Fen Drayton Lakes

Damsels and dragons

2013-06-13T11:26:00Z

Step outdoors at the moment and you may find yourself in a real-life fairytale...

Image: banded demoiselle by Steve Dobromylski - look out for these along the riverside path north of Drayton Lagoon

Yesterday's guided walk was filled with darting, skimming, shimmering damselflies and dragonflies.

It’s a great time of year to enjoy seeing these magical insects. Just wait for a still, sunny day and go for a stroll near water.

Dragonflies and damselflies are the order of insects called Odonata, which means ‘toothed jaws’ - these carnivorous insects really are the dragon of the skies for the small flies and mosquitoes they devour.

Like the dragons of our myths and legends, they’re beautiful too. Electric blue, emerald green, coral red... At Fen Drayton Lakes there’s even gold at the end of the rainbow, as sometimes we’re lucky enough to spot the scarce chaser - a rare dragonfly whose females and immature males are a glorious yellowy orange. Look out for these along the path between the Busway and the Moore Lake hide, as we saw several on the walk yesterday.

Folklore is full of these otherworldly insects. They used to be called the Devil’s Darning Needles, and one story has it that if you fall asleep by water they’ll come and use their long thin bodies to sew your eyelids shut. In the Middle Ages they were even sometimes mistaken for fairies, and it’s easy to see why, with their dancing flight.

Behind the myths, the true story of these creatures is just as fascinating. They’re so ethereal and delicate-looking, it’s startling to learn they’re older than the dinosaurs. Yet fossils definitely show that 300 million years ago their ancestors were thriving – some had a wingspan of 70 cm, the full length of my arm.

Returning to the present, if we want to be able to pass down some of these stories to our own grandchildren and great-grandchildren, we need to look after these creatures now.

Damselflies and dragonflies live around water, as that’s where they lay their eggs. The disappearance of so many ponds and ditches in the countryside is taking away their homes.

A few weeks ago we published State of Nature report in partnership with 24 other conservation organisations. It's a groundbreaking health check of nature in the UK and Overseas Territories, and one of the things it highlighted was that freshwater and wetland habitats – our ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, ditches, canals, reservoirs, reedbeds, fens and marshes – occupy just 3% of the UK’s land surface, but support around 10% of our species. They're incredibly rich in wildlife and we need to do more to look after them: 57% of freshwater and wetland species for which we have sufficient data have declined, and 29% have declined strongly.

So if a pond is one of those garden projects you’ve thought about but never quite got round to tackling, go for it! You can find great advice here.

What better way to bring the magic of nature closer to home?

Black and white and cute all over

2013-05-31T11:47:00Z

Here's a photo to melt even the hardest heart!

Image: avocet chicks by Steve Dobromylski

These little chaps are avocet chicks, recently hatched on the islands on Moore Lake. You can watch them and their parents from the hide as they paddle about, feeding in the mud with their unusual upturned bills. (If you would like to use binoculars for a closer view, you're welcome to borrow a pair from our trailer in the car park at weekends, 10.30 am-4 pm.)

Image: adult avocet by David Tipling (rspb-images.com)

We've never had avocets nest successfully here before - they tried once before but the chicks didn't survive - so we're holding our breath to see if they make it this year. With five pairs nesting at the moment, and at least ten chicks hatched already, things are looking good.

It's a great reward for our team of wardens and volunteers, who work hard all year round to make Fen Drayton Lakes a welcoming home for creatures such as these that struggle to survive elsewhere.

Avocets were lost in the UK back in the nineteenth century because the places they needed to live were drained and they were hunted a lot for food and for their lovely feathers. Then just after the Second World War a few pairs appeared in the east of England to try their luck again.

The spots they chose were RSPB Minsmere nature reserve and Havergate Island, which we now also look after. Pioneering conservationists, many of them RSPB staff and volunteers, met the birds with a warm welcome and all the protection they needed to start recolonising the UK.

This success story is the reason the avocet has been the proud emblem of the RSPB for over half a century, front and centre on our logo. It's a great symbol of our determination to fight the big conservation battles needed to save nature in the UK.

