101 and more to come!

Yes, 101, that’s the number of bird species recorded at Lackford since the start of the year. The latest sighting was on the 14th March and was a spring arrival of a Sand Martin. We had two separate sightings of this, one from an expert birder. As we move further into spring, we will expect to see much more arriving, so keep your eyes peeled!

Signs of Spring

We had the second of our themed weekends this weekend, Signs of Spring. Many children arrived with their families to follow the clues around our Kingfisher trail, whilst learning all about Charlie the Chiffchaff. On the way they also got the chance to tick off sightings on our spotter sheet with 3 children even spotting bumblebees! A sign of spring if ever there was one.

Every one enjoyed themselves and the theme will continue to run through the month, so please pop into the visitor centre when you arrive to pick up your spotter’s sheet and see what wildlife your children can find.

On the subject on activities for children, one not to miss this Sunday 22nd March, at Lackford Lakes is our Wildlife Watch group, who will be holding a bird ringing session with our expert bird ringer Colin Jakes. 

Bird ringing at Lackford

Children will get to find out more about bird ringing and see birds close up as they get ringed. This event is for children between 6-12 years old, runs from 10am -12 noon and costs £2 per child. Spaces are limited and booking is essential. Please contact the visitor centre on 01284 728706 to book. 

Bernard Markwell

Recently, the trust gratefully received a donation in memory of Bernard Markwell, who sadly passed away in 2014. The donation was used to build a new Tern Raft in his memory, which will encourage tern’s to nest on site.

The new raft afloat.

As you can see, the raft has perspex sides which is to deter predators from boarding the raft. Gravel was then added to the raft and pipes placed on top. The pipes are for the tern’s to nest in. The new raft can be seen from Atlas hide on Plover Lake.

Will Cranston and volunteers prepare to cast off.

A plaque will be placed in the hide in memory of Bernard and we thank his wife Sandra for the generous donation.

Sightings

There’s been lots of activity of late around Lackford with Redshank, Little Egret, Shelduck, Teal, Egyptian Geese and Heron’s sighted on the Slough. Buzzard’s have also been seen this weekend over the Slough doing courtship displays. 

Red Crested Pochard and Great Crested Grebe’s have been seen displaying on several lakes around Bess’, Fullers Mill and Atlas hides, it’s always best to pop into the visitor centre first to check on where the latest sightings have been.

Red Crested Pochard around Bess’ ©Colin Robson

A friendly Nuthatch has been spotted down at Ash Carr along with Goldcrest’s and several Treecreeper’s have been reported from around the site, especially at Ash Carr and the path between Reed and the Double-decker hides. 

Redwings have also been seen from the path outside Atlas hide.

One of our latest arrivals, the Chiffchaff, has been and seen from several points around the reserve, especially along the path by the sailing lake. Here you can also hear Cettis Warbler’s and see Goldeneye on the sailing lake.

On the insect front, we’ve had several sightings of Bumblebee’s and two sightings of butterflies, Peacock and Brimstone. It won’t be long now before the reserve will be buzzing and full of life. Roll on Spring!

Photos, photos, photos!

The photographers amongst you have been very busy this week taking advantage of the sporadic spring weather and getting some cracking shots of wildlife in action.

Katy Smith showed her photos on Twitter, of the recently arrived Redshank’s on the Slough.

Redshank ©Katy Smith

And also this wonderful Great Crested Grebe.

Great Crested Grebe ©Katy Smith

Barry Woodhouse, a regular visitor to Lackford, has also been sharing his photos via Twitter and our Facebook page and catching the spring mood in his shots.

A pair of mating Oystercatcher’s ©Barry Woodhouse

Also in their fine breeding colours, he captured these ducks.

Male Shoveler

Female Shoveler

Male Teal

Colin Robson got in touch via email at lackford.centre@suffolkwildlifetrust.org to share his photos with us.

Beautiful Snipe ©Colin Robson

Muntjac taking a dip ©Colin Robson

Kingfisher patiently waiting ©Colin Robson

And last but not least, John Young emailed us these stunning photos of two fighting Kingfisher’s captured at Lackford.

© John Young

© John Young

© John Young

© John Young

© John Young

© John Young

Thank you to all our contributors for sharing their fantastic photos and if you would like to contribute with your photos taken at Lackford, then please email them to us with the words ‘For the blog’ in the subject line, to lackford.centre@suffolkwildlifetrust.org and we will do our post to feature them.

