Here comes amazing autumn!

Well what wonderful weather we've been having here at Lackford as summer draws to a close. But fear not, because the hot summer haze has gone, it doesn't mean the wildlife has too. This is an interesting time of year with various creatures moving around to find suitable habitat to spend the coming winter months. As you may have seen from previous posts, ospreys have been seen flying over the reserve, the latest one was seen this week flying over Bess' hide.

Osprey over the reserve © Mick Odell

This weekend, despite the change in weather, we had hundreds of house martins and sand martins flying over the sailing lake, stocking up on insects ready for the long journey back to Africa. Wigeon have started to be seen from Bess' hide, one of the first signs of autumn. It's not just about birds either, here at Lackford for the second year running ivy bee has been recorded feeding off the ivy on the Church walk near the field feeders. This is the last of the solitary bees to emerge in the year and its emergence is timed with the flowering of the ivy, its main source of food. A new species to science, being first discovered in 1993 and found in the UK in 2001, its spread is being monitored across the UK and we're glad to have it here at Lackford.

Ivy bee on Church walk © Hawk Honey

We also look forward to seeing the arrival of our winter ducks such as goldeneye, pintail and the beautiful goosander. This is the time when our gulls starts roosting on the sailing lake too and we also get the odd rarity there as well. However, with anything up to 20,000 gulls coming in to roost during the winter months, seeking them out can be quite a rewarding task. However, watching the spectacle of these birds arriving every evening is also a sight to behold.

The smaller birds such as siskin, redpoll, redwing and fieldfare also visit Lackford and can often be seen in large flocks numbering over 150+ birds. Who knows, we may even be really lucky and get the odd waxwing too!

Then there is the fantastic fungi that is scattered around the reserve. Last year we have tha amazing looking earth star and chicken of the woods in Ash carr.

Earth star on the reserve.

And don't forget the wonderful autumnal colours that adorn Lackford this time of year as the chemicals within the leaves change to beautiful reds and golds. So fear not that summer has gone, winter is not far away and we have all the wonderful wildlife that it may bring with it to look forward too.

Autumnal colours around the sailing lake.

Opening times changes

We will be closing a little earlier on the 22nd September at 4pm, last food orders at 3.30pm. On the 28th September we will be opening a little later at 11am due to stocktaking. The reserve will be open as normal and these times only apply to the visitor centre. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Latest events

On Wednesday 21st September, published wildlife photographer Kevin Sawford will be giving a talk. The life of a Suffolk Photographer will start at 7:30pm and ends at 10pm. There is no need to book, just turn up at the centre.

There are still spaces available on Paul's monthly Bird identification and song walk, on Saturday 24th Septamber 11am - 1pm. Just click on the link to book your place at £4 per person.

For the children, we have Naturally Art where all the children always have a great time creating art inspired by nature.

There's been a new path laid around most of the kingfisher trail thanks to Tesco's Bags of Help, which raised £8,000 from the carrier bag tariff. The new path is more compacted for easier wheelchair access and replaces areas of the path that were quite difficult to negotiate in wetter conditions.

New path on the kingfisher trail.

Sightings

The kingfisher has been showing well across the whole of the reserve including the visitor centre and very few visitors leave the reserve without seeing one. As reported earlier wigeon are being spotted in ever increasing numbers. This is a strange time for ducks as they go through eclipse and even your basic mallard can look like something quite exotic. Black-tailed godwits have been spotted on the Slough this week along with green sandpiper, common sandpiper, snipe and greenshank.

Black-tailed godwit on the slough © Alan Theobald

Little grebe, great crested grebe and pochard have been seen from Fullers mill and Bess' hides and two snipe were seen from Paul's hide as well. Goldcrests have been seen in the bushes around the double-decker hide and treecreepers have been spotted along the path to Steggall's hide.  Whitethroat and tree sparrow have been seen around the visitor centre and tree sparrows have also been seen on the field feeders along Church walk.

Juvenile female kingfisher © Barry Woodhouse

Don't forget to report your sightings in the visitor centre before you leave, we want to know what you've seen whether it is common or not.

Birds a plenty!

The reserve got to see some snow this week, which created a lovely wintery scene for many photographers brave enough to face the chilly elements. 

Snow covered Lackford

One of these brave souls was Adi Sheppard who managed to grab this lovely shot of a Song Thrush with an all important snack that it had managed to find despite the snow covered ground. Thanks for sharing Adi.