Just at the end of May, a bold partnership of UK conservation organisations (including ourselves) published the State of Nature report, a health check of nature in the UK and Overseas Territories. The report reveals that 60 per cent of the species studied have declined over recent decades. More than one in ten of all the species assessed are under threat of disappearing from our shores altogether.

However, as David Attenborough wrote in the introduction, "Although this report highlights what we have lost, and what we are still losing, it also gives examples of how we – as individuals, organisations, governments – can work together to stop this loss, and bring back nature where it has been lost. These examples should give us hope and inspiration."

It may seem a lot of weight to put on tiny legs, but our avocet chicks this year are just such a story of hope.

Arrivals

2013-05-16T16:13:00Z

The arrival of warm weather brings many birds to Fen Drayton Lakes to spend the summer here. A particular favourite of mine, the swifts, are now here!

You can enjoy watching them at the moment swooping and twisting over the lakes eating insects. You might also see excited screaming parties of them careering madly at high speed around rooftops and houses, often low, especially towards dusk. Their acrobatics are spectacular, a real thrill to watch.

Swifts & Drain by Carry Akroyd

Not only that, you can enjoy the beauty of swifts at the local Over Gallery. Yesterday evening was the opening of the gallery’s new exhibition, Arrivals, which celebrates the return of swifts after their long journey from Africa.

If the local swifts cooperate you’ll be able to admire their dashing flight overhead in the village as well as enjoying this exhibition of prints and paintings by four of Britain’s leading wildlife artists, featuring swifts and other birds and wildlife of the fens.

Four or five pairs of swifts have been nesting at the Over Gallery for the last couple of years. Helen, the gallery's owner, is keen to share her experiences with anyone else who would like to encourage them to nest. Information will be available about how to attract them and a selection of different types of swift boxes on display throughout the exhibition as well as a nest camera.

Swifts are in trouble: their numbers have declined dramatically in the past 10 years and we're not sure why. One of the possible reasons is that their nest sites are being destroyed, so it’s brilliant that Helen and the gallery have chosen to celebrate the beauty of this iconic bird and help the rest of us give swifts a home too.

Swift peeping out by Jonathan Pomroy

Inspired? Head along to gallery to find out more, or have a look here for a specially designed nestbox to welcome swifts to your own patch.

The Arrivals exhibition will run until 29th June.

Over Gallery is open Thursdays 2.30-8.30 pm and Saturdays 11 am-5 pm.
You are most welcome to make an appointment to view at other times.

At long last...

2013-04-14T16:33:00Z

...spring is truly here!

Along with the sunshine and warmth, here are some of the wildlife highlights you might encounter at the moment.

Skylarks are singing their hearts out as you approach the reserve, above the fields just to either side of the entrance road. Roll down the window and enjoy this prelude to your walk. If, like me, you grew up somewhere without these lovely little birds then follow the link and have a listen to their song, which they deliver high overhead during their springtime display flight. You might be able to spot the tiny fluttering speck up above, but sometimes it seems as if the music is coming straight from the sky.

As you drive in you could also look out for striking yellowhammers and reed buntings, often perched high up in the bushes along the entrance road.

Our first butterflies have been out and about since last weekend. So far we've spotted small tortoiseshells, peacocks and brimstones. These species are always amongst the first to appear because they spend the winter hibernating as adult butterflies, so as soon as the first warmth of spring arrives they're ready to emerge. Others which have overwintered as eggs, caterpillars or chrysalises need more time to develop before they appear.

A grass snake nearly got trodden on today, enjoying the sun along the drain between Oxholme and Elney Lake, and kingfishers have frequently been spotted zipping up and down this drain and that between Elney and Moore Lake recently. I was pleased to hear that a common toad had been spotted this afternoon as well, one of my childhood favourites.

Image: Common toad by Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)

Brightly coloured snails were out too last night, decorating the Busway after the rain and making for a fraught bike ride home.

Overall it was an exciting weekend for raptors, with superb views of marsh harriers low over Holywell Lake and a red kite passing over, not to mention buzzards, sparrowhawks and kestrels. An osprey crossed the Busway not far away near Oakington on Saturday morning too, a reminder that all kinds of things can turn up during this time of migration.

