Hitchin & Letchworth RSPB Local Group have a talk - 'In Search of Hummingbirds' by John Dingemans on Friday May 4th 2018 at 7.30pm. John will be telling us about his search for hummingbirds, and other birds, in Texas. At The Settlement, Letchworth SG6 4UB, visitors very welcome £3.

Also an all day coach trip to The New Forest is running on Sunday May 20th 2018. Spring birds such as tree pipit, redstart…

After the long, gloomy wet and cold spring, suddenly we have turned the corner and today it's shirt-sleeves, ice creams, butterflies, bluebells and cuckoos! The first orange-tip butterfly was on the wing, a cuckoo has been calling along the Sandy Ridge trail, and recently arrived blackcaps, willow warblers and chiffchaffs are all belting out their songs. A POSSIBLE, lesser- spotted woodpecker was heard drumming by a…

Birds for Beginners

Saturday 28 April                       10.30 am – 12.30 pm

Want to know your chiffchaff from your chaffinch? Join our popular walk to discover how to identify the birds that you see on your walks and in your gardens, and how to get the best out of your optics.

Cost; adults £6, RSPB members £4, children £3, RSPB Wildlife Explorers £2

 

John Bridges RSPB images

Spring has sprung!- the first cuckoo has been heard at The Lodge this afternoon, calling just off the reserve, heard from the quarry trail!

Male cuckoo, Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

I've been waiting to write a post as I was hoping to let you know of all of the migrants arriving, but it has still been very quiet after the initial start of chiffchaff's calling. Just a few blackcaps and willow warblers have been seen, along with a lone swallow flying through the drizzle yesterday on Sandy Heath.

Winter birds are still winning out just now, with at least 40 bramblings still around the feeders…

After my last post on Wednesday, a few chiffchaff's and a blackcap have now arrived on the reserve, so at least we have had a couple of spring migrants turning up here during March - just!

It was nice to see a touch of light sunshine this afternoon after the torrential rain of  yesterday, and this, along with the calling chiffchaff's gave a hope of better things to come.

Winter is still winning out though, with the brambling…

We are still waiting for the first spring migrant to be seen on the reserve! Normally the first chiffchaffs arrive by mid- March and we may have seen a sand martin, swallow or wheatear by now, but this year everything is very late.

I've recently returned from a birding trip to Morocco, and even there it was noted that the nightingales hadn't arrived and there was no obvious movement of raptors or passerines on their…

The working week ends with good numbers of bramblings under the feeders, occasional siskins and redpolls at the hide and a feel of the spring to come at times, with a red admiral on the wing today, lots of drumming great-spotted woodpeckers, noisy green woodpeckers and nuthatches and several treecreepers showing signs of pairing up.

A few yellowhammers and reed buntings are popping on to the reserve from the much larger…

Notice of temporary trail closure from Monday March 12 for four weeks.

The surface of the trail path that runs from the wooden entrance gate at the bottom of the hill (from Sandy and the station) through the reserve and up to the Lodge shop is being improved as part of a new Sustrans route, requiring the closure of this short section of path. The work is scheduled to start on March 12th and last for approximately one…

After a busy, but very cold weekend, we are waiting to see what we'll be getting weather wise this week with the 'beast from the east' in the news.. ..

It's been very bright today, but we had just a few small snow flakes in the air mid-afternoon- and now its snowing hard, a sign of things to come?

We are keeping a closer eye on the forecast than usual, as the bird ringing event on Sunday can't go ahead in…

One of the most popular events at The Lodge is coming up fast......

Give Nature a Home Event

Sunday 4 March 11 am – 3 pm

 

Checking the small mammal traps. Image credit Mark Brandon

 

An event full of fun and discovery with;

• Bird-ringing demonstrations.

• Owl pellet dissection. What owls hunt and eat in these engaging sessions

• Bedfordshire Natural History Society - local wildlife…

We've almost reached the end of another very busy half-term week and the weather has behaved perfectly. Even today when the forecast wasn't very good, it's been fairly sunny from first thing.

We had a sighting of a kingfisher on the natterjack toad pools below the hillfort this morning .....not a regular Lodge bird! A woodcock flew across the drive mid-morning and the bramblings are still around under the feeders…

The weather forecast is spot-on today- it's started raining at lunch time just as they forecast, which gives me some time to be in the dry to write this post!

Bird sightings have been generally consistent with last week: the highlights being a lovely flock of yellowhammers, reed buntings and bramblings around the car-park entrance to the Sandy Ridge field, with bramblings vey showy under the three sets of feeders around…

The bramblings were the stars of the show over the weekend, with perhaps up to 40 under the feeders and trees near the Visitor Centre. A red kite flew over the main house and the meadow while a raven was noisy calling in pines on the new heath. Reed buntings and yellowhammers are popping onto the reserve from our nearby Sandy Ridge fields crops, while treecreepers, nuthatches and great spotted and green woodpeckers are very…

Advance notice to help you plan the time of  your visit, that the above running event is taking place this Sunday morning across the reserve trails and drive, to raise funds for the RSPB.

We expect the event to be finished by 12:30 pm.

Thanks for your co-operation while the event takes place.

Hitchin and Letchworth RSPB Local Group have a talk on Friday February 2nd by Andy Clements, CEO of The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) titled 'Birds in the Landscape'. Come and hear about research being done at the BTO on changes in wildlife populations, in particular birds, and how this is used.

At The Settlement, Letchworth SG6 4UB. Visitors very welcome, £3.

 

The Local Group also have a coach trip…

After the very dull weekend, I thought it would be good to post some colourful pictures to cheer us all up, and with perfect timing I've just been sent these stunnning images by Geoff Harries of great-spotted woodpecker, redpoll and sparrowhawk, taken at the hide last week.

The winter robin from yesterday's snowy day was admired as it came very close to the Hatherly family, and Dad Vic captured it on his phone.…

It does look as though our popular hawfinches have sadly left us now - there have been no sightings for well over a week, although there are some large flocks in the county still.( Woburn Park and Shuttleworth - and Wimpole Hall in Cambs).

Still, we have a nice flock of bramblings to keep us happy!

Bedford RSPB local group 

Meet at ARA club, Manton Lane Bedford MK41 7PF.

Thursday 18th January 7.30 pm

Jennifer Smart presents: ‘Breeding Wader Research’ a talk focusing on the conservation of lowland breeding waders. 

Suitable for experts and novices, RSPB membership not essential. 

Entrance fee, group members £1 Guest £2 annual group membership £5

Reg. Charity No. 207076, more info 

…

No hawfinch sightings at the gatehouse for a week now, and very few berries on the yews so perhaps that's it. Still, there were around 20 bramblings feeding on the ground, and a couple of noisy ravens overhead. Siskins have been seen among the birch tops too.