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After more heavy rain overnight the water levels at Radipole have been rising once again. It started to rain heavily again as I went for a walk on the reserve. Crossing the bridge I looked back at the Discovery Centre which is still safe above the water. The island outside...

In other words the Weymouth Wetlands Discovery Centre's second refurbishment has now been completed! I visited the Centre this morning and took some photos of the newly refurbished interior. It's hard to believe that nearly eight months have gone by since the...

Now that January is behind us and hopefully the icy blast that it brought us, I had a wander around Radipole's footpaths to look for signs of spring on this first day of February. The Winter Heliotrope is now in full flower having recovered from the icy blast last...

Here at Weymouth Wetlands we have probably given the impression once or twice that we hold moths in high esteem for their delicate beauty, benign demeanour, cute little faces and intriguing names. The recent wet weather hasn’t been terribly conducive to moth-trapping and the quite sensibly named...

If there’s one species of bird which Radipole is famous for it must be the Bearded Tit. Not a day goes by that a visitor doesn’t come into the Discovery Centre and ask us about them. Back last winter you may remember us mentioning some reed cutting in preparation for thatching the roof...

As the sun was shining and the skies were blue this morning, a welcome change after the grey skies of late, I had a meander around Radipole to see if there were any flowers still out. The first late flowers I came aross were several Hogweed plants, Their usual flowering time is high summer in July and...

Recent visitors to either Lodmoor or Radipole may have been wowed with some wonderful wildlife in the past few weeks. There was a spectacular purple heron at Radipole a few weeks ago, looking a bit wacky and alternative. These relatives of the grey heron are ever so slowly moving up into the UK and have...

The evening of Tuesday 30th October saw colleagues and friends of Nick Quintrell gather in the Visitor Centre to remember and celebrate his life. Nick's sister Tammy and her children, along with Mazie, visited the reserve earlier in the day. The children participated in the half term events laid...

As promised, part 2 of the summer ‘brollies’ now flowering around our reserves. Just to recap, the Carrot Family or the Umbelliferae family (now known as Apiaceae) are plants easily identified by the umbrella shaped arrangement of their flowers. However, umbelliferae flowers can look confusingly...

Invertebrate life must have taken a bit of pounding during the recent rains and flooding – anything that couldn’t fly or crawl to a dry refuge quickly enough would presumably have met a premature and soggy end. With this in mind it was heart-warming to see the evidence of one uninterrupted...

For a few nights in the run-up to the recent flood, whenever the weather looked suitable we set up the moth trap in the back garden, which is very close to the Radipole reserve. Some nights were more productive than others, depending on the weather, but a couple of attempts gave us a few interesting...

Another colourful point of interest for those who peer into the lower tiers of greenery, as well as scan the skies and trees for the slightest movement, has been the emergence of some spectacular moths along the start of the hide path at Radipole. Over the last couple of weeks, the translucent papery...

Exotic wildlife has abounded on The Weymouth Wetlands this week, befitting the welcome sunshine in which we contentedly bask. The Great Reed Warbler has understandably generated plenty of interest and - as Rob mentioned - he has been merrily singing in close-ish proximity to the new viewing facilities...

We’ve previously blogged about our rather feminine looking male Marsh Harrier but a picture taken today by regular visitor Steve Carey proves that his femininity is restricted only to his plumage. Marsh Harrier activity has been difficulty to keep track off this spring due to the comings and goings...

Regular visitors to the reserve cannot fail to have noticed that the Visitor Centre has been closed for some time now, and you may be starting to wonder when it will be opening again. Just to give you some background, the RSPB decided sometime ago that the centre needed a refurbishment, to make the building...

The plants are beginning to move and show themselves as the days are getting longer. As I walked through Radipole this morning I came across a patch of Sweet Violets in full flower. This is our only fragrant violet. Next was a hawthorn tree in full leaf. On closer inspection there...