The hirondines - swallows, sand martins and house martins - have returned from their wintering grounds in various regions of Africa, just as we start to see more insects around on the reserve again for them to eat. It's beautiful to see them swooping and turning, often low over the lakes, as they hunt acrobatically.

Meanwhile the last of our winter wildlife is still around, with redwings and goldeneyes in particular lingering. Both will no doubt be heading back north to their summer homes (up towards Scandinavia and Russia) soon.

Add in some flowering blackthorn, the odd hare and Cetti's warblers exploding with song all over the place and you have a very different picture to a couple of weeks ago!

Image: Brown hare by Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)

Come and enjoy it for yourselves, and if you're passing through the car park at the weekend do drop by our welcome and information point at the trailer for a cup of tea and a chat.

For a fuller list of species seen this weekend have a look at the wildlife sightings thread (which everyone is very welcome to contribute to) here.

Is it spring yet? Snow.

2013-03-26T12:00:00Z

Last week's flooding has thankfully receded, leaving the car park and most paths clear if a little muddy. For some sections you do still need wellies to get by, notably the stretch between the Busway and Coucher Hide, the south-west corner of Drayton Lagoon and the south-east corner of Ferry Lagoon.

That said, there is plenty to enjoy on the reserve right now so don't let a bit of splashing and squelching put you off if you're still able to get around.

Last weekend great crested grebes and goldeneyes were displaying determinedly even as the snow came down thick around them.

Bright flocks of goldfinches are still decorating the teasels in front of the car park. Watching them on Sunday I was reminded of this fantastic photo taken by Barry Starling back in January - there was very little difference to the view as I stood there two months later!

Image: goldfinches by Barry Starling

Kingfishers near the drains have been delighting a lot of visitors lately. It's well worth keeping an ear out for their high-pitched call (follow the link for a recording) when strolling along the Busway as you can often hear them a moment before they flash in and out of sight.

The lakes themselves have been full of life since the flooding. There have been lots of pintails, black-tailed godwits, lapwings and golden plovers around - try looking out across Ferry Lagoon from the shelter on the north shore - and a pair of smew on Drayton Lagoon on Sunday. Two oystercatchers have been hanging out on the tern rafts on Moore Lake, one of my favourite birds with their long carroty beak, striking black and white plumage and pink legs.

Image: oystercatchers by Steve Dobromylski

While checking the riverside path I startled a muntjac deer and got an unusually good view of this woodland skulker before it disappeared back into the undergrowth. They're the UK's smallest deer, introduced to some parks here early last century. Escapees established wild populations and you might even come across them in your garden occasionally depending where you live. If you hear a loud barking call out and about on the reserve that could well be one.

Image: barn owl by Steve Dobromylski

And finally remember to keep an eye out for the barn owl to the fields alongside the first bit of the entrance track, between the public road and the bailey bridge. Seeing it quartering the field is often the final highlight of a visit to the reserve.

Wednesday Wander highlights

2013-03-13T17:16:13Z

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” Dickens

We enjoyed a very pleasant Wednesday Wildlife Wander on the reserve this morning. Last month's walk was pretty arctic, and looking at the forecast I feared we might be in for the same biting wind and cold today; but true to Dicken's words there was at least some warmth in the sheltered sunshine around Elney Lake to offset the sleet shower on our way back. (Though as I type this it has just started to snow...)

We got off to a fantastic start seeing a bittern pop up and fly briefly over the Holywell Lake reedbed. By we I mean everyone except me who was looking in the other direction and talking. Typical! But a great start anyway. We were excited to hear this bird 'booming' earlier in the week - this post explains why it's so special.

The next highlight was watching two great crested grebes on Oxholme Lake performing part of their springtime courtship dance. Facing each other beak to beak, long curved necks in beautiful symmetry, they shook their strikingly plumed heads at each other for a minute or two before drifting apart, glancing our way as if slightly disconcerted by all the attention at such a moment. Meanwhile two buzzards wheeled overhead.