Song thrush taken by Adi Sheppard

Some of you may remember last weeks photo of a Yellow-legged gull seen on the sailing lake. This gull is just one of many thousand gulls roosting on the sailing lake, which really is a sight to see. Jo Sweetman posted a photo to our Facebook page of the gull roost.

Gulls coming in to roost on the sailing lake. ©Jo Sweetman

Jo managed to grab another photo of a Bullfinch, which unusually sat by the visitor centre for a good 20 minutes before flying off

Bullfinch by Jo Sweetman

The gulls are not the only birds to see in charge numbers at the moment, strangely, we still have our Starling murmuration happening outside the visitor centre. Although the numbers are not near our pre-christmas murmuration, they really are still mesmerising to watch and still draw a crowd.

On Camera

The cameras are still proving to be a hit with our visitors and wildlife too. This clip shows 5 different species visit the bird feeder post in under 2 mins.

Mike, the centre manager compiled this video of our feeder cams on our Facebook page, which shows a new visitor to the mammal cam, a vole (possibly field vole). plus much more.

Sightings

Raptors have been getting spotted at the reserve of late with our first sighting of a Red Kite.  Peregrine and Marsh Harrier have been seen over Plover lake, Sparrowhawk over the sailing lake and a Buzzard over Ash Carr. 

Also spotted at Ash Carr were a Grey Wagtail and a Tree Creeper.

Goosander's have been spotted on the Slough, Sailing lake and Plover lake, Goldeneye at the Sailing lake and Hawker pool, Little Grebe at Bess’ hide and Snipe at Slough. We still have our Bittern showing at Steggall’s and Pintail at Plover.

Bullfinches have been spotted around the reserve including the one pictured above outside the visitor centre, what better way to enjoy your hot drink and cake whilst looking at a beautiful male Bullfinch.

Don’t forget to add your sightings to our board whenever you visit, you can find the board situated inside next to the map of the reserve. The Red Kite and Peregrine bring our bird species list for Lackford up to 92 species, the list can be seen here.

Don’t forget to join in our #LackfordPhotoChallenge by getting a picture of a duck doing something different than just sitting there looking duck like. Harder than you think! Don’t feel that this is just for those who use social media either, anyone can take part, just email your photos to us here at lackford.centre@suffolkwildlifetrust.org and we’ll post them on here on the blog for you.

Wild for the Weekend

Don’t forget, next weekend sees the start of our new themed weekends, which start with Winter Ducks. There’ll be something for everyone to enjoy, including trails and spotter sheets and guides around the reserve. It’ll be running all weekend, so pop in to the visitor centre and find out more.

A photo challenge

Well our first week since the refurbishment and the feedback as been positive with many people liking the new changes to the visitor centre. Our live feed cameras have also been a big hit with the visitors allowing people to see in great detail, the various wildlife that come to visit. This week's visitors have seen lots of Long-tailed tits, Marsh, Blue and Great tit as well as Robins and Blackbird's. One bird that did surprise us was a Pheasant!

Pheasant on the feeder cam helping himself.

Birds are not the only visitors to the feeder cam.

Squirrel getting in on the action.

The mammal cam is also proving to be a hit with the mice on the reserve. This video catches one mouse 'springing' a surprise on another mouse.

Many of you via social media have asked if we will be streaming the live cams to the web. Unfortunately, the rural internet at Lackford is not fast enough to support this, so the cameras are only streamed into the centre at present. An excuse if you ever needed one to come and visit us.

Keeping the food fresh

It is most important, especially at this time of year with overnight temperatures falling below 0ºC, that our wildlife gets the food it requires to survive. Feeders tend to get damp at the bottom causing the food to go stale and not very favourable to eat. So make sure your feeders are cleaned out regularly and topped up with fresh food. All of our feeders at the centre are filled with the very same food that we sell, so if in doubt about whether the birds will like the food you're about to buy them, come down to Lackford and see our range of food. Each of our feeders are filled with different varieties and you can see for yourself which one is the most popular with the birds.

Sightings

Goldeneye have been displaying out on the sailing lake this week. Goosander, Pintail, Teal and Tufted ducks are still scattered across the reserve. A new sighting this week of a Caspian Gull on the sailing lake around 4.30 pm when the gulls come into roost. Also amongst the many gulls was this Yellow-legged Gull.

Yellow-legged Gull  © Nick Moran (via Twitter)

Water rail was spotted at Bess' hide  yesterday (Saturday) and Otters were also spotted at Steggall's by two new visitors to the lakes. Needless to say, they went home very happy. Snipe have also been visible at Bess' and Steggall's hides. The Bittern is also on the reserve at the Double decker hide and at Steggall's. Siskin were also spotted on the path to Steggall's and Tree Creeper's at Ash Carr. 

