Otter at the centre!

The otter still continues to show at Lackford and even came to the visitor centre for 20 minutes on Wednesday, much to the delight of all the visitors in the centre, although the ducks in the pond were not too happy about such a visit.

Otter at Visitor Centre pond photographed by Stephanie Holland.

The otter was thought to be a young male/female and by the amount of energy it was using by swimming rather fast around the lake creating large bow waves without breaking the surface, it most definitely had the energy to be a young one. Needless to say, everyone who visits the centre, eagerly peers out of the windows in the hope it has paid a return visit. 

Kingfishers still continue to be seen from most of the hides around the reserve with most sightings at the visitor centre, the double-decker, Bill's and Bess' hides. Snipe are also becoming a common spot, especially at Bernard's hide. Wigeon and teal can also be seen increasing in numbers and little egrets are having a good time fishing by standing on the weed in the middle of the sailing lake. The hobby's haven't been seen for a while now and are most likely on their way back to warmer climes. Latest arrivals to Lackford are redwings with several flocks totalling around 100 birds seen in the past week overhead. reports of fieldfare in the surrounding countryside will hopefully mean that these will also be seen here soon.

Other birds we await the arrival of are gooseanders, goldeneye, pintail and bittern of course. Who will be the first to spot the arrival of these beautiful birds?

Something else that's been spotted of late in the evening flying over Lackford are small groups of starlings. Last year, we had around 17,000 starlings murmurating above Lackford and two years before that, the numbers were nearer 30,000. So with fingers crossed, we're hoping that they will return again this year and hopefully, in large numbers too. Watch this space and we will keep you posted. 

An unusual sighting of the lucky kind!

We get many visitors to Lackford Lakes and from time to time, people report to us unusual sightings of things they have spotted on the reserve. Well a young David Ashford returned to the centre with a beaming smile after he found this rarity, a 4-leaf clover!

David Ashford with his 4-leaf clover.

On the subject of unusual things, we now have Earth stars appearing in Ash Carr, the wooded section of the reserve. What are Earth stars? I hear you ask. They are a form of fungi that look like a star. Here's a photo of the ones on the reserve at the moment.

One open Earth star with two more waiting to open (bottom right).

Closer view of the Earth star.

Now is a good time to get down to Lackford if you want to see these beautiful fungi as they won't last long. Be sure to pop into the visitor centre on your arrival and a member of the visitor team will direct you to the right location.

When you park up in the car park, have a look at the weave fencing surrounding the car park. If you look closely, you might see a fascinating insect known as an ichnuemon wasp. These are long (about 6cm), black and thin with orange legs and a long ovipositor.

A female ichnuemon seeks out her prey.

These are likely to be Dolichomitus sp and they are on the hunt for wood boring beetle larvae that have infested the wood. They use their long ovipositor, which is not a stinger, to drill into the wood down to where the larvae are munching away and lay an egg. The egg later hatches and devours the beetle larvae.

Ovipositor in action being drilled into the wood.

Other insects still being spotted around the reserve are the hornets and wasp nests, which are still doing well. Peacock, brimstone, small copper and brown argus can still be spotted on the sunnier days around the reserve.

On the subject of butterflies, listen to visitor officer Hawk Honey talking about overwintering butterflies on BBC Radio Suffolk with Lesley Dolphin at 2:10pm, 6th November.

Christmas cards

Yes, it's that time again and we now have a full stock of wonderful Christmas cards on display at Lackford.

Xmas is on its way!

We also have lots of new stock that would make ideal presents, so why not pop in and have a look around.

Starlings

As many of you may remember, last year saw a starling murmuration over Lackford with numbers around 17,000 birds. They haven't started murmurating here yet, but reports say that the birds are beginning to be sen in large flocks in the surrounding area at Lackford. So hopefully, it won't be long. Keep those fingers crossed.

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.