A trip round Elney kept us out of the wind, although rather in the mud at points as this loop still needs to dry out following all the wet weather and flooding we've had lately. Through the viewing screens we enjoyed distant little egrets, some striking male goldeneyes and a lonely pochard among others. The goldeneyes have been displaying lately too - look out for for them leaning their heads back and kicking up the water.

Image: goldeneye displaying by Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)

A bullfinch and various other small birds added colour to the hedgerows. I find this is a good time of year for improving my bird song recognition, with enough to hear but not yet so many that I get confused! Several times we heard the startled yaffle of a green woodpecker (follow the link for a sound clip).

Due to the wind direction the hide was less sheltered than usual but we were pleased to spot a nearby lapwing standing on one of the islands, a well-camoflagued snipe poking around in the mud and several wigeons over on the far shore.

On our way back we paused to check out the soon-to-be dragonfly pond and one lucky person spotted a kingfisher dashing along the ditch. The aforementioned sleet then made it a fairly direct return for hot drinks back at the car park.

Thanks to all who came for a particularly pleasant walk, and do join us for the next one on Wednesday 10 April, 10.15 am-1 pm. Spring should be in full swing by then with butterflies, birdsong and - dare I say it? - blue skies to look forward to.

BOOM!

2013-03-11T13:42:00Z

Early this morning, an eery noise emanated from the depths of a reedbed on Holywell Lake...the sound of a booming bittern!

Booming is the noise this enigmatic species of heron makes to try and attract a female in spring. It's a bit like a foghorn, or what you get when you blow across the top of a big empty plastic bottle. It's impressively loud, too, audible up to several miles away.

Hearing one this morning was music to our ears because bitterns are one of the UK's rarest breeding birds; their very small population and dependence on reedbeds puts them on the UK Red List (species of top conservation concern).

The Fens was a bittern stronghold in the past, before extensive drainage took place, so there's something particularly special about hearing that strange cry floating across the water here again...

Image: a well-camoflagued bittern at Fen Drayton Lakes, photographed earlier in the year by Peter Moule

What happened? Back in the Middle Ages bitterns were common enough to be a popular dish. Records from banquets show them being served up in their hundreds up until widespread draining of the UK's wetlands combined with hunting to devaste the population. The bird tentatively recolonised in the early 1900s, only to suffer a more recent slump to just 11 booming males at seven sites in 1997. This had conservationists, many RSPB staff and volunteers, working harder than ever to save them as a breeding species.

Thanks to significant discoveries about these birds and their habitat requirements, and bold action in response, we've held onto this tiny population and brought it back from the brink.

Key reedbeds across the UK were swiftly enhanced with bitterns' needs in mind, and several ambitious reedbed creation projects were launched to secure their long-term future. RSPB Lakenheath Fen (formerly carrot fields) and the Hanson-RSPB Wetland Project (restoring a working sand and gravel quarry bit by bit) are two very local examples of headline projects.

In 2009, only about a decade after that low point, there were 11 booming bitterns in Cambridgeshire alone. Fantastic!

Here at Fen Drayton we're doing our bit too, with bitterns booming each spring for most if not all of the last five years. Fingers crossed for some successful nesting on the reserve now...

Hares and tortoises

2013-03-05T13:13:23Z

We had a great Sunday here on the reserve - lots of people out enjoying the lakes and the start of spring in very different ways!

Our hares were the runners of the inaugural Swavesey half marathon and 5 miler. The routes included many of the surfaced tracks around the reserve and the Busway cycle path so it was a very scenic race. If I hadn't been working I'd have joined in myself... The fastest time for the half marathon was 1 hour, 18 minutes and 14.5 seconds; for the 5-miler, 30 minutes and 34.5 seconds. Impressive stuff.

Those of us tortoises who took the day at a slower pace spotted 67 bird species in all and an enjoyable variety of other wildlife.

Image: a peacock butterfly from the weekend, by Steve Dobromlyski

Several mistle thrushes and fieldfares perched up in one of the trees near the car park, much admired through the reserve telescope. There were song thrushes around too, offering a good opportunity to compare the species. (The BTO have put together a helpful video here if you’d like help telling the difference between mistle thrushes and song thrushes.)