Snipe © Rich Berry (via Twitter)

Kingfisher, Marsh and Long-tailed tits and the occasional Sparrowhawk are still to be seen from the visitor centre. Bullfinches and Tree Sparrows have been spotted on the Church walk towards Lackford village. Brambling has also been spotted on the reserve and a picture of this can be seen on our Facebook page

If you arrive at the reserve and you're wondering where the sightings board has gone, during our opening hours, the board is moved inside to sit next to our new interactive map so you can see where the birds were spotted. Please don't be afraid to venture on in, muddy boots are not a problem and we don't bite and you will be given a warm welcome by our friendly staff.

The challenge!

Yes, we have a challenge for all you budding photographers. Over the next few months, we'll be setting you a new challenge, this month we want photos of ducks on the reserve, but not just any old duck sitting there, that's far too easy. We want pictures of ducks in action! Whether they be flying, feeding, landing we want your pictures. Unfortunately, we can't offer you any prizes, this is just for fun. But the best photos will be displayed here on the blog at the end of the month when the new challenge is set. You can also post your photos to our Twitter (@SWTLackfordLake) or our Facebook page here using the hashtag #LackfordPhotoChallenge

Naturally Art

There are still places left on our Naturally Art workshop for 5-10 year olds of all abilities on the 7th February 10-12pm. £4 per child and booking is essential, call 01284 728706

Having fun at Naturally Art

That's it for this week, don't forget, we want to see those photos #LackfordPhotoChallenge

84 Species and counting.

Well the new year has seen lots of visitors to the lakes here at Lackford enjoying the frosty still mornings and various wildlife around the site.

Lovely crisp mornings at Lackford.

We've also had some wet weather of late too, but don't let that stop you from looking for signs of wildlife on the reserve. This week, the footprints of a particularly large mammal was found in the mud on the reserve.

Red Deer slots

Many people have been visiting the reserve to start off their years birding list and Lackford is the ideal place to get this started with 84 species of bird recorded so far. Some are easy to find such as the Gulls in their 15,000 strong roost on the sailing lake, our STILL murmuring Starlings in the evening whose numbers are down to about 3,500 (but still impressive), or Egyptian Geese. Then there are those regular, but not always guaranteed, visitors such as the Kingfisher and Bittern and then there are the much harder to find species such as our Tree Sparrows, Water Rail and Brambling. Good for those who like a challenge!

Egyptian geese in flight

Mistle Thrush finds a tasty snack

Lapwing have been spotted on the reserve in numbers around 500 this week as well as a large amount of Gadwall, 146.

Lapwing

Gadwall on the centre pond.

Watching wildlife

A good time to visit the reserve at this time of year to see some wildlife has to be the afternoon. A nice walk around visiting the various hides, you will get to see some of the Goosander from Bill's hide on the Slough, Egrets have been seen flying around the reserve too. Then you may get to see the Bittern which comes into roost around 4pm at the double-decker hide. Then watch as an influx of Starlings begin to murmurate in front of the Visitor Centre. There's so much to see here despite it being the middle of winter and as Nick of Norfolk said on Twitter:

Nick's tweet on Twitter

A big thank you goes out to Nick and all of our other members too. Without our members, none of what we do at Lackford, or our 49 other reserves, would be possible.

Goldeneye

And it's not all about birds either, the winter season provides plenty of photo opportunities such as the various fungi which can be found and with a recent report from the BBC about the huge increase in flowering plants in winter this year, some are bound to be found at Lackford.

Turkey-tail bracket fungus

Hazel catkins in the middle of winter.

Don't forget the little ones

This time of year when the overnight temperatures plummet, finding food on a regular daily basis becomes a matter of life and death for some of our smaller birds. So it's important to keep your bird feeders and bird table topped up with bird food and easy access to unfrozen water.

We have a variety of bird food for most birds for sale at Lackford in various size bags including the much loved sunflower hearts which are a vital source of energy for small birds such as tits.

A welcome visitor at bird feeders this time of year, the Long-tailed tit.

All change

As mentioned in previous blogs, there are some wonderful changes coming to Lackford this year. So that we can implement some of these changes, the Visitor Centre will be closed from Monday 19th January - Thursday 22nd, re-opening on Friday 23rd. 

We hope this doesn't cause you too much of an inconvenience.

