Everybody loves goldfinches, with their bright yellow and black wings, and scarlet faces. It looks like it's been a good year for them - come to The Lodge and watch these beautiful birds eating thistle seeds not far from the gatehouse and car park.
The south-facing slopes of the heath - or rather the insects they attract - seem to be a popular feeding ground for swallows at the moment. Now that breeding is more or less over, they're gathering in flocks in preparation for their big flights south.
On Tuesday, a male swallow (with long tail 'streamers') with an orangey belly flew over The Lodge. Though there are races of swallows that look like this in the Middle East and north Africa, our UK swallows can also look quite reddish or orange. So we don't know for sure where he came from. They are fascinating birds!
Stroll round the gardens and you might spot some unusual-looking creatures in the undergrowth. Rhododendron leafhoppers are out in force! They're tiny, bright pink and green insects that - as their name suggests - hop around the leaves. Of course, rhododendrons are not native to this country, and neither are the leafhoppers, which arrived in this country from the USA in the 1900s.
There are loads of plants in the gardens which are much better for our native wildlife and you can still see lots of painted ladies, peacocks, small tortoiseshells and white butterflies. Watch out for the dainty small coppers and maybe even a brown argus. Once you start looking, you'll also see hoverflies and bees of all shapes and sizes.
On your walk around the reserve, watch and listen out for noisy green woodpeckers, soaring buzzards and speedy hobbies.