A green woodpecker also came to feed on the ground next to Holywell Lake, delighting some of our younger visitors, while a goldcrest darted around in one of the bushes. A Cetti’s warbler made its presence known close by with characteristic bursts of loud song - you can listen to a recording if you follow the link – and later a trio of oystercatchers flew overhead. A marsh harrier swooped down along the far edge of Holywell Lake as well. It really is one of the best car parks I have known for wildlife spotting!

Elsewhere on the reserve, several people (including me for once) were lucky enough to spot the flash of a kingfisher along the drains and river.

Snipe were easily seen from the hide at Moore Lake in the morning, with not one but two yellow-legged gulls also around on the islands in the lake.

On Drayton Lagoon a male goldeneye displayed to several females, throwing its head back and kicking the water. Great to see this sign of spring on the way. At one point there were five redheads, female smews, here too.

The Slavonian grebe continued to linger on Ferry Lagoon, playing hide and seek. In the morning it was best seen from the shelter to the north, next to the river, but by the afternoon it seemed to have tucked itself away out of sight.

Image: black-tailed godwits by Steve Dobromylski

Other enjoyable sightings from volunteers and visitors alike included a treecreeper, goosanders, black-tailed godwits, teals, shelducks, lesser redpolls, long-tailed tits, redwings, a little grebe, sparrowhawk, skylarks, stonechat and reed bunting.

A fox, muntjac, rabbits and a grey squirrel were also out and about, adding some mammals to the mix.

As the weather grows warmer over the next few weeks, do come out and enjoy this wealth of nature for yourself. I've forgotten what exactly the moral of Aesop's original fable was - clearly badly brought up - but the point here is that you are welcome to enjoy Fen Drayton Lakes in many different ways, at whatver pace suits you!

National Nestbox Week

2013-02-20T17:32:00Z

February has seemed alternately a prelude to spring and a variation on winter! Some days it's been as cold, windy and flooded as at Christmas; on others you can sense by the teaming bird song and new lightness in the air that warmer days are on the way.

Looking on the bright side, the muddy paths left by our most recent inundation offer a great opportunity for spotting wildlife tracks. Try untangling the footprints of deer, rabbits, dogs, horses and a wide variety of birds. Snowdrops are also appearing along the riverside paths and blackthorn is beginning to flower - signs of the natural world waking up.

On the way to work in the mornings I've started seeing birds flying with beakfuls of nesting material, clearly starting to plan their homes for the spring. School half-term last week coincided with National Nestbox Week so we ran several family events in local garden centres, building and decorating homes for garden birds like blue tits and house sparrows.

With luck these will shelter many broods of fluffy chicks in the coming months. It’s an important helping hand for our local wildlife; fewer old trees and other natural nooks and crannies means a shortage of good nest sites for some birds.

Inspired by these beautiful examples, painted by our Wildlife Explorers club? It's not too late to put up your own!

If you like a bit of DIY, you can find instructions on making a box here. Alternatively safeguard your fingers and have a look at the great range available from the RSPB Shop.

Once you're ready, you can find the simple advice you need on where best to place your box here.

Finally, sit back with a nice cup of tea, admire your work from the window and keep your fingers crossed for a fine brood of chicks this spring. (And on behalf of your garden birds, thank you.)

Weekend wildlife

2013-01-28T13:32:00Z

Well, it’s been a mixed weekend on the reserve – a mild Saturday followed by heavy rain overnight, sunshine, a biting wind and rising floodwater. The unexpected emergence of a peacock butterfly seemed to echo my confusion as to how many layers I should have on.

The lakes were alive with coots, wigeons, shovelers, pochards, gadwalls, tufted ducks, a teal, a few goldeneyes and goosanders, several pintails and three smews (one drake and two redheads on Far Fen Lake). The grebe family was well-represented, with little grebes, great crested grebes, and a Slavonian grebe all hanging out on Ferry Lagoon.

A yellow-legged gull was spotted on Saturday. Goldcrests, goldfinches, linnets, bullfinches, a dunnock, lesser redpolls, a reed bunting, meadow pipit, redwings and fieldfares, and a skylark were all added to the wildlife sightings list over the course of Sunday.

