A busy summer ahead!

Well all the schools have now broken up for the summer period and this means that the visitor centre at Lackford will now be open 7 days a week! Yes, now you can visit the visitor centre everyday during the school holidays between 10am - 5pm and enjoy cake and a hot drink as well as browsing the shop for bird food, ID guides or binoculars.

This weekend also sees the start of our Bioblitz Countdown. With only a week away from our first ever Bioblitz at Lackford, we can’t wait to see what you will find. Last year, another one of the Trust’s education centres, Foxburrow Farm, held a successful Bioblitz and some amazing records were made. Children were finding things that had never been recorded on the site before including 4 rare species of bee and wasp. Lackford has a diverse range of varying habitats in it 360 acres, so it’ll be likely that something unusual will turn up, will it be you that finds it???

Saturday 1 August from 4pm

4pm - Bird walk with local expert Paul Holness. No need to book 
6pm - Setting up mammal and pitfall traps. No need to book.
7pm - Family wildlife walk with the Lackford warden. Please book - online or call 01284 728706
8.30pm - Star gazing with the Breckland Astronomical Society. No need to book
8pm - Moth trap set up. No need to book
9pm - Bat walk with Bill Landall and Hawk Honey. Please book - online or call 01284 728706
10pm - Nighttime amphibian session. Please book - online or call 01284 728706

Sunday 2 August 

6am - Early morning wildlife walk. Please book - online or call 01284 728706

6am - Empty the moth trap. No need to book
7am - Bird ringing session. No need to book
7am - A look at Breckland plants. Please book - online or call 01284 728706
9.30am - Emptying the small mammal traps. Please book - online or call 01284 728706
10am - Checking the pitfall traps for mini beasts and spiders. No need to book
11.30am - Family pond dipping session. Please book - online or call 01284 728706
12am - Wildlife walk with a focus on reptiles. Please book - online or call 01284 728706
1pm - Dragon and damselfly session. No need to book
2pm - Bees and butterfly session. No need to book
Solar viewing throughout the day with the Breckland Astronomical Society. No need to book

As you can see, there really is something for everyone. Suffolk Biological Records Centre will be on hand to record all of the findings and experts will also be available throughout the day to help identify your finds. You may also notice that Breckland Astronomical Society will be present during the 24 hour period showing people the wonder of the night skies and solar viewing through special filters that allow people to look at the sun without injury. 

Places are beginning to fill up quickly on the bookable activities, so be sure not to miss out and book your spot for a great day. You can book your place here and then click on the relevant activity.

Remember, all the activities are FREE, so don’t miss out on this great opportunity.

With all these exciting things happening, news soon gets around. A new visitor to the Lackford area must’ve heard about what is happening at Lackford lakes and decided to check us out.

A peacock checks out the visitor centre at Lackford.

Can this be added to our 131 species of bird on the reserve this year, we think not. Peacock’s have yet to become a naturalised bird here in the UK and therefore stays off the list.

Sightings

This time of year usually sees the bird life getting a bit quiet and Lackford is no exception. The kingfisher is still showing off and on and can be seen in various places, but mainly from Bess’, Atlas and the double-decker hides. Stephen Whayman caught these fantastic images and shared them to our Twitter page.

Another elusive visitor to Lackford, yet often sought, is the turtle dove. Rich Berry managed to get a couple of shots though as the birds were seen in one of their usual places on the wires above the drive into the car park.

Turtle dove tightrope walking © Rich Berry

Having a stretch © Rich Berry

Some great spotted woodpeckers have been seen at the visitor centre feeding station. Hopefully, we will be able to get it on one of the cameras soon, when it gets over its shyness.

Great Spotted Woodpecker pays a visit to the feeding station.

Insects are one of the things that are not being so elusive on the reserve at the moment, with butterflies, bees and dragonflies being spotted all over the reserve. Duncan Fletcher-Brown and wildlife guide Jim Palfrey have been out getting some stunning shots of these.

© Duncan Fletcher-Brown

© Duncan Fletcher-Brown

© Duncan Fletcher-Brown

© Duncan Fletcher-Brown

© Jim Palfrey

So as you can see, this week and this summer sees lots happening at Lackford including lots of events after our Bioblitz with our summer activities.

