The ground is at long last starting to warm up, so if the weather is dry, the smaller creatures start to move around earlier in the day. The water also is warmer, which is encouraging the emergence of the dragonflies and damselflies. Today, with the weather sunny, there were blue damselflies everywhere, including banded demoiselle… Read More

Haven’t we been fortunate with the weather in the last few days? The fresh lime green leaves are well out now on the blackthorn and hawthorn. Lovely to see, but it does make birdwatching more difficult, particularly for those which sing well into the scrub most of the time! Yes, they are back in. It… Read More

If you want to hear a chiffchaff, now is the time to walk around the reserve. They are in full song. A recent visitor to the reserve who had written their sightings in the bird sighting’s book in the Visitor Centre recorded 20 singing chiffchaffs on his walk! We are now in Spring, and the… Read More

I noticed a blue tit go into one of our boxes at home today. This mild weather is so tempting for the birds. Although, I hope we don’t have a year like last year, when birds nested early, then it was wet.  Unfortunately, our bird ringers on the reserve found that 2021 was not a… Read More

The bench up on the south-east corner of Island Pit has become our favourite stop for coffee and home-made flapjack. It ended up being a slow walk up there. A redwing on the dead tree opposite the Hayden Hide was enjoying the rays of sunshine and, unusually for the species, stayed there for as long… Read More