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You never quite know what you’re going to see on the moor and so it was a nice surprise to come across a field vole nest yesterday. It had at least 5, very young pink vole pups snuggled up in it. The nest was tucked away in a hole I’d buried a lapwing nest camera battery in. As well as chewing...

Yesterday’s lapwing nest monitoring showed that most nests inside the anti-predator fence have now hatched. We now just have to hope that the small balls of fluff can make it through the next few weeks until they fledge and are able to fly. Lapwing chicks are well camouflaged and their defence...

A slightly different view of the reserve... This photo is taken looking towards the hide from the West side of the huge Ashgrave field. It clearly shows the large 'secret' lagoon on the hill, which you can just about glimpse from the hide and which you can get views of from the path that goes...

Migrating birds are still passing through the moor at the moment on their way to their breeding grounds. I saw four hobbies hunting for large insects over the reedbed yesterday and a wheatear was hopping around out on the Ashgrave field, proudly showing off it’s prominent white rump as it flew...

Spring is always one of our busiest times on Otmoor, on top of the usual reserve and habitat management work we also carry out bird surveys over the whole of the moor and put a lot of effort into monitoring the ground nesting wading birds (lapwing, snipe, curlew and redshank). Our surveys cover not...

In terms of wildlife, the reserve is an exciting place to be at the moment. Bumblebees and butterflies are on the wing (I saw brimstone, comma and tortoiseshell yesterday) and lots of the birds that migrate back to the UK in the spring time are being seen on and over the moor. These birds include yellow...

Anyone visiting Otmoor at the moment should be prepared for very cold, biting winds. There isn’t much shelter on the reserve and so the wind can cuts right across the wetland fields. Despite the chilly weather however, there are some signs of spring. The lapwings have started nesting and some of...

We’ve been so busy at Otmoor recently our blog has been very neglected! Hopefully we can get it back on track from now on. Some exciting news at the moment comes in the form of a rare duck that is currently sheltering in the Otmoor reedbed. Normally found in Eastern Europe and Asia the ferruginous...

This is quite old information now but the Wetland Bird Survey results from the start of January were: Mute swan: 21 European white-fronted goose: 3 Greylag goose: 172 Canada goose: 263 Wigeon: 1260 Gadwall: 16 Teal: 1305 Mallard: 246 Pintail: 4 Shoveler: 4 Pochard: 1 Tufted duck: 28 Little egret:...

Everywhere is white, frozen, cold and wet, it may look pretty but these conditions are extremely tough on wildlife. Finding food becomes more difficult and surviving each night becomes uncertain. Small mammals are hidden in tunnels under the snow, keeping warm under ground, making it difficult for the...

Every 2 weeks all the Otmoor staff rise at the crack of dawn to carry out a Wetalnd Bird Survey. The results of this are very important and allow us to monitor how wetland birds are doing and whether our management is heading in the right direction. We usually split up, allowing each of us to concentrate...

We were up nice and early again on Monday to carry out the Wetland Bird Survey for December. We each had a separate area of the reserve to cover and the results are shown below. Wigeon, golden plover and lapwing numbers were the highest recorded yet this winter and will hopefully continue to rise. The...

Possibly not quite as exciting as Zoe's last blog posting about her flight over Otmoor, but here are the results from the latest Wetland Bird Survey on the moor. A combination of lots of water elsewhere and the freezing temperatures causing areas of the reserve to freeze over probably explain the...

With all the rain we’ve had it seemed a wise idea to have a good wander round the moor today so see what was going on. There’s an awful lot of water about, with all the fields on the reserve having higher levels then I’d ever seen before. The bridleway down from Noke was about 2 feet...

After getting the quad bike wedged between 2 thorn bushes and then stuck in some very deep mud last Friday, I managed to survive the weekend without incident and was in bright and early today for the WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) count. Three of us went out to different areas of the reserve and the final...

As well as willow coppicing, now is also the time of year when we start doing our hedgerow management. This mainly involves coppicing but we also do a bit of hedge laying and sometimes some flailing too. There are a number of reasons we manage the hedgerows, not only does it keep them thick and healthy...

Those of you who've visited the reserve recently will have seen that a new footpath has opened through the carpark field. It will probably get a bit muddy, but makes a nice change to the usual walk along the track up to the bird feeders. The path snakes it's way through the field and provides...

The bird feeding area on Otmoor is always very popular, not only with birds but also with people, allowing them to get nice close views of the tits, finches and buntings. The old feeling station was starting to look tatty so we decided it was time for a change. The Wednesday volunteer team we tasked...

We had a good unoffcial WeBS count (Wetland Bird Survey) count this week. Bird numbers are still building and lots are being drawn in to the lagoon on Ashgrave. It can be quite tricky getting good views of the lagoon as its on the hill a few hundred metres out from the hide but it's definitely an...

One of the projects I've been working on recently is a trial to see if we can use a substance called gypsum to improve the quality of the soil on the reserve. Due to how wet its been it's taken me a while to get the project completed, however this week I'm pleased to say it's all been...

Every now and then I have a proper 'RSPB moment' when I'm down on the reserve. Today was one of those days... As I reached the metal gates leading out onto Greenaways I saw a raptor in the distance being pursued by two crows, catching a flash of white on its rump I zoomed up the bridleway...

Well we can't guarantee you'll get a glimpse of them, but a small group of these exotic looking birds have been flitting around the Otmoor reedbed for about a week and a half now. I have to admit I've still not seen them but if you head down to the reedbed on a still day there's a chance...

Otmoor’s massive starling roost is one of the winter highlights on the reserve. Unfortunately last year was a bit of a disappointment, low water levels in the reedbed were probably to blame as predators were able to get out onto the reedbed islands disturbing and discouraging the roost. This year...

Otmoor is a special place for many reasons, not least because it is the sole remaining site in RSPB's Midlands region where snipe breed. We had 6 breeding males on the reserve this year and were lucky enough to stumble across 2 of their very well camouflaged nests. They prefer nesting in wetter areas...

As well as all the larger management tasks we carry out on the reserve, there are also lots of smaller jobs we undertake. For example; volunteers have recently put bat boxes up on a tree by volunteers in Sally’s Field, 9 species of bats have been recorded on the reserve and during the warmer part...