Summer activities at Lackford

Don’t Forget, join us on our countdown to the start of the Bioblitz on Twitter (@SWTLackfordLake) and spread the word. We look forward to seeing you!

Hi Ho slither away....

Well the hot days of summer have eventually fell upon us and with it the burst of insect activity that comes with hot summer days. Dragonflies are in abundance across the reserve and our largest native dragonfly the emperor dragonfly can often be found patrolling the pond outside the visitor centre. Elsewhere, black-tailed skimmers, broad-bodied chasers, banded demoiselles, red-eyed damselfly and many more odonata can be found. 

Black-tailed skimmer by Rich Berry

Four-spotted chaser by Colin Robson

This abundance of dragonflies has brought in one of its top predators, hobby’s, which can often be seen flying over the Slough or Mill Deep catching and eating their catch on the wing, an amazing sight to see.

The kingfishers have been quite active of late and are often seen down at the double-decker hide. Mind you, it pays to have a little patience and wait for a bit if you want to have a good chance of seeing this beautiful little bird. Several visitors got some cracking shots of this striking bird.

Ellie Stones managed this lovely shot.

Rich Berry caught this juvenile perched.

Stephen Whayman shared this action shot on Twitter

Sorry if you’ve sent us photos which haven’t been included here, but our telephone/internet situation at Lackford still hasn’t been resolved and therefore we have no access to our emails at present. The situation is completely out of our hands and we hope will be resolved soon, so watch this space.

Butterflies are another species that’s been taking advantage of the hot spell with many meadow brown, gatekeeper, ringlet, painted lady, red admiral, comma, large skipper’s and many more being seen around the reserve.

Ringlet by Rich Berry

Large Skipper by Colin Robson

Comma by Colin Robson

A pristine looking Red Admiral by Colin Robson

On the subject of Lepidoptera, last weekend saw the next instalment of our Wild for the Weekend themed weekends with Summer Wildlife. As usual, the moth traps had been set up overnight and the warm overnight temperatures meant there were to be some wonderful finds in the trap.

Plenty of Elephant Hawkmoths were in the trap

A male Drinker moth

We even had a visit from our largest resident moth the privet hawkmoth pictured below.

A Privet Hawkmoth

As usual, the moth sessions were well attended and the gasps of amazement were all around as beautiful moth after beautiful moth were lifted from the trap.

Monday opening!

As most of you will know, the visitor centre has always been closed on Monday’s (except for Bank Holidays). Well this i set to change for the period of the school summer holidays and as from Monday 27th July, the centre will be open on every Monday up till Monday the 31st August. So now you can enjoy coffee and cake after your walk every day of the week!

Yes, the Bioblitz soon approaches and our website is now live and can be viewed here. Please have a look and book onto any of the events you would like to attend. The events are free, but numbers are limited, so don’t miss out!

It’s not just wildlife.

Lackford is renowned for its biodiversity when it comes to wildlife, but as Ellie Stones proved, it’s also a place to get some stunning scenic shots, especially sunsets, and shared this lovely photo of the visitor centre on our Twitter.

Sunset in reflection of the visitor centre. Ellie Stones

And finally...

By now, all of us would have seen the weasel riding on the back of a flying woodpecker. However, David Offord managed to capture this series of fantastic photos from Bess’ hide of a damselfly hitching a lift on the head of a swimming grass snake!

Who would like to add a caption? 

A big thank you to David and all of our other contributors to the blog, keep your photos coming and don’t forget, Suffolk Wildlife Trust have a wonderful photo competition that’s free to enter and has some great prizes. You can find out more here.

You stuck the ring where???

Well the weather of late seems most un-June like, yet the wildlife doesn't seem to mind too much as things are carrying on pretty much as normal at Lackford. This includes the kingfishers at Hawker pool which have now fledged and can be seen on various parts of the reserve.

Newly fledged kingfishers by Joe Jackson on Twitter (@EyesOnWildlife)

Our regular visitor and contributor to the blog Ian Goodall also managed to get some shots of one of the adults visiting and leaving the nest hole shortly before the young fledged.

Adult visiting with food. Note how the fish's head is pointed outwards so the young take it the right way.

