memory) that left the majority of the reserve being underwater for days at a time. It was so bad on the 25th, in particular, that we had to close the entire reserve.

    Between the floods though, there was a point where the paths did dry out enough…

  • Notes From the Cottage: A Fond Farewell

    As eight months comes to a close as quickly as it began, I thought it might be nice to create a blog to document my time here. My name is Amber and I arrived here back in March, just before Easter. I’ve met many people during my shifts in reception, whilst helping out with events and out on the reserve but you may also recognise my name as the photo credit for a few of the posts on the reserve social media pages. …

  • Notes from the cottage – October: a momentous month, featuring special guests; paint and rain. Written by Joe Walker, residential volunteer.

    Welcome back to the ‘monthly’ blog from the residential volunteer’s cottage at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen. At the time of writing this, the 2nd of November, Strumpshaw is mostly underwater. Having run out of odd jobs to help with, I thought it the perfect time to summarise the eventful month that was October.

    This spooky month began with some good old-fashioned brush cutting of the reedbed, albeit with a dash…

  • October Sightings from our Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    Happy Halloween! October has been a crazy month hasn't it? One minute it was quite warm with the perfect kind of weather to count the many lizards basking in the sunshine along Sandy Wall. Then the weather became very typical of autumn. It has become much chillier, the trees are starting to change colour and then storm Babet rolled in with days of heavy rain flooding the country. However, we didn't need a storm to flood…

  • September Recent Sightings by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    September began as a scorcher. Temperatures rose to what we had in June, around 30°C, in what was an unusual autumn heatwave. Thankfully it cooled down by mid-September. But what about the wildlife? How did they cope? What has turned up? It is time to look back at September's highlights.

    Before we get into it, though, a quick heads up that with the return of the autumnal weather, there is a chance of path closures…

  • Notes from the cottage: Summer

    Hi again everyone, Joe here back from my holiday. Managed to fit a week’s worth of camping in the Cotswolds, my graduation, and a family holiday all into 20 days.

    Rather fittingly, after just graduating as an official marine biologist, my first day back as a residential volunteer was spent at the beach. Myself and the other two ‘resi vols’, along with our duty manager, the team at Winterton and a good handful of…

  • August Highlights from Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    The summer holidays are almost over. And while the weather hasn't always been favourable, it has been nice to see so many families enjoying our activities, especially using our pond dipping kits and hearing about what they've caught later on. This included plenty of great silver diving beetles, which are truly monstrous, the largest and most ferocious beetles on the reserve. This is just a taster of what this month had…

  • July Highlights from Guide in the hide Sean Locke

    While Europe was on fire and the rest of the world experienced high temperatures on record, here in Norfolk, It has been pleasantly cooler with plenty of rain and a few thunderstorms. A complete contrast to last month. However, there were some nicer days between the showers and we did manage to get plenty of exciting species turn up at Strumpshaw throughout July (even if it is getting noticeably quiet on the wildlife…

  • Notes from the cottage: a new season, new volunteers

    Hello everyone, my name is Joe and I’m one of the new residential volunteers at RSPB Strumpshaw fen. I have just completed my first month here (out of six) and I thought an overview of that time would be appropriate.

    So, to get into it, I have absolutely loved living and working here so far. In just 30 days I have seen so much nature, learnt countless skills and had many great experiences. My time here began just…

  • June Highlights by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    Despite a chilly, overcast start to the summer in the first week of June, the temperatures soon soared to around 30°C by the middle of the month. A scorcher! And it is not just the weather that has been overwhelmingly good. There's been plenty to see across the Mid Yare. It is that time again to look back at another action-packed month of highlights.

    We start, as usual, with the highlight of the month. However…

  • May Highlights by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    May 2023 was an eventful month indeed. Despite some rainy days and the odd thunderstorm, the days were getting warmer. The big news this month, of course, is that we celebrated the coronation of King Charles III. With an extra 3rd bank holiday this May, it became a very busy month at Strumpshaw. It has been a great month for me as the sightings board has been full almost every day. Which means there's a LOT to talk…

  • April Highlights by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    April showers may have occurred this month, but that didn't stop many of you visiting the reserve over Easter.  Many thanks to all those families who took part in our dinosaur egg hunt. Between the showers, there has also been enough sunshine to dry up the worst of the mud, meaning all paths except the meadow trail are fully open, including the Lackford Run.  It is still worth remembering to wear walking boots or wellies…

  • March Highlights by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    It was feeling rather spring-like by the end of February, but winter was not going to leave so soon. March 2023 saw a sudden switch in temperature and we had some snow, hail, sleet and also plenty of rain which has caused the riverside trails to be very muddy again. Wellies are still needed if you are hoping to venture as far as Tower Hide! Strong winds on the 13th also forced us to close the reserve for the day for safety…

  • February Highlights by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    February 2023 has been a month in which spring and winter was battling it out to be the most dominant. Some days it has been rather chilly with misty morning scenes and even a few gusty days, in which I witnessed bearded tits trying to hang on to reed heads as they attempted to feed while being blown around like a cowboy riding a rodeo horse.

    But despite the winter trying to linger on, it has been rather spring like…

  • January Highlights by guide in the hide Sean Locke

    The new year began fairly mild with days of rain, strong winds and the odd sunny spell here and there. By mid-January, however, the temperatures dropped to zero for the second time this winter and the first time this year. The reserve froze over once again and during most mornings, the vegetation and everything else was decorated in the spiky icy formations of hoar frost. For brief periods of time, Strumpshaw transformed…

  • Strumpshaw Fen and the Mid Yare Valley - Review of the year 2022

    Strumpshaw Fen Review of the Year 2022

    A lot has happened in 2022. Queen Elizabeth II dies, Russia invaded Ukraine and we had three prime ministers within a span of 12 months. It has been quite a year for Strumpshaw, too. Now that we have entered into 2023, I make my first ever end of year report as we look back on the challenges and results from our survey teams at Strumpshaw and along the Mid Yare Valley in 2022.

    Wild…

  • December Highlights by Guide in the hide Sean Locke

    Can you believe that 2022 is almost over? A year of monthly reports almost complete. Only December left to do. So, what has been seen this month? It is time to look back on the final month of 2022.

    Rainbow at Reception (Dec 5th)

    December has been a fairly quiet month and a very cold one. There's been days of heavy mist, rain and even rainbows. However, temperatures then dropped below zero. Strumpshaw was frozen solid…

  • November Sightings by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    November. A strange month at Strumpshaw, a month that was warm in the first half and cold in the other. There's been misty starts and plenty of rain throughout, resulting in a lot of mud. One minute there's nothing, not even a duck on the broad, but a moment later, something turns up out of nowhere to delight those who stick around long enough. And there has been plenty of these unexpected surprises seen by you, our lovely…

  • Recent Sightings - October Highlights by Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    Halloween marks the end of October. There are no tricks to be seen here though, only treats. Several of them. What kind of treats? It is that time again to look back at what wildlife highlights that were seen this month. But before we do, there's a couple of things to address.

    Firstly, seasonal path closures. The meadow trail is now closed until mid-may next year. The Fen Trail will be closed beyond Tower Hide until…

  • September Recent Sightings from Guide in the Hide Sean Locke

    We here at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen were saddened to hear the news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizibeth II.  On the day of her funeral, September 19th, we closed our reception building as a mark of respect.

    As we welcome our new king to the throne, it wasn't just the monarchy that was changing this month. Signs of the seasons moving from summer into autumn were everywhere. The extremely hot and dry weather of the previous…