The Spring Arrivals

Well, the glorious weather this weekend has seen a rise in visitors to the reserve and we’re not just talking Humans either! A welcome herald of spring was heard calling at the reserve after its long journey from far flung lands, a Chiffchaff! The first on our Spring Arrival’s sheet and bringing our bird species for the year up to 99. Who will be species 100? Will it be the Sand Martin who is also due to arrive shortly? If you spot one of those listed below whilst visiting us, please come into the centre and let us know. You can see our species list here.

Chiffchaff leads the way!

The arrival of the Chiffchaff is excellent timing for our themed Wild for the Weekend starting next weekend on the Signs of Spring, where you and the family will be able to learn a lot more about the Chiffchaff along our trail, whilst looking for wildlife to see using our spotter sheet. The event is free, just pop into the Visitor centre on arrival to pick up your spotter sheet and look out for a Guide in the Hide who will help you spot the more elusive birds!

The glorious weather also brought out our first two butterflies of the year, a Small Tortoiseshell and a Brimstone were spotted as well as several queen bumblebees. The Great Crested Grebe’s that arrived a couple of weeks ago are also feeling the spring warmth and have been seen displaying down on Plover Lake.

Great Crested Grebes displaying © Ian Goodall

We want your feedback

Have you visited Lackford Lakes recently? If so, we would like to hear your thoughts via a very small (only 10 questions) survey which you can find here. Your feedback is warmly welcomed.

Calling for volunteers

An opportunity has arisen at Lackford for volunteers to join our Visitor Team. If you would like to get involved by talking to and serving visitors, helping to create and promote events at Lackford and have a keen interest in wildlife, then get in touch. You can find out more here.

Naturally Art

This weekend was a Naturally art weekend where children get to express themselves by creating art inspired by nature. This month, the kids got busy with clay!

Daniel gets started on his clay project

The kids really created some masterpieces.

Everyone had a great time.

If you would like your child to go to a Naturally Art workshop, what are you waiting for? Our next workshop is on 4th April 10am -12pm for 5 -10 year olds. The cost is £4 per child and they will need to bring an old shirt with them. The next workshop is a Bookmaking Workshop, making books about a local legend “The Mystery of the Green Children” These workshops are very popular and you will need to pre-book by calling the centre on 01284 726708.

Sightings

As you know already, the Chiffchaff has been heard on the reserve. The Kingfisher has been busy too of late and was captured magnificently in mid action by Ian Goodall with a small larvae of sorts.

Female Kingfisher taken at the visitor centre pond by Ian Goodall.

Cettis Warbler’s have also been heard around the reserve. Nuthatch has been showing well down at Ash Carr along with Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Bullfinch and Grey wagtail. Out on the lakes, up to 7 Grey Herons have been spotted on the Slough along with Teal, Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Oystercatcher and Black-headed gulls (380+).

Greenfinch have been spotted on Church walk feeders. Water Rail, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Snipe, Red Crested Pochard, Green Woodpecker, Marsh tit, Reed Bunting, Goldeneye, Goosander and Little Egret have also been spotted around the reserve. 

On the mammal front, Muntjac’s have been seen from Bernard Tickner’s hide and the Stoat  has not only been seen from the visitor centre, but also around the car park, so watch out for the one when you arrive. On the mammal cam in the centre, a Common Shrew has found a soft spot for peanuts!

Buzzards, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk have also been seen from the visitor centre.

The sightings board is getting busy.

As you can see the sightings board is beginning to get busy, please pop in and let the staff know what you’ve seen, regardless of how common or uninteresting you may think it is. One person’s muck, is another person’s brass! They can then add it to the board. 

We’ll leave you with a photo taken by the Visitor team manager Mike Andrews this morning of Lackford and the beautiful day that lay ahead.

Glorious blue skies over Lackford visitor centre.

Spring is in the air!

Yes, spring is on its way and you only have to look around the reserve to see it. This week, after spending all of winter around the coasts, the Great Crested Grebe’s have returned to begin mating and have already been seen doing the courtship ritual out on Plover Lake, from Atlas Hide.

Great Crested Grebe tucks in to a tasty snack in the pouring rain. Photo by John Lord.

