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Well not literally but its amazing what families are turning up at our pond dipping platform this sunny summer. The ponds are simply heaving with wildlife and as well as the aptly named water boatman comically scooting around, the slow but beautifully formed pond snails who are great at cleaning up the algae and diving beetles with their amazing breathing bubble that they clutch to them, absorbing the air through their…

Morgan Vaughan and his fantastic team of staff and volunteers have been saving a species right here on our doorstep on Chesil Beach. This year 33 pairs of little tern have nested on Chesil Beach and produced 77 eggs. Hard to believe that just a few years ago the colony here was close to collapse with just a handful of birds hanging on. Its been a fantastic effort guarding the nest site night and day from disturbance by…

The marsh harriers have given us a scare recently after the male seemed to disappear for a couple of days, this was worrying as he should be bringing food in to the chicks or food passing to the female. Shirking his parental responsibilities surely not! Thankfully just as we were tweeting about it he returned and since then the first of the young marsh harriers have fledged from Lodmoor with 3 now testing out their wings…

It’s that time of year again when we’re very excited to announce that Marsh Harriers have once again bred at our Weymouth reserves, but this they’ve gone one better... We’ve actually got two pairs!

Since 2009 we’ve had a male bird which has successfully nested with several different females over the years and in some, managing to bag himself two in same season. At the time that was something we…

No it’s not the name of Radipole’s new staff band but a rare form of bee orchid which has again been found at Radipole Lake. The so called atrofuscus bee orchid, a dark version without the yellow markings was first spotted in 2010 and has been seen evey year since.

Atrofuscus bee orchid. Photo credit; Naomi Bailey, RSPB.

The summer sun is definitely bringing out the colourful butterflies with the lime…

All had gone quiet on the bittern front at Lodmoor after the initial flurry of booming in March and April. For the last 6 weeks or so the booming had ceased and we had begun to feel a bit unsure of what was going on... only for the booming to come back this week! The fact that no bitterns had been seen since early April leads us to think that this is a new bird and that the other bird did not find that special person…

After an anxious wait 30 common terns have returned to Lodmoor recently on the tern islands but are having difficulty settling. These graceful white birds with black caps arrived in the UK from South and West Africa, a reminder that summer is on its way. Its fantastic watching them diving into the water to catch small fish and insects from the waters surface. Interestingly there is a lone arctic tern with them again…

We always get excited when a new species turns up on our reserves so last week when a photo of a possible Red-eyed Damselfly was emailed through it certainly got my attention. The photo was of an immature male, something I’d not seen before but after a few emails we got confirmation that it was indeed the said species! It was found and photographed by Allan Neilson who runs out Butterfly transects at Radipole but luckily…

have been spicing up life at Radipole Lake and Lodmoor this week. It all started with a lonesome garganey which has been hanging out at Radipole Lake during the week. The garganey is the only duck that comes here to spend the summer and is a rare breeding bird in Britain. They are a small duck and the males are distinctive with a large white stripe on their head, they are greyish brown with darker mottling.

Male garganey…

They are arriving in their droves to Radipole’s reed bed and certainly seem to love playing hide and seek in the reeds! Warblers; can they be a bit confusing or what? There are so many different types, they are small with muted colours, not hugely distinctive plumage and they like to hide away in the undergrowth, moving constantly through it. If you like a challenge then warbler watching is for you! Their one saving grace…

They really are! All this warm sunny weather always helps to speed up the arrival of migrant birds and at the moment, they can’t get here quickly enough! Sand martins, house martins and swallows are streaming across the skies and the reed beds are filling up with reed and sedge warblers from Africa, to join the already resident Cetti’s warblers and bearded tits. Cetti’s warblers in particular are a bit easier to see at…

 but actually we have had a steady stream of swallows skimming across the skies of Radipole heading for unknown destinations across the UK. It never ceases to amaze me of the incredible journey these small birds take from the heat of South Africa to the temperate climes of Britain to breed. Swallow. Photo credit: Chris Gomerall (rspb-images.com).

This spring we are also playing host to 15 or so shovelers who are extending…

The hugely exciting news from our Lodmoor nature reserve is that we have a booming bittern. The crazy deep sound like someone blowing over the top of a bottle has been heard for over a week, coming from the reeds. Bitterns are shy herons and males ‘boom’ like this to attract females. We have had bitterns booming in the past but never for this length of time so we are hoping that they will breed.