Lapwing by canoncolin

Sharper eyes than mine spotted a water rail and a brambling too, while from the hide several snipe were visible on the islands in Moore Lake. Flocks of lapwings were in the air, always a lovely sight, and we continue to have plenty of black-tailed godwits around.

Closer to the ground, the rabbits were out and about, no doubt thankful the snow’s gone.

Thanks to everyone who's been sharing their wildlife sightings and photographs on community forum - much appreciated.

Redheads and white nuns

2013-01-22T13:41:00Z

Another beautiful weekend on the reserve! If you've been stuck indoors have a look at the lovely snowy photos on the website - thanks to everyone who's posted.

Image: Steve Dobromylski

Thanks too for contributing your wildlife sightings to the the community forum and Birdtrack. It's very helpful to us for keeping track of what's about and sharing the information with other visitors.

A highlight from Saturday was a drake (male) smew spotted over Holywell Lake around lunchtime. This striking bird is one of my favourite winter visitors:

Image: Male (foreground) and female smew by Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)

Usually only 100-200 smews migrate to Britain from Scandinavia and Russia. They end up scattered around the country but with the highest concentration towards the south-east. It's a bird we look out for at Fen Drayton Lakes from November to February - we've enjoyed hosting significant numbers of them in recent years (19 in January 2010, for example).

The interesting thing about their overall migration pattern is that females and juveniles will travel further south and west than the males, so in Britain there are generally only half as many males as females/juveniles.

As Mark Cocker and Richard Mabey point out in their excellent Birds Britannica, this pattern gave the early ornithologists some identification problems.

They would rarely have seen the male and female together and so frequently misinterpreted the birds as two distinct species, leading to a proliferation of names. Sir Thomas Browne, for example, called the female smew the 'weasel coot' because of the reddish-brown head. John Ray later named the male smew the 'white nun' for the drake's white hood. Today the confusion has been cleared up of course but female smews are still sometimes called 'redheads'.

All great names for great birds.

Stars, sun, snow

2013-01-17T12:07:17Z

January can seem a bit of a bleak month, but last weekend was proof that once you wrap up warm and get outdoors there's lots to enjoy!

On Saturday evening we were lucky with the weather and able to go ahead with our two stargazing sessions, each fully booked and highly anticipated following the airing of BBC Stargazing Live last week (follow the link to download your free stargazing booklet).

Our guide to the skies for the night was Neil Parker, former Deputy Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Neil generously shared his time, expertise, and enormous telescopes to give us a tour of the universe from the heart of the reserve. Fen Drayton Lakes is spectacular on a clear night as there is very little light pollution. We saw Jupiter with several of its moons in orbit, and a personal highlight was looking at the Orion Nebula with binoculars for the first time - try it!

On Sunday the sun came out in the afternoon and we put our own telescopes and binoculars to good use showing visitors some of the fantastic wildlife around the reserve.

Image: Waxwing by Steve Dobromylski

In the morning a couple of waxwings hung around enjoying the rose hips just after the bridge on the entrance track. These plump, crested birds come to Britain in winter from Scandinavia and if you're lucky you may spot them unexpectedly close to home. They pop up wherever there are berries to eat - supermarket car parks, for example, if ornamental rowan trees have been planted!

A Slavonian grebe, a Caspian gull and 16-18 Bewick's swans put in an appearance on Ferry Lagoon over the course of the day.

Three goosanders caused a bit of a ruckus on Drayton Lagoon - two males having a scrap over a female with lots of flapping and splashing.

Slightly less obvious were a bullfinch, goldcrests, a pintail and some lesser redpolls. A sudden burst of song alerted us to a Cetti's warbler nearby, one lucky visitor spotted a kingfisher flashing past, and we continued to see big flocks of black-tailed godwits flying over. Goldeneyes, redwings and fieldfares, and a sparrowhawk and a marsh harrier all added to a great day.