The ducks have been in the mood for love with lots of mating going on and an opportunity for the #LackfordPhotoChallenge which was captured by Rich Berry.

Mallards mating #LacfordPhotoChallenge ©Rich Berry

Just keeping her head above the water #LackfordPhotoChallenge ©Rich Berry

Another contributor Adrian Sheppard, also caught some of our Canadian Geese getting feisty around the reserve.

Angry bird ©Adrian Sheppard

As well as this perfect photobomb.

©Adrian Sheppard

Wonder what startled this Egyptian goose?

©Rich Berry

Away from birds, and a Queen Buff-talied Bumblebee was spotted flying through the car park on Sunday, a sign that spring is not far away. Something else that isn’t far away either is our next themed weekend on The Signs of Spring. Starting on the 14th March and running all through the weekend, there’ll be nature trails and questions for the family to answer as well as a spotter sheet to complete. How many signs of spring will you find around the reserve?

Plugging the gap!

As some of you may or may not know, the River Lark burst its banks last year causing some flooding on the reserve. Getting it fixed was never going to be easy as the authorities were already quite overstretched. However, with thanks to Glen Smithson of Lark Angling Preservation Society, his work and knowledge helped us plug the gap with some traditional Alder Faggots. These will help to stop the bank eroding away when the gap is infilled again.

Work begins to plug the gap.

Getting stuck in.

More piles being driven in to hold the Alder Faggots in place.

All finished.

Sightings 

First up is the mammal camera. We’ve made some tiny modifications to the mammal camera which used to have a full wooden lid. This meant the chamber was always in darkness and therefore the cameras only recorded in infra-red (black & white). Well we’ve taken away half of the wooden lid and replaced it with a plexiglass lid which lets in more light and allows the camera to record in colour. This light coming into the box has not put the mammals off in anyway and within minutes of the lid being replaced, they were straight back in there. As you can see from the video, a Common Shrew and a Bank Vole can be seen munching away at the treats inside.

If you want to see more of our videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Heron’s have started to gather in large numbers around the top end of the Slough and the Kingfisher’s have been chasing each other around too on the Slough and around the visitor centre pond. Ash Carr has been a popular place to see Siskin’s, Bullfinches, Tree Creepers and Nuthatches.

Nuthatch by Stuart Finley

Other sightings this week include Marsh tit and Coal tit at the visitor centre feeders, Little Egrets flying around the reserve at several locations and Goldeneye displaying on the Sailing lake. The odd Goosander is still to be seen around the reserve, mainly at Bess’ hide. Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Buzzard’s have been spotted around Steggall’s, although beware, as the path down to this hide is quite muddy, so come prepared.

Marsh tit ©Rich Berry

Iceland Gull after a short absence is back and roosting on the sailing lake of an evening as is a Glaucous Gull (juv) and 2 2nd cy (calendar year) Caspian gulls on the Slough, which also has a large gull roost now.

Tim Humpage got this picture of the Glaucous gull. Can you spot it? we will let you know the answer next week.

Spot the Glaucous gull. Answers next week.

A busy week on the reserve

It’s been a busy week on the reserve, especially for our volunteers who have been working hard in the chilly outdoors. Many of our followers may have noticed a post on our Facebook page recently, relating to the felling of some White Poplar trees. 

Giles tackles one of the White poplars.

Some commented that it was a sad thing to see and that we shouldn’t cut down trees at all. So we thought we’d take this opportunity to explain the reasons why we have to do this. 

How the trees got here

The trees were originally planted by farmers when the site was farmland. They planted the trees to create a windbreak to protect crops and to stop top soil being blown from their fields.

Aerial view of Lackford Lakes in 1945. Nothing but farmland © Google Earth

Why did they have to go?

The trees are considered to be of Low Conservation Value, which basically means that they do not support a wide variety of wildlife. The shade that they also created was impacting the fen area, where we once had over 1000 orchids. Last year in 2014 the orchid count was less than 20. So by felling these trees, we’re creating sunny open wet fen habitat, which is not only good for the early marsh orchids, but a variety of other plants too, including water mint, mouse ear, etc.

The new wetland area will be more structurally diverse with wet boggy areas and piles of deadwood (habitat piles), wet grassland, standing and fallen deadwood. All this increases the biodiversity of an area, which means more invertebrates move in, which then encourages the birds to move in too.

