Four red kites, over 30 buzzards passing over and four ravens on the new heath were the highlights at The Lodge yesterday as we reached the end of the month. Two tawny owls were calling mid- afternoon from the trees behind the public loos, and are likely to have young in this area. There are still a few bramblings and good numbers of siskins around; I watched two male brambling under the drive feeders this morning.

I noticed a muntjac deer taking food from the feeders at the hide last week, and while I popped into the hide yesterday it came back for more. Luckily,this time I met Lesley Allen, who was photographing birds and she took these shots of the deer and sent them to me.
Thanks Lesley!

Highlights from The Lodge today were a male crossbill came in for a very brief drink at the hide pools (approx 2pm).

Six bramblings and plenty of siskins around the feeders and I saw my first mealy redpoll of the winter here, with 3 or 4 lesser redpoll, also on the feeder by the drive.

Red kite, several buzzards, kestrel and a possible peregrine were in the air between the squally showers..

No reports of the lesser pecker…

Yesterday was one of the busiest in the eight years (almost!) that I've worked at The Lodge. Blue sunny skies, an Easter trail for families and a few good birds got the crowds flocking in.

Bird highlights were mainly on the raptor front, with large numbers of buzzards (up to seven together on one occasion and others around) possibly 3 red kites, 2 pairs of sparrowhawks, kestrel and peregrine and merlin both reported…

What a stunner...By Ray Piercy.

A male ring ouzel has just been seen on the Sandy Ridge field, amongst 100's of fieldfares and smaller flocks of redwing, starling and mixed finches. I dashed out with Lizzie and we saw it well, but on a second return to show others the bird, the whole flock had flown into trees surrounding the field and it wasn't visible.

Ring Ouzel on Sandy Ridge 2015 Ray Piercy.

Apologies for the lack of recent news, I have just returned from a weeks holiday.

Despite the spring like conditions, we are still awaiting the call of the first chiffchaff around the reserve. They are later than usual, as they normally arrive around my Birthday, which is mid-month. The lesser-spotted woodpeckers have been seen this week, a male on Monday, which was drumming, and a female today- both in the favoured areas…

The mystery of Tuesdays raptors takes another twist- we now have an image of an osprey that was definitely seen at the same time as the very pale buzzard! But....did we see both of these birds on the new heath?

The lesser-sptted woodpecker has ben reported twice this week, bith times away from the normal location. One sighting was actually in the gatehouse car-park, and today along the edge of the new heath, then flying…

After some debate and scrutiny, the 'osprey' report yesterday is in fact a very pale common buzzard- so excitement over!

The Tuesday walkers spotted a large bird of prey sitting on a bare tree trunk in the middle of the new heath this morning -  and it turned out to be an osprey! I have never ran across to the Visitor Centre so fast!

 I had no need to worry about everyone being out for lunch on Mother's Day - we were really busy  for the Give nature a Home Festival, and the car-park was often completely full. The birds were out in force…

 A visiting birder from Yorkshire has seen the female lesser- spotted woodpecker this afternoon along Sandy Ridge. Braving the hail storms paid off! It was in the hollow past the pylons.

We've had some great footage from the web-cam, with great-spotted woodpecker coming to the peanuts fairly regularly.

Yesterday I saw a treecreeper working up the apple tree behind the feeders.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/y3r4QjH2iIc?rel=0

 Walk with the warden
Sandy Heath ‘Nature before Minerals’ Walk
Saturday 27 February
10.30 am – 12.30 pm...
Join our warden Lizzie Bruce for a walk to see the work we are doing on Sandy Heath, land owned by Tarmac, that we manage for wildlife. Flocks of finches and buntings could be feeding on the seed crops that the RSPB have planted here.
Cost; adults £6, RSPB members £4, children £2, RSPB Wildlife…

It's been a good time for visiting birders, seeing the bramblings and siskins around the Gatehouse feeders and sometimes the redpolls as well. It's been a lot harder having success with the lesser-spotted wooodpecker (none of our reserve staff have seen it this year!), but local birder Graham Nunn had an early start and lucky chap, he did see it this morning at 7:30 am. I was actually with Graham last spring when we had…

A visiting birder has been trying for three days to see the lesser-spotted woodpecker, and he finally did see it today! So, it is still around, but I went out this afternoon and still didn't see it- although a treecreeper, a pair of ravens. fieldfares and siskins were compensation.

The weather forecast didn't look promising today, but, although it is cold, in fact it's been a dry and mainly sunny day.

The siskin numbers are really building up now, with a group of around seven birds on the ground seed under the entrance feeders, and larger numbers in trees around the gatehouse and along the path to the hide. Several bramblings are around the feeders, and at one time, brambling, siskin, greenfinch…

Just a quick post from The Lodge to say that we advise putting off a walk around the reserve today ( Feb 8), due to the very strong winds that are due to gust stronger over the next couple of hours. It's looking calmer tomorrow and hopefully for the rest of the week!

The toilets are also being decorated and upgraded this week ( great news), so there may be some disruption and we will have to use alternative loo's…

A quick update on the last email from earlier today - there's now over 100 bramblings around Sandy heath, Sandy Ridge and the Gatehouse generally. These birds are with flocks of yellowhammers, redpolls, siskin and reed buntings, along with the more common tits and finches.

A flock of around 30 fieldfare flew across the car park, closely followed by a sparrowhawk with a fieldfare hanging from in it's talons!

A couple of regular birders had a large flock of approx 60 bramblings on the Sandy Heath seed crop this morning, and I've seen several under the feeders around the shop and entrance. Siskin numbers also seem to be building up, with several around the car-park today. A female lesser-spotted woodpecker was sighted in the 'regular' spot near the pylons on Sandy Ridge on Thursday. I need to get out and have another look…

After the excitement of the Big Garden Birdwatch weekend, I realised I hadn't popped an image of the completed wind turbine on this page. The blades were put in place very early on Sunday morning, which turned out to be a damp and dull day to finish the job. The turbine is now tested and commissioned over a number of weeks before full connection to the grid.

These images by Peter show the crane about to hoist the blades…

The 1st Great Barford Brownies kicked off our Big Garden Birdwatch event at The Lodge today, and smiled through the drizzle and rain! Many of the Brownies had already completed their own Big Garden Birdwatch surveys at home, and came along for a guided walk to see the birds at The Lodge. Large flocks of tits and finches were visiting the feeders and the group added several bramblings and siskin to their list.
After the…

The towers to the wind turbine have been put in place today. As you can see from the magnificent sunrise, the team were here very early to make a start. It's now just the blades to install to finish the main structure.This could happen over the weekend, depending ironically on the strength of the wind, which has delayed the job a little over the last few days. Here are a few pictures by Peter Bradley of the main towers…