Young fed, off to find some more.

Shawn Pearce even got a good shot which he also shared on Twitter (@spearcephotos)

Kingfisher in action by Shawn Pearce

Big thanks to everyone for sharing their fantastic photos, really appreciated.

You put the ring where???

A very unusual photo appeared on Twitter via Rich Berry this week, of an unusually ringed bird.

Ringed Greylag 'FJH' by Rich Berry

After a little digging we were able to find out more about this bird via the person responsible for ringing it, Lee Barber, Recoveries officer at BTO Thetford. Lee emailed us to say:

The bird you have seen are part of a monitoring program with the aim of finding out where Greylag and Canada Geese move to after they have been ringed and neck collared during their annual moult. I have attached a poster that gives a bit more detail into this project.  The bird you saw was an adult male ringed at BTO HQ, Thetford in 2014. This bird has been interesting as it has not been seen away from the BTO since being ringed and hasn't been reported for some time. The age code 4 means that it hatched before the current calendar year when it was ringed. The age code 2 means it was seen as a fully grown bird (i.e. not a chick). It is good to hear this bird is still going strong... 

Lee also sent us the recapture history for FJH:

FJH's recapture history 

At first when we began digging, it was thought that FJH was part of an Icelandic ringing project. However, as we can see, FJH comes from much closer to home. But still an interesting find and if you see anything like this at Lackford, please let us know so that we can inform others. Big thank you to Rich for sharing this photo and well done for spotting FJH.

What's the point of nettles?

Let's face it, nettles are not everyone's idea of a garden plant. No-one actually plants nettles in their garden, yet they are a very important plant in our ecosystem as Rich Berry proved with this photo taken last week on the reserve.

Nibbly caterpillars enjoying the nettles.

Yes, these caterpillars love nettles and we love the caterpillars, especially as these are the caterpillars of the beautiful peacock butterfly. One to keep an eye out for when you visit Lackford.

Another one to watch out for at Lackford are our beautiful bee orchids. These can be seen along the path leading from the centre to Bernard's hide. East Anglian columnist Nicola Miller shared her photo of the bee orchids on Twitter:

Bee orchid by Nicola Miller (@NicMillersTale)

Sightings

Well as we already know, the kingfishers are showing very well and after weeks of only being seen at Hawker Pool, they can now be seen across the reserve with sightings coming in from Double-decker, Bernard's and Reed hides.

Raptors are also showing well with daily sightings of red kite, hobby, sparrowhawk and buzzard over the reserve.

Adrian Sheppard spotted this water rail yesterday at Reed hide.

Water rail by Adrian Sheppard

The great crested grebe and their chicks can still be seen from Bess' hide and the red crested pochard still has three chicks and can be often seen at Fuller's Mill hide. Shelduck's still have seven chicks and can be seen from Bill's hide. There was a touch of drama today at the centre when a female mallard brought her chicks to the centre pond and abandoned them! She flew off shortly after arriving with the chicks, which left the onlooking visitors feeling a bit anxious and worried. But thankfully, after about 20 minutes, she returned and calm was restored to the centre.

The butterflies and dragonflies are showing up well at the reserve with sightings of meadow brown, ringlet, painted lady and large skipper and emperor dragonflies also being spotted on the reserve. The best place to see these are on the summer trail and the path towards Bernard's hide.

Tony and Sandy (@tonyandsandy) had a very productive day recording all these beautiful moths at Lackford recently

A wide selection of moths seen at Lackford (left to right: Longhorn moth, silver ground carpet, straw dot, cinnabar moth, clouded border, snout and a geometrid moth)

If you would like to see more moths close up, then don't forget to come along on our Wild for the Weekend on the 4th and 5th July, where we will be displaying some of the moths caught in our traps here at Lackford. This is always a popular event and we will be displaying our moths at 1 pm on each day that weekend. Don't miss out!!!

Don't miss this either!

Our new provider of optical equipment, Viking, will be at Lackford this weekend (27th June) to demonstrate their range of optics. If you think you deserve a new pair of binoculars or are thinking of getting a scope perhaps, or even just want to peruse and try some out, then come on down between 10am - 4pm in the visitor centre.

Kingfishers and dragonflies.

