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Things have really hotted up at Arne over the last couple of weeks and things have really burst in to life all over the reserve. We have found the first smooth snakes of the year and sand lizards are out and about in force. The males are in their bright green breeding colours at the moment and are busy...

As I have said before everything seems to be a little late getting going this year and one thing we haven't seen much of so far is ospreys. Well that was until this weekend! We have had a couple of reports in the last couple of weeks but nothing really concrete but on Sunday one came and sat on the...

Hello! I’m John the new information assistant at Arne. Don’t worry Michael and Laura are still here and I’m an extra pair of hands for the next 6 months. I’ve had a great first couple of weeks in which I’ve seen my first Dartford warbler (yes they do really exist!) and been...

There has been a lot of undercover work going on at the visitor hut this last week. And I don’t mean the staff – I mean moles! Every morning when we arrived to open up we would notice a little more disturbance to the soil around the hut.. We had our suspicions! These were confirmed when...

Well believe it or not yesterday was officially the first day of Spring! I remember that this time last year I was down at the visitor centre in my shorts and t-shirt and a drought had been announced. Well a year on and I think it has been one of the wettest ones I can remember, but I remain optimistic...

I have just returned from a walking holiday in southern Spain and I seem to have brought the decent weather back with me. I saw a few lizards out there but I wasn't expecting any reports back at Arne just yet but on Sunday the first common lizard of the year was spotted. It is a little bit early...

Winter is always an interesting time of year and the recent cold spell has brought about a lot of unusual bird movements across Dorset. As soon as the snow hit there was a a huge increase in the number of redwings and fieldfares around the reserve and on a walk on Monday I came across a flock of at least...

Blimey - The weather forecast was right and Dorset is under a blanket of snow. The car park is empty but being a conscientious bunch we have made sure that the visitor hut is still being manned! It was a long walk up the Arne road this morning but it was the safest way to travel and I managed to...

It is a new year and the keener bird watchers are staring their year lists where they try and see as many different species of birds in one year. Arne has had a fantastic start to the year bird wise and those who have come out to add ticks to their list have went home satisfied. The top spot in the harbour...

Well that's another year gone by at Arne and it certainly has been an unusual one mainly due to the incredible amount of rain we had! I remember in March I was standing in the car park in my shorts and a national drought had just been announced but jump forward in to April and it started to rain...

We have had a very wet few days on the reserve and I thought for a moment that the Isle of Purbeck was going to float off in to the English Channel! I have got my fingers crossed for better weather in the new year and Arne is great place to come and work off the over indulgence of Christmas. Our events...

A couple of weeks ago we had the now well established Arne 'Pull a Pine' event for Christmas. It is a briiliant community event which in the last 2 years has seen over 1000 visitors come along a take part, all of them going home with their very own Christmas tree! But why do we do it? It is great...

It has been an exciting few days on the reserve with lots to see and do. At the weekend we held another very successful ‘Pull a Pine’ event which for the second year in a row saw over 1000 visitors come along and help us clear unwanted pine seedlings from the heathland as part of our essential...

We are well in to November now and the majority of the wetland birds have arrived for the winter. There are large numbers of avocets in the harbour and at least 300 can be seen on the Middlebere channel when the tide is right. The spoonbills are regulars in front of the Shipstal hide and up to 20 can...

There are only a few days to go and the reserve is alive with activity as we get ready for the 3rd annual 'Arne Forage Festival'. ‘The Arne Forage festival’ is part of Purbeck food week and will be celebrating the outdoors, local produce, food and traditional crafts from around...

There are still more waders and geese arriving in the harbour and on Saturday morning the tide was just right and visitors were treated to great views of at least 200 avocets feeding in the shallow waters of the Middlebere Channel. The rising tide had pushed the birds up the channel and when it got too...

Now Autumn is upon us it is the the time that two of the reserves biggest spectacles are in full swing. The huge influx of waders and other water birds to the harbour is well under way and the Sika deer rut is certainly hotting up! The Sika deer rut is always one of the most impressive deer ruts that...

The above picture is an image of one of the best preserved heavy anti-aircraft gun emplacements in Britain. It just so happens it is at Arne. It may come as a surprise to many to hear that Arne was both heavily bombed and defended during WWII. Many of our now thriving wildlife ponds were created by bombs...

Was it a bird? Was it a plane? Or even an exceptionally large dragonfly? Well none of these and before we call the X-files in I will explain. Last week we had yet another film crew on the reserve and they brought along a very space age looking bit of kit. It was a rather nifty 8 blade remote control...

Just a quick hello to you all, I’m the new Information Assistant at Arne replacing the lovely Sarah who is very lucky to be jetting off to Mauritius for the winter. I’ve spent my summer working on the osprey team at Loch Garten in the RSPB’s gorgeous Abernethy Forest but like the ospreys...

There are still spaces available for our fungi walk this Sunday Fungi foray at RSPB Arne nature reserve JOIN FUNGI EXPERT, MICHAEL JORDAN, presenter of the popular television show ‘Mushroom Magic’. Find out more about the amazing array of fungi on show. Some are edible and some are...

Autumn is officially here but we may all be excused for thinking that we have a bit of summer at last. I have been in shorts all week which is a bit scary at the best of times! This weekend we had our September raptor event when we have lots of volunteers posted over parts of the reserve looking for...

Well it has been a pretty good week for osprey with birds being seen on most days. As Poole harbour is a pretty big area they are not always easy to see but it is always good if one decides to take up residence on a prominent perch! This is exactly what happened today with a bird sitting on the purpose...

No, it's not because the weather is finally behaving itself, I love this time of year because its so interesting to be out on the heath. Tommorrow (wednesday 22nd) at our reserve at Radipole Lake, I am holding a reptile show and tell Free event, I love doing them, not just because of the event...

A lot of people have been asking me if nightjars are still about and active and although they will stay in this country for a few more weeks before making the long migration back to Africa I wasn't sure if there would still be good sightings to be had on the heath. I had been meaning to check it...