Till next time, take care.

Better than Africa

Well an exciting week at the reserve this week, especially with the opening of our new hide at Steggall's. The hide was funded by Paul Holness and Val Wallace and was designed by  our volunteer and trustee James Robinson. It was all built by our reserves team volunteers and wood turner Mike Harding added a beautiful acorn to adorn the top.

Wood turned Acorn by Mike Harding tops the new hide.

The new Steggall's hide is about 1km from the centre and is octagonal in shape and is named after Peter Steggall, a champion of the reserve in the 1980's, who with Bernard Tickner, gifted the reserve to the Trust. It is situated in between Plover Lake and Wilson's Flood and its shape gives it an all round view of both lakes. It's been constructed from sustainable timber and because it was built by our wonderful volunteers, we managed to construct it for a sixth of the price! This in itself, just goes to show just how valuable our volunteers are.

Paul and Val officially open the new hide.

The weather was unseasonably warm, around 12ºC and dry thankfully, so the turn out was good.

Volunteers and onlookers turned out to see the opening.

Volunteers of the reserves team along will Giles Cawston and Will Cranstoun 

Well done to all who were involved with the project, your work is greatly appreciated not only by the Trust, but by all those who visit our reserve too. Great job!

Better than Africa?

Well, there's been some new sightings on the reserve this week along with the usual suspects of Goosander, Goldeneye, Pintail, Kingfisher and over 290 Teal on the Slough. There's also been a sighting of a family of otters around Bess' and Atlas hide around 3pm and a suspected sighting of Bittern to the NE of the Double-decker hide. We haven't had any other sightings of it yet, but watch this space and we'll keep you posted! 

Last evening (19th Dec) a House Martin was spotted by birder Nick Moran and those gathered to watch the Starling murmuration. This is most unusual, as the last recorded House Martin in the UK (according to Birdtrack) is the 3rd December. It is unlikely that this bird will now complete its journey to Africa, where it should be by now. So it looks like it might see it's Xmas in colder climes.

Female Goldeneye by Ian Goodall

 

Goosanders on the Slough by Ian Goodall

Xmas opening

Just a reminder that the visitor centre will be closed from Christmas Eve right through to the 31st December and this will be the last blog post of 2014. We've had a wonderful year here at Lackford with some exciting times and we have even more exciting times ahead for us in 2015. Everyone here at Lackford would like to thank all our visitors and members and wish them and their families a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2015.

Walking in a winter wonderland!

Well the Xmas season is well and truly upon us by now and these cold winter days sees the reserve looking beautiful with mists rolling across the still lakes, the lovely sunrises and sunsets, Lackford really is the place to spend a little quality time with a long quiet walk around our beautiful reserve.

Still morning sunrise

The view from the Double-decker hide

Bring your binoculars along with you, or hire some from our visitor centre to use around the reserve. There are plenty of winter ducks spread across the several lakes such as Goosander, Goldeneye and Pintail and most are visible from our 11 hides. 

Tufted duck by Ian Goodall

We currently have Bullfinches showing on the paths and around the centre as well as Siskin and new this week, Redpoll's have also arrived.

You might even get to see a Nuthatch like this one taken by Rich Berry:

Nuthatch finds a tasty little morsel by Rich Berry

If you want to see something a little different, why not look out for some Snipe on the Slough.

Snipe by Peter Rutt

And on the way back, look to the sailing lake for our 10,000+ gull roost. If all this hasn't quenched your thirst, then why not finish your walk in our lovely warm visitor centre where you can sit down with a nice warm drink and slice of cake and watch the birds on our feeders, you may even get a chance to see our regular visitor, the Kingfisher, like this one snapped by Ellie Stones.

Ellie Stones first ever shot of a Kingfisher, and what a shot too!

There's still one more wonder to see whilst in the visitor centre and that's our wonderful Starling murmuration which happens right outside the centre and can be viewed from the comfort and warmth inside. Last week the murmuration reached around 17,000 birds, but as the reed bed the Starlings are roosting in becomes more and more unsuitable (several thousand birds create a lot of waste) the numbers are beginning to drop. So make a visit soon before this amazing natural spectacle comes to an end. 

Christmas shopping all done?

Not many shopping days left now and for those of you who are still struggling to find that special something to give as a gift this Christmas, you need look no further than our on site shop.

Our selection of bird feed and feeders ideal for any garden.

We have plenty of bird feed and feeders for any bird loving gardener, or books for the nature lover in your family.