Two new arrivals this week and they weren’t chicks. The first was a pair of avocets which landed near Steggall’s hide. Unfortunately, they weren’t there for long and were soon off, later being spotted at another SWT reserve, Mickle Mere. The other new arrival was the spotted flycatcher, which unlike the avocet’s, should stay a lot longer. So these two new birds brings the reserve bird species list up to 130 for the year. 

The turtle dove has started to be seen again on the overhead wires as you drive into the car park. The best times to see these are early in the morning though. Although, there have been some daytime sightings in the adjacent fields.

The reserves team of volunteers had a bit of a clear out in front of Reed hide recently removing some of the encroaching reed bed. This seems to have had a positive effect, as hoped, as reed warblers have been showing well and also young kingfishers have been spotted there since. The young kingfishers are not the ones from Hawker pool though. These are young believed to be from a nest on the adjacent River Lark that have fledged earlier. The kingfishers at Hawker pool are still feeding their young and it’s believed they should fledge sometime this week, one to keep an eye on.

Juvenile Kingfisher with food at Reed hide © Duncan Fletcher-Brown

And in flight © Duncan Fletcher-Brown

Common terns have now hatched their young and can be seen on Hawker pool and tufted ducks have also been spotted with no loess than 6 chicks and can be seen from Steggall’s hide. Great crested grebes also have young riding on the adults back and can often be viewed from Bess’ hide.

The once famous stars of the Lackford stump, the nuthatch’s, have thought to have fledged their young, yet no-one has seen them yet. Another one to keep an eye out for. 

Strangely, in the middle of the night, the coots at the visitor centre pool, built a new nest on one of the floating islands and their last remaining chick has taken to sitting in the middle of it.

Coot with young in the middle of the new nest.

On the insect front

Things have been perking up on the insect front too and the butterflies seem to becoming out in force now with brown argus, peacock, brimstone, red admiral and common blue among others being spotted.

Male common blue © Rich Berry

Cinnabar moths can still be seen fluttering around the reserve and it won’t be long before their black and yellow caterpillars will be seen munching on the ragwort around the reserve.

Dragonflies are being seen in numbers now and the first black-tailed skimmer was spotted on the reserve at the weekend Damselflies have also been seen emerging from the water down at Orchid hide and are very numerous wherever you go on the reserve.

Dragonflies a plenty © Rich Berry

One damselfly that’s always a sight to see is the banded demoiselle and as usual, these can usually be seen from the bridge just before Bess’ hide. As always, pop into the visitor centre when you arrive to find out what is happening where on the reserve.

© Rich Berry

Every little helps

Well last weekend was our themed weekend Things with Wings. Being a Bank Holiday as well, the reserve saw plenty of visitors, many of whom also came to see what had been caught in our moth trap overnight. The moths caught included poplar hawkmoth, white ermine, cockchafers and many more.

A fresh looking White Ermine moth

Poplar hawkmoth hangs onto a Cockchafer for support.

Yellow Belle, a Breckland species.

The visitors were amazed at the different varieties that we caught and some were even brave enough to hold them.

Getting to know a Billywitch

Poplar hawkmoth wows those looking on.

Due to the success of the moths, we may be holding moth trapping days more often, so watch this space.

The weekend also saw us hold our first bat walk on the reserve. Thankfully the weather held out and the bats enthralled all those who attended the walk. We saw and heard several species on the bat detectors including pipistrelle’s, noctule’s and daubenton’s to name a few. Look out for more of these bat walks in the future.

Every little helps

As many of you know, there are many people who help out at Lackford by donating their time, whether it is in the visitor centre or out on the reserve. One group that help out are the Young Wardens. Last week they got busy out on the reserve helping to clear some willow to create a dragonfly viewing point for visitors to the reserve. They also helped by filling the new tree nursery with some saplings and planting some saplings out on another part of the reserve.

Maria gets ready to plant some new saplings in the tree nursery.

A sapling planted out on the reserve.

A big thanks to the Young Wardens, your work has not gone unnoticed. If you are 10-15 and would like to join the Young Wardens, then click here for more details.

If you would like to help out in the visitor centre, we are still seeking some bubbly, confident volunteers to help out on Sunday’s, Monday’s (during