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It may be a cold and dull Easter break, but here on the reserve we have been really busy. Plenty of families have come along to take part in the Easter trail and we've been dashing out searching the shops for the last few creme eggs in the county to give as rewards! We'll have had around 300...

It may be a cold and dull Easter break, but here on the the reserve we have been really busy. Plenty of families have come along to take part in the Easter trail and we've been dashing out searching the shops for the last few creme eggs in the county to give as rewards! We;ll have had around 300...

It may be a cold and dull Easter break, but here on the the reserve we have been really busy. Plenty of families have come along to take part in the Easter trail and we've been dashing out searching the shops for the last few creme eggs in the county to give as rewards! We;ll have had around 300...

The heather on the new and old heaths at The Lodge is now in bloom and looking spectacular this year.We are particularly excited, as we have been restoring the new heath over the last 9 years and the results are really starting to show.The wildlife is also starting to benefit as well; there has been...

We have a group from the Beds,Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust on a visit to The Lodge today. I took them for a wander over the new heath to show off our heather, which is looking amazing this year. After leaving them to complete the trail, they came back happy after seeing hobbies, ravens and buzzards...

The Lodge spotted flycatchers have already raised a family of four young in recent weeks and have just hatched another brood! The parents are busy catching insects and feeding the youngsters in the nest box, which is on the side of the outbuildings near the shop. Come along and see them soon, they'll...

Visitors come from many parts of the UK to see The Lodge, but not normally for a day visit from Scotland! Yesterday, RSPB members Violet and Nicky caught the plane from Edingburgh to Luton, hired a car to drive to Sandy and spent the day enjoying the reserve- and the lovely sunshine- for Violet's...

Although the local weather forecast looks bad every day (again!) this week, we actually had a really nice sunny, hot spell for a large part of the day.We were taking a group of children from Keech, in Luton, down the main path to experience the reserve and in a short time we had seen ravens, two lovely...

After the depressing wash-out yesterday, the reserve is looking a lot brighter today and the car -park is full again with visitors getting out and about. Spotted flycatcher's, young ravens, cuckoo and treecreeper have all been sighted today, but most people just seem pleased to be walking around...

With all the fun of the Spring Fair now over, my binoculars are back in hand and I've even managed a couple of walks out on the reserve this week. Summer really began yesterday and the reserve looked glorious with trees and flowers in full bloom and the whole place looked radiant in the warm sunshine...

Spring migrant birds arriving The Lodge. The birds seem to be arriving here quickly after the slow migration over the last few weeks.The cuckoo's have been calling all day on the new heath and I heard my first garden warbler today. A few whitethroats have turned up on the reserve and a couple of...

It was certainly a day to stay indoors in the dry yesterday wasn't it? Although it was understandably very quiet at The Lodge, one brave birder did report seeing seven wheatears on Sandy Ridge. It's a world away from the wet and windy conditions today and the birds have been notching up. We started...

It was a good weekend for bird sightings at The Lodge, we had a brilliant male brambling drinking down at the hide pools ( one seen today at the shop feeders as well), a male merlin dashed quick and low across the new heath, near the drive, and a cuckoo was seen and heard on several occasions.The ravens...

The reserve looks a lot different now then when I last posted a blog , as the winter weather finally arrived in force. We had over 6 inches of snow at the weekend and there is still a lot of laying snow that has frozen, making the paths very icy and slippery. We have put up signs advising against walking...

The number of birds in the mixed flock on Sandy Ridge meadow is building up nicely. I estimated over 500 fieldfares, 200 starlings, 150 redwings, 20 meadow pipits, several mistle thrush and a few goldfinches, all feeding in a large group on the grass this morning. Although it was fairly quiet on the...

Phew...it was a a really busy weekend at The Lodge and we are just getting our breath back! Over 2,800 visitors came to the reserve to visit the Christmas Fayre, enjoy the trails and spot some good birds in mostly sunny conditions. The osprey was seen on both days, on one occcasion directly over the...

The osprey is definitley still here! It was seen on a couple of occasions around the reserve today, once coming into land in a tree along the path to Galley Hill, being mobbed by ravens. Crossbills have been seen around the hillfort and a brambling was watched from the hide.

When an osprey was reported to us well over a week ago, we were quite amazed, but this juvenile is still being seen on a regular basis.even though we are now into November! It seems to use the trees around the hillfort on the reserve to perch in, making sorties down to the local fishing lakes where it...

The country returned to work and school today and we've passed Easter, the Royal Wedding, a Dawn Chorus walk and a Bank Holiday with the sun shining throughout! It has been very blustery over the last few days however, but it is calm sunny and settled again now.Bird highlights over the holiday have...

It's wonderful to walk around The Lodge and hear all the birdsong. It's such a contrast after the dark, silent days of snow and ice. Take a wonder around and you could hear nuthatch , treecreeper , goldcrest , blue , great and coal tits , chaffinch , song and mistle thrushes , blackbird ,...

That's crispy leaves, crunchy beechmast underfoot and spiky sweet chestnuts and conkers. As you walk around The Lodge at the moment, you can't fail to experience some of those. There are lots of grey squirrels doing the same - I've seen a lot of them carrying sweet chestnuts around in their...

The warm weather's been good for flying this week. Last Wednesday, a young raven appeared over The Lodge. We heard its distinctive, deep 'cronk' call and watched it circling round and around over the gardens. The warm air rising from the ground on sunny days is used by big birds such as...