The RSPB: Radipole Lake

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Wildlife awards

Radipole Lake is one of the best places for wildlife in the UK.

Our revamped visitor centre is open now - come and have a look!

Watch out for returning migrants, just arrived in the UK, like swallows and martins getting their first food over British soil as they swoop and swerve over the reedbeds
Listen to the reserve coming to life as the reedbeds start to fill with the reeling song of warblers and the squealing calls of water rails, the bushes fill with birdsong and the water’s edge is filled with the tiny ringing calls of the teal
Look for rarer plants, such as orchids, amongst the path borders splashed with the multi-coloured wonder of our spring flowers and the new green shoots of the reeds themselves, which will be two metres high in just a few weeks!

Marvel at the different ducklings from light golden-coloured gadwalls through to the jet black tufted ducks that look like bobbing corks in the water
Enjoy the flashing iridescent wings and richly-coloured bodies of darting dragonflies, the colourful flying jewellery of our butterflies and day-flying moths and the myriad of other insects and bugs that you can see, and hunt for, around the reserve
Listen for the excited 'pinging' calls and whirring wings of parties of young bearded tits hunting noisily for insects in the reeds

Look out for the electric-blue flash of a passing kingfisher, or sit at north hide and watch it hover in front of you, as it searches for its next meal, and marvel at the diamond-sharp droplets of water cascading off its back as it emerges with its prize
Birds of prey – a sheer feast of poetry in motion... peregrines, sparrowhawks, kestrels, harriers, hobbies and even ospreys looking for their next meals
The wonderful changing autumn colours, especially in the early morning or evening light, as the reedbed turns first purple with flowers and then amber or golden as the low sun creates halos around every seed head

A really great time to take a good look at up to eight species of wildfowl, all really close, giving you plenty of time to learn what makes them so special and to enjoy their colourful and often iridescent feathers
The shorter days and lower water levels means you should look out for tracks (or if you are lucky, smell the poo!) that tells you the otter has been about
As the nights draw in, it is a good time to get heron happy – as the (white) little egrets and grey (big) herons start to gather for the evening, keep an eye out for the (brown) bittern, flying low over the reeds