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I was very lucky this week; on Thursday I went over to the work compound here at The Gatehouse and a flock birds were in the bare sycamore tree in the Gatehouse work compound.I scanned through them, and to my great suprise, my binoculars locked onto a cracking hawfinch near the top of the tree! A very...

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...

The woodlark was sighted on the old heath this morning, so it's still on the reserve, which is great news. I heard a tawny owl hooting almost spot on mid-day, between the HQ car park and the Quarry Trail and there's good numbers of siskins flying overhead. A grey heron was disturbed by a jogger...

Our warden Andy has been out and about on the reserve today and he says there are birds everywhere! A woodlark has been spotted on the new heath yesterday and today, which is one of the key species we are hoping to attract with the heathland restoration. Fingers crossed they decide to stay and breed...

One of the heathland birds that we feel should be a regular at The Lodge turned up today, for a rare visit! The bird was seen on the old heath this morning, and for a lot of the RSPB staff here, was the first time they have been able to add this species to their Lodge reserve lists. Our Tuesday volunteer...

They've been our friends and close neighbours for the last six years, but it's the end of an era today as we say a sad farewell to our 52 Manx loghtan sheep! They came here to get our new heath and grassland into shape, but with the heather doing so well now we feel the time is right for them...

Although there is a touch of autumn in the air now,our family of hobbies are still around and visitors this week have had brilliant sightings of the two juveniles being fed by their parents.Photographer Keith Clarke Lambourne captured this superb shot of one of the juveniles -thanks Keith!

Our Tuesday morning walkers group came back excited today as they had spotted a wheatear on Sandy Ridge. I popped over with one of our volunteers, James Clark and we managed to see this smart migrant. James even managed to get this excellent shot on his camera. Wheatears are now returning to their wintering...

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...

On Saturday afternoon the second family of spotted flycatchers popped out of the nest box that has been their home over the last few weeks.They spent the afternoon in the trees around the back lawn of the Gatehouse , calling and being fed by their parents.On Sunday they appeared to have moved away from...

It seemed over the last few days that we only had one adult feeding the young flycatchers in the nest box! A single bird had been very busy, taking in insects to three young, feeding itself,and fending off an aggressive local robin.The other parent had disapeared completely.....what had happened to it...

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...

The weather is set fair for our 'All Nature Bio Blitz Day' tomorrow, it sounds like it will be sunny, warm and dry...a rare thing this summer! We've got experts from various fields coming along to show us what's around on the reserve, last year The Lodge was the third highest species...

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...

The four spotted flycatcher chicks, that we've been watching being fed by their busy parents over the last two or three weeks, fledged today! The last one left the nest mid morning. The birds are still around the back of the Gatehouse today, but will probably move to other areas of The Lodge shortly...

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...

A lovely surprise for the Tuesday walking group this morning,; they came across this lovely family of freshly fledged and hungry chiffchaffs, being fed by the parent(s). Jan Murphy, our walk leader,even carefully managed to get a great shot of the birds tucked safely in a bush!

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...

Just recovering after a 4:30 am start from home for today's Dawn Chorus! We had a good, calm and settled morning, although a bit nippy in the N/NE wind. We were greeted in the near dark by a calling tawny owl, then the very vocal cuckoo's seemed to follow us around as we headed along the trails...

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...

We've been waiting expectantly for the first cuckoo to be heard here on the reserve. We planned our 'First cuckoo of spring walk' on Friday 13th, but none were heard. However, our volunteer work party were out in the heavy rain yesterday and came back to report hearing one, so well done to...

I've been away for a few days on some unplanned time off, so it's great to be back to see the reserve looking fresh, vibrant and green, with the first bluebells now appearing as well. The birds are slowly arriving as well, blackcaps, willow warblers, wheatears, swallows, sand martins and house...