What will happen to the felled trees?

All the wood from the trees will be used to create these valuable habitat piles, which are so important to insects. In nature today, a lot of dead wood is used for timber or firewood, which makes it hard for invertebrates who feed on this resource. By creating these habitat piles, the insects can be left to eat away in peace until a birdie finds it for a tasty snack.

Of the 100 Poplars on site, we have only felled 40 trees which were of poorer stock. So all is not lost and the work that has been carried out by the reserves team will only further improve the quality of Lackford’s biodiversity making it a richer habitat for all wildlife and those who watch it.

Other work on the reserve

Our volunteers have also been busy coppicing on the reserve this week. 

Willow coppicing begins

Their work encourages the willow and hazel to have new growth and the whips that are collected go towards creating fencing around the reserve and at other sites.

The stumps will regrow more whips in the coming years.

The harvested whips which will be used to create natural fencing.

Jacket potato’s are a welcome feast on a chilly day.

The hard working volunteers, well done!

Whilst busy coppicing, one eagle eyed volunteer (Daisy May Bodewes) spotted and took a photo of this beautiful fungus she found, Scarlet Elf Cup (which has many different names apparently).

Scarlet Elf Cup photographed by volunteer Daisy May Bodewes

More fungus

Another volunteer who also spotted some wonderful fungi whilst working at Lackford is Joe Myers. Joe was part of our new ‘Guide in the Hide’ team during our themed weekend on Winter Ducks which was attended by many and enjoyed by all!

Thanks Joe for sharing these wonderful images.

Sightings

We’ve had quite a few sightings this week with a bit of a rarity being spotted and possibly a first winter record for a Breckland site. The sighting was that of an Iceland Gull, which was spotted in the gull roost on the sailing lake at about 3pm on Saturday.

Other sightings include quite a few raptors across the reserve, Kestrel, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and a Merlin was seen on Saturday flying across the driveway. A Red Kite was also seen and was first spotted by our ‘Guide in the Hide’ at the Slough. He radioed it through to our Visitor Centre where staff there were able to see it and point it out to visitors as it drifted in gliding circles, carried by the wind, over the car park.

Red Kite © Judith Wakelam

Goosander, Teal, Pochard, Goldeneye, Gadwall, Shelduck, Lapwing, Little Egret, Snipe are also showing across various parts of the reserve. It’s always best to go into the visitor centre when you arrive to find out where the latest sightings are as they do tend to move around a bit.

Starlings still continue to murmurate over the car park from about 5pm but numbers vary from a few hundred to around 3000, which was the case on Sunday.

Bullfinches, Siskins, Tree Creeper, Wren and Goldcrests are being seen on regular occasions along Ash Carr, but once again, check in the centre first as the Bullfinches have also been spotted by the Sailing Lake path, Orchid Hide and Church Walk. 

The Kingfisher has also been spotted on many occasions around the reserve from a fighting pair on the Slough, speeding across Plover lake, near the hide at Steggall’s and a female seen several times at the visitor centre and Bernard’s Hide. We did have a visitor who caught the Kingfisher on camera with a frog in its beak. He was going to email it to us, but as of yet, we’ve yet to receive the email. When we do get it, we’ll share it with you right here. In the meantime, if you have a photo you’d like to share with us, please email it to hawk.honey@suffolkwildlifetrust.org with your name and we’ll be glad to add it to our blog.

Also spotted at the visitor centre this weekend, although only briefly, was a Grey Wagtail.

On the mammal camera in the middle of the night, we've had Field voles, Wood mouse and a new visitor is a Shrew.

Another unusual sighting and one worthy of our #LackfordPhotoChallenge hashtag is a photo by one of our regular visitors Rich Berry. He snapped this Goldeneye eating a rather unusual meal, a Signal Crayfish

A tasty snack © Rich Berry

If you get a photo this month of a duck doing something unusual or an action photo, then share it with us on our Facebook page or on Twitter with the hashtag #LackfordPhotoChallenge.

On the radio

BBC Radio Suffolk will be interviewing our staff member and Visitor Assistant, Hawk Honey tomorrow (Tuesday 17th Feb) around 8:40am. He'll be chatting about our new wildlife cameras and other stuff, so be sure to listen and spread the word.

That's it for now, keep those photos coming in and do pop into the visitor centre and say hi.