Browse by Tags

With the winds turning to the south and a warmer feel to proceedings, the first spring migrants have slowly been appearing. After last weeks chiffchaff, several swallows were over the reserve at the weekend and sand martins have been in the local area as well.We are just waiting for our first willow...

Hurray- at last- a chiffchaff has arrived and it greeted me with its welcome and constant 'chiffchaff' call from the New Heath when I arrived at The Lodge this morning.This is the first confirmed report as far as I'm aware and its at least three weeks later than the usual arrival dates! It's...

After a weekend of sun and with even a little warmth in the air , a few things 'spring like' finally appeared in the area. On a walk around the Cambridgeshire countryside yesterday, I heard 5 chiffchaffs proclaiming their late arrival and a sulphur yellow brimstone butterfly flitted across the...

Just a whisper....I think spring is in the air at last! We've had two days of almost unbroken sunshine and its arrived just in time for the children and youngsters to come up and enjoy being outdoors in their school holidays. After the success of the weekends Easter Trail, I decided to leave the...

Having just returned from a week in the West Country, where torrential rain and gale force winds battered the area, I returned on the train on Sunday and watched as the fields turned from miles of flooded land to a landscape of frozen winter white countryside. The first sight I had at The Lodge this...

Great to see at least five bramblings, with the siskins and redpolls around the gatehouse feeders this morning. Yesterday we didn't see one at all, so it seems that the flock is fairly transient with new birds joining all the time and others leaving. I'm away next week, so it's unlikely they'll...

With winter still in the air the mixed flock of finches is still keeping us and our visitors and photographers well entertained. The cacophany of finch song greeted me this morning and good numbers of siskins and redpolls were still around and feeding on and under the feeders. The weather looks pretty...

With winter still in the air the mixed flock of finches is still keeping us and our visitors and photographers well entertained. The cacophany of finch song greeted me this morning and good numbers of siskins and redpolls were still around and feeding on and under the feeders. The weather looks pretty...

On my walk to the bus this morning I realised just how many birds were singing .Song thrush, dunnocks, great tits, blackbirds,robins and the loud and constant 'chip chipping' of house sparrows were all heard within a few minutes of home. I think yesterday's sunny weather has really made spring...

We get lots of fantastic bird images taken on the reserve, but It's always nice to get a picture of something we don't see so often. This picture of a cute bank vole, craftily taking advantage of the extra food we have been suppling the finch flock at the Gatehouse feeders ,was photographed by...

I've just been out on the Gatehouse lawn and the trees are still full of the weezy calls of siskins and other finches. This large finch flock has been here for well over two weeks now, and we have been putting supplementary food down to keep them all fed and happy! We estimate that over 120 siskins...

The Lodge has been the place to come to if you want to see good, close up views of siskins and lesser redpolls. They are coming to the feeders near the shop in really good numbers at the moment. As you'd expect with these flocks, scarcer mealy redpolls are also being seen, as well as the occasional...

The Gatehouse feeders near the shop are full of action again today; at least 4 bramblings with 2 splendid males have been around, with lots of siskins and redpolls.Joining them on the feeders have been nuthatch, great spotted woodpecker, long tailed tits and large numbers of chaffinches.I wonder if some...

I just had a quick scan around the shop feeders and a male brambling flew down amongst the chaffinches. I only saw it for a few moments and we haven't seen it again as yet. Numbers of siskin and redpoll around the feeding station have noticeably built up in numbers on this very cold day today.

It's hard to believe we are already in February, but its great to know the days are getting a little longer and the birds are starting to sing again.It's a nice, bright calm day here today-even the wind seems to have dropped. The bird feeders near the shop are attracting siskins and redpolls...

Some good sightings at The Lodge today in the sunshine; 15 crossbills around the Gatehouse car-park,a report of a waxwing along the drive past the hide, red kite over the old heath and several siskin and lesser redpoll on the feeders. If you can't get along yourself, check http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature...

Some good sightings at The Lodge today in the sunshine; 15 crossbills around the Gatehouse car-park,a report of a waxwing along the drive past the hide, red kite over the old heath and several siskin and lesser redpoll on the feeders. If you can't get along yourself, check http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature...

Some good sightings at The Lodge today in the sunshine; 15 crossbills around the Gatehouse car-park,a report of a waxwing along the drive past the hide, red kite over the old heath and several siskin and lesser redpoll on the feeders. If you can't get along yourself, check http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature...

Just had a call to say three ring ouzels were around the Yew tree and the area around the Gatehouse entrance. We dashed out from the office and saw large numbers of birds moving through, fieldfares, redwings,blackbirds, mistle thrushes and flocks of mixed finches, ( including redpoll and siskin), everywhere...

We made up for the dry February and March with a full day of heavy rain deluging us yesterday,with some sleet and snow mixed in. Fortunately Saturday was a much nicer day and we had some good bird sightings; 2 red kites, at least 3 buzzards in the air being mobbed by ravens,crossbills drinking at the...

The reserve was exceptionally busy yesterday; bright blue skies and sunshine all the way, although it was blustery and colder than of late. Our bird sightings have been fairly consistent over the Christmas and New Year period. The large flock of around 500 Fieldfares are still feeding on the meadow on...

There have been a lot of really good bird sightings here today, topped by an osprey seen with a fish, flying over the hillfort. It was seen again over the gatehouse late afternoon. At least 20 crossbills have flown over with several lingering and the 6 woodlarks have again been around the new heath,...

As migration kicks in and birds are on the move, strange sightings can be had.To prove this point, a lone juvenile gannet flew over the new heath on Saturday 9 and a ringtail ( female) harrier species flew over towards the main house on the 14th, both exceptionally rare birds at The Lodge.Another harrier...

High up in the sky this morning an Osprey passed over, maybe on its way to it's breeding grounds at Rutland water or up in Scotland.This bird has probably flown all the way from western Africa, which is an incredible journey. At the time, three buzzards, a kestrel and sparrowhawk soared in the air...

The week has started well at The Lodge, with nice views of two tawny owls perched together in the top of a pine tree near the hide and four ravens flying over the Gatehouse.Over the weekend female bramblings were seen at the hide and under the shop feeders and there are lots of siskins and lesser and...