We have worked…

Spring is here you can feel it and see it all around you, comma butterflies on the wing and a stoat seen slinking through the reeds. Radipole Lake has been busy the last few weeks with birds arriving, nesting, passing through on migration and even taking a little holiday for a while elsewhere.

Latest arrivals are the buff and pale yellow coloured chiffchaffs who sing their name over and over again, (just in case we forget…

Its turning into an exciting week at Radipole Lake nature reserve. After the team carried out a clear up of the earth bank by the north hide removing vegetation, extending and compacting it, they were rewarded for their hard work by the arrival of a pair of kingfishers just the next day! They have set to excavating it with their beaks to make a nest, which is fantastic. This is really welcome news as since they first…

You can now get much closer to wildlife at the Weymouth Discovery Centre due to the arrival of a new high powered electronic microscope linked to a large digital screen. Its hugely popular with visitors looking at items from the nature table, under it and will be great for close up views of pond dipping finds later this spring. So come over and have a go, simple things like feathers are transformed when you see them magnified…

Winter visitors, bittern and marsh harrier are still with us and we are hoping that they are enjoying their stay at Radipole so much that they might even stop for the spring/summer and breed. Wouldn’t that be great! At the moment two bitterns have been lurking in the reeds up by the north hide. So if you head up there and with a little luck and patience you may see one. Will this be the year they breed? Other winter visitors…

This coming Sunday (16^th February) we are holding an event called Swan Lake! As the name implies, it’s a day all about our swans on Radipole Lake (and not the ballet!). It will be a fun day with story telling, swan folk law and music making but you’ll have to come along to see what music making has to do with swans! We’ll also be doing a swan census and giving a few of the birds a health check and possibly ringing any…

This week has seen very changeable weather and with it varying numbers of people wandering around the reserve. Sightings have been fairly predictable with a couple of little surprises thrown in. Bittern is still being seen most days though generally very briefly in flight. Buddleia Loop still seems to be the best place to hang around in the hope of a sighting although on a day like today you’d be better off looking from…

After a very slow start to 2014, at least one Bittern is now being seen at Radipole Lake. However, Lodmoor doesn’t appear to have a resident Bittern this winter so far. This is almost certainly down to the rather mild temperatures we’ve been experiencing so far this year. Bitterns migrate to the UK to escape the cold weather on the continent but perhaps they haven’t made the journey yet as the real cold weather hasn’t…

Just a quick blog to update you on a few recent sightings and to put everyone’s minds at rest with regards to water levels and flooding. I’ll start with flooding which thankfully has been minimal. The reserve is effectively a flood plain so it’s not surprising that the meadows have been underwater for sometime. The ducks and herons are really enjoying their somewhat larger lake at the moment. North Hide has been closed…

It’s that time of year again when we all make sure our feeders are topped up and we pray that all the birds in the garden at the moment reappear for the biggest wildlife survey in the world in just over a week... It’s Big Garden Birdwatch!

Saturday 25^th and Sunday 26^th January our annual Big Garden Birdwatch will take place and this year we hope it will be the biggest and best ever. It’s in its 35…

Huge thanks to Toby Branston, our Dorset Ecology Manager, who's sent this update of the 2013 breeding season at our Weymouth reserves.

The RSPB do not only create the perfect places for wildlife to thrive, we also check up on them with habitat surveys to see if our management is working or if any tweaks are needed. Birds are no different, summer may now be long past us and the days short and dark but to add to the…

Starlings are well known to put on an amazing show. Their evening displays called murmurations always attract a crowd and often it’s not just people. Lodmoor currently has a very spectacular nightly show and last night it really was something special! The reason they swirl around before dusk is down to two reasons. Firstly it’s a way of gathering a crowd before going down into the reeds all together to settle for the…

This excellent summery of the 2013 butterfly season has been sent to me by our volunteer Allan Neilson. He also very kindly sent through photographs but technology has failed me and I can't currently post them. I'll try to add the photos soon! In the meantime, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading Allans summery of a very interesting year!

As the days get shorter and the nights longer and colder it’s good…