The Summer Fair

It's been a little quiet on the bird front at Lackford this week, yet the kingfishers have been showing very well and a day doesn't go by without a visitor reporting their sighting of this fantastic bird. They have been spotted from 7 places around the reserve including Steggall's, Atlas, Bess', Orchid, Bill's and the Double-Decker hides and the bench at Hawkers Pool. The current hotspot seems to be the Double-Decker and Bill's hides with many a great photo being taken by our regular visitors.

Kingfisher © Ian Goodall

Another sighting that has become quite a regular sighting over the last 2 weeks is of an otter. It is often seen from the hides on the north side of the reserve and in particular from the Double-Decker around the overflow pipe to the left hand side. When is it best to be seen? That's the had part. It doesn't seem to have a regular timetable and has been spotted at various times of the day, it really is luck of the draw.

Otter from the Double-Decker hide © Barry Woodhouse

Green sandpiper has been spotted a few times from Bill's hide and other waders such as common sandpiper, greenshank and black-tailed godwit have been spotted from time to time. Teal, pochard and lapwings can also be seen from various locations around the reserve.

One rarity to Lackford also appeared this week in the shape of a house sparrow. We know that sparrows have had a hard time of it of late and that they are not actually rare. However, Lackford is not the usual habitat for these lovely little birds, so it was quite a pleasant surprise seeing these on the feeders outside the visitor centre.

The hot weather of late has been very good for our insects too with plenty of dragonflies and butterflies being seen on the wing around the reserve. Of these butterflies, painted ladies, peacock, small tortoiseshell, brown argus, common blue and red admirals have been many. 

Painted lady © Joe Myers

On the dragonfly front, we have seen a few brown and southern hawkers, common and ruddy darters, banded demoiselle's, emerald damselfly, and lots of common blue damselflies.

Ruddy darter © Duncan Fletcher-Brown

The hornet's nest is still present with the occupants going about their business without bothering anyone, including those spectators who watch the comings and goings. One hornet to watch out for at Lackford, is not actually a hornet, in fact, it's not even a wasp. It is actually a fly, the UK's largest fly at around 2cm long, the hornet mimic hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) is a harmless copy-cat that uses its looks for two purposes. Firstly, by looking like a hornet, it is able to sneak inside the nest of hornets without being attacked. It gets inside the nest to lay its eggs, which provide a service to the hornets by eating the detritus at the bottom of the nest and thus helping to keep the nest clean. The second reason for such a clever disguise is of course, camouflage. Not many, if any creatures actually attack hornets, so looking like one, despite being completely harmless, goes a long way in helping to survive. If you would like to see one for yourself, hotspots for these are along bug alley between Reed hide and the Double-Decker. They can often be seen nectaring on the bramble flowers.

Hornet leaving the nest © Duncan Fletcher-Brown

Not a hornet, just a fly. © Hawk Honey

Summer Fair

This Sunday 30th August, sees our annual Summer Fair at Lackford Lakes. There will be lots of activities, crafts, pond dipping, stalls and much more. Although entry to the reserve is usually free, for this one day only, there will be a charge of £3 adult, £2 child.

Hopefully we will see you at the weekend.