A fine selection of gift ideas for Xmas

And for the younger members of your family, we also have a fine selection of soft cuddly wildlife toys, or face masks, or for the more intrepid young explorers, we also have bug hunting kits.

Some of our cuddly owls

If you would like to give something just that bit more special, why not give a Suffolk Wildlife Trust membership? For a minimum monthly direct debit donation of £4 a month, you can give a gift of our beautiful members book by Steve Alyward that details all our beautiful reserves, a regular magazine that keeps our members up to date with all that is happening within the trust, a wildlife project and spotters book for our younger members in the family membership is also included. ALSO, this special offer also includes The Mammals of Suffolk Book by Dr Simone Bullion which details all of Suffolk's mammals with detailed colour pictures and distribution data and a lovely cotton bag to take it all away in. 

The new hide

As many of you will know, the path down to Steggall's hide has been closed for the last week whilst the reserves team finish off the new hide and remove the old one. The new hide will be officially opened on 18th December from midday, please come down and have a look, the reserve's team of volunteers have done a wonderful job.

Highlights of 2014

Well, as 2014 comes to an end, it's time to look back at some of the highlights over the last year at Lackford.

We had a great number of fledging birds on the reserve with many numbers of birds having 2nd and 3rd broods and 7 Barn Owl's also fledged, which is a great number for this species. Also 11 Great Crested Grebe's also fledged.

Nightingales and Turtle Doves were recorded breeding on the reserve.

A Great Reed Warbler stopped over for 24hrs

9 Black Tern were recorded using the Sailing lake

6 Cuckoo's were recorded egg laying on the reserve too.

We had a great butterfly year this year with Grayling being recorded for the first time at Lackford.

Dragonflies and damselflies also had a good year with 18 species being recorded.

And last but not least, a brand new, fantastic looking hide was built which will be opened this week.

Looking forward to 2015

We have lots of exciting new ideas for 2015 including a bit of a revamp for the centre as well as some new live wildlife cameras and a Bioblitz are just a few things happening at the reserve. Keep an eye on our blog for more updates about latest events. 

Xmas opening

The visitor centre will be closed from 24th December to 31st December.

Frozen Festive Fun!

There are still few spaces left for this event on 22nd December 1-3pm, but places need to be booked in advance. Cost is £4 per child (4-10 year olds), there will a winter trail and they will be able to create 'Frozen' inspired festive crafts and other Xmas decorations. This is a good opportunity to finish the Christmas shopping whilst the kids have some fun!

It's getting chilly!

Well, it's now December and the chilly mornings are with us. Despite the various flooding events last week that saw much of the reserve closed, the birds were not deterred from visiting with Pintails  and Goosander being spotted on the Slough, Goldeneye on the sailing lake and our regular Kingfisher and Sparrowhawk on the visitor centre pond. Bullfinches have also been seen around the centre in the car park and by the pond. Redwings and Fieldfare still continue to be seen on the track leading to the reserve.

Pintail by Ian Goodall

The Starlings are still murmuring and numbers are growing with an estimated 17,000 at last count. The time the murmuration happens is never set and can be early or late. Best to get here around 2pm so you can have a nice walk around the reserve and then settle in the visitor centre with a nice cuppa to see the display, which last week, was quite spectacular.

The new hide

The new hide is nearing completion and is on course for its grand opening on the 18th December. The path to Steggall's is closed from the Atlas hide onwards this week whilst the old hide is removed from the site.

Looking good, new hide is almost complete.

Well it's now December and the weather has begun to turn. Despite the various flooding last week due to the River Lark bursting its banks, it hasn't deterred the birds. A few Pintails have been sighted on the Slough as well as more Fieldfares and Redwings spotted around the reserve. The Kingfisher is still showing well at the centre lake. Goosanders, Goldeneye's, Bullfinches and a Little Egret have also been spotted around our reserve and the Sparrowhawk is still a regular visitor.

Naturally Art

We had one of our Naturally Art workshops this week where children get to create things inspired by the natural world.

Rosie and a friend get to work

All getting ready to start the day

Wonder what these will grow into????

The finished creations from our Naturally Art participants

We have a Naturally Art workshop on a Saturday once a month, why not bring your child to express their imaginations! Or, if you can't wait till next month, why not bring them along to our Frozen Festive Fun Christmas Activity Afternoon on 22nd December 1-3pm for 4-10 year olds. There will be a winter trail, Frozen inspired festive craft activities and other decorations and all for only £4.

Pre-booking is essential for this event as places fill quickly, to book your place call 01284 728706