A new look!

Well, as many of you will know, the visitor centre has been closed for the last week as we have had a bit of a change and a refurb. We’ve changed the layout of the shop and the reception area and added some wonderful new technology to bring you even closer to the wildlife that goes on around the centre. We’ve got new large maps that show the reserve in greater detail too.

The old look of the visitor centre

Our new sightings, map and membership area

Big change to the reception area

We still have bird food for sale, but notice the new addition!

Yes the volunteers and reserves team have been hard at work painting, varnishing, making and creating a new look to the centre. One of the newest additions to the centre is the wildlife camera TV which was very generously donated to us by Hughes Electrical of Stowmarket. This allows our visitors to see the wildlife that goes on around the centre via some new cameras that have been set up.

We currently only have 3 cameras in position and these are a bird feeder cam placed on top of one of the feeder posts outside. 

Not a speed camera, but the new bird feeder cam.

The small mammal, or critter cam placed inside a box which is buried into a bank of earth near the pond and a nest box cam fitted to a brand new nest box made by Wildlife Gadgetman, Jason Alexander.

A Robin checks out what’s on offer as a Blackbird patiently awaits his turn in the background.

A Long-tailed tit grabs a snack

A mouse having a nibble on critter cam

As yet, we have nothing to show from the nest box, but with fingers firmly crossed, we hope to get some new tenants soon!

We were supposed to have some new tables and chairs in the centre, but unfortunately, they’ve been delayed by a couple of weeks. But we still have goodies in sale in the shop which has been re-sited in the centre.

Lots of wildlife goodies to buy.

So why not come on down and pay the new look visitor centre a visit for yourself, we still sell hot drinks and cakes and you might even get to spot a Marsh tit on the feeder cam or spot the mouse on the critter cam like our video shows

Marsh tit.

Sightings

Bullfinches continue to be spotted around the reserve along the Church Walk, car park and the Kingfisher trail by the Sailing lake. Whilst looking for Bullfinches along the path, look out for the Yellow-legged Gull on the sailing lake. Up at Bill’s Hide on the Slough, 8 Goldeneye have been reported with the males beginning to display.

New for this year we’ve had two separate sightings of a Merlin on the reserve, so one to keep an eye out for! Bittern is still showing at Jason’s pool and the right hand pool at Steggall’s, which was captured in these superb photos from Ian Goodall:

© Ian Goodall

© Ian Goodall

© Ian Goodall

Up, up and away!!!

Photographer John Lord came to the reserve last week and with a special licence was able to capture these superb images of Lackford and of Steggall’s hide using a drone.

The visitor centre, sailing lake and Slough at top © John Lord

Looking westwards at the new hide at Steggall’s © John Lord

Steggall’s from above © John Lord

Please note: These photos were taken under licence and permission needs to be gained before any drones can be operated on site.

That’s about it for this week, please pop in and see us and the changes we’ve made at the centre, we always look forward to seeing you.

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.

Happy New Year

Well a Happy New year to all our followers, we hope you had a pleasant and safe one. As you may know, the Visitor Centre has been closed over the festive period, so not much to report. However, that said, we can confirm that we not only have a Bittern on site, we have two! Yes, two were spotted at the same time on different parts of the reserve, the first was spotted at the double-decker hide at Jason's pool and the other bittern was spotted at Steggall's in Wilson's Flood. If you've been down and got photos of the Bittern and want to show them off, the please email them to us at lackford.centre@suffolkwildlifetrust.org and we will post them on our next blogpost.

Other sightings over the last few days include the usual suspects of Goldeneye, Pintail, Goosander, Teal, Pochard and Little Egret on our various lakes, whilst Siskin's, Bullfinches, Kingfisher, Cetti's Warbler, Marsh and Coal tit's are also visible around the reserve and Visitor Centre as is the Sparrowhawk too!

Male Bullfinch outside the centre taken by our volunteer Judith Wakelam

Our Starlings are also murmurating around the Visitor Centre, which we had expected to have finished by now. Yet they still continue to draw in the crowds with over 70 people attending on New Years day to see the show.

Looking forward to 2015

We have lots of exciting stuff happening in 2015 starting with a bit of a revamp for the Visitor Centre. This means that the centre will be closed for a few days whilst the staff and volunteers get busy making the Visitor Centre an even better place to visit. The centre will be closed on the following days:

Monday 19th January

Tuesday 20th January

Wednesday 21st January

Thursday 22nd January

We will re-open on Friday 23rd January at 10am.

One of the new additions to the centre will be a live feed TV from various wildlife cameras situated around the centre.  A big thank you goes to Hughes Electrical of Stowmarket for donating a new TV to the trust so you can watch the comings and goings of various wildlife whilst you enjoy a cuppa and some cake in the centre.

2015 also sees us introducing some themed weekends for all the family starting with 'Winter Ducks' in February. Also keep your eyes on the forthcoming events list on the right-hand side of this blog, there's always something to do.

Plans are also in the pipeline for a summer time Bioblitz, where, in a 24 hour period, members of the public young and old, expert and novice will search our reserve to list every living creature that dwells here. It's something that has never been done at Lackford and the results could be a real eye-opener, so watch this space!

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