Image: Mute swan by Neil Dethridge

If you're leaving the reserve around dusk, keep a good lookout as you drive back along the entrance track to the public road. A barn owl has frequently been spotted hunting in the fields to either side of the last stretch, between the bridge and the road. A magical sight with the fading light and fog...

Finally, if you have any pretty photos of Fen Drayton in the snow, please do post them on the community forum - it's a pleasure for us and other visitors to be able to see them too.

Big Garden Birdwatch

2013-01-09T17:24:00Z

Happy new year all!

If you're heading out to the reserve for some fresh air and exercise after the festivites, remember to bring your wellies. The car park is open again following more flooding over the holidays but it's still very muddy. Some sections of path are still under a bit of water and are best avoided unless you're very sure of your footing.

However, I'm happy to say it's nearly time for the annual Big Garden Birdwatch - an opportunity to enjoy and help your garden wildlife from the comfort of your own home, mud-free!

If you've not heard of the Big Garden Birdwatch before, it's the world’s largest wildlife survey. All you have to do is watch the birds in your garden or local park for one hour on the weekend of 26-27 January and send your results in to the RSPB.

You can find all the information you need the website here, including a handy sheet to help you identify and count all your visitors.

The Big Garden Birdwatch was born over 30 years ago as an activity for our junior members which turned out to be amazingly popular. With over half a million people now regularly taking part, Big Garden Birdwatch allows us to monitor trends and helps us understand how birds are doing.

As the format of the survey has stayed the same, the scientific data can be compared year-on-year, making your results very valuable.

With results from so many gardens, we’re able to create a 'snapshot' of bird numbers across the UK. While the changes we’re seeing over the years can be scary - we've lost more than half our house sparrows and some three-quarters of our starlings since 1979 - it isn't all doom and gloom.

Your results help us spot problems, but more importantly, they are also the first step in putting things right. And this is why it's so important that we count the garden birds.

The more people involved, the more we can learn, so please encourage your family, friends and neighbours to take part and make 2013 the best ever Big Garden Birdwatch!

If you love wildlife too and want to help, this is your chance to get involved in something that really counts.

Willow weaving

2012-12-15T12:19:00Z

On Friday we held a willow weaving workshop at one of the local village halls, always a popular event.

Alan, who has volunteered at Fen Drayton Lakes and at Ouse Fen for many years now, taught us how to make our own baskets using willow harvested from Fen Drayton Lakes.

'Willow bashing', basically cutting back willow, is one of the regular tasks on the reserve. It's a tree that loves the wet so it does very well around the edges of the lakes here, as you can imagine. The problem is that left unchecked it will quickly take over the area - not great for wildlife. Our volunteer work parties therefore spend a lot of time keeping on top of it.

Alan prepares some of the willow we cut back as weaving material, which he then works into beautiful baskets, trugs and garden obelisks (and even his own willow weaver's hat).

He generously shares his skills through these day-long workshops. It's not easy but the sense of pride that comes from having persevered with your own creation is definitely worth it!

Look out for more willow weaving workshops next year, or if you'd like to be added to our events email list for updates on what's happening at the reserve, drop us a message at fendraytonlakes@rspb.org.uk.

Walking in a winter wetland

2012-12-12T17:15:00Z

For the last couple of days the reserve has been looking beautiful in thick hoar frost.

The hardy souls who turned out for this morning's guided walk were well rewarded. Our assistant warden Tim had worked out a route to make the most of the glorious views and wildlife on display while avoiding the paths which remain flooded. (The loops around Ferry Lagoon and Elney Lake are still under water in parts.)

We got off to a good start with a kingfisher flashing past in a blur of blue. Lots of redwings and fieldfares were out and about feeding in the hedgerows, and a few snipe flew over while we were at the Ferry Mere viewpoint.

We picked out several goldeneyes amongst the many shovelers and whistling wigeons on the lakes. Particular highlights were some pintails on Ferry Lagoon and black-tailed godwits flying past.

Frozen-toed but happy, we finished up with some warming tea back at Holywell Lake. Join us on January for the next Wednesday Wander - these walks take place on the second Wednesday of each month and our aim is to enjoy the wide variety of wildlife Fen Drayton has to offer over the seasons.