Print pageSeasonal highlights
Each season brings a different experience at our nature reserves. In spring, the air is filled with birdsong as they compete to establish territories and attract a mate. In summer, look out for young birds making their first venture into the outside world. Autumn brings large movements of migrating birds - some heading south to a warmer climate, others seeking refuge in the UK from the cold Arctic winter. In winter, look out for large flocks of birds gathering to feed, or flying at dusk to form large roosts to keep warm.
Spring
Little grebes 'whinny' in courtship displays and pairs of shovelers spin around each other, heads locked together below the water's surface. By the middle of spring, summer visitors will have arrived: swallows, martins and by the beginning of May, swifts. The reedbeds are noisy places to be, full of warblers staking out their territories.
Summer
Listen for the explosive song of the Cetti's warbler - a little like a wren's song but even louder! Hobbies fly overhead in their attempts to catch small birds, causing havoc among the flocks. The tiny, stripy little grebe chicks can be seen out on the water with their parents.
Autumn
Kingfishers are easiest to see at this time of the year, as young birds disperse from where they hatched. Bearded tits are also more obvious. Lodmoor is the perfect refuelling site for waders en route from the Arctic to Africa - you may see birds like black-tailed godwits, green and wood sandpipers. Look out for the inquisitive southern hawker dragonfly which may come to inspect you!
Winter
Bitterns join us from Europe during cold weather, but can be tricky to see - patience is required! Grey herons stand, hunched, at the water's edge, waiting for fish to swim by within striking distance. Little egrets are more proactive and stir up the water with their yellow feet to entice small fish, worms and shrimps. This is the best season for watching wildfowl, with pochards, teals, tufted ducks, shelducks and gadwalls around the reserve. Marsh harriers can still be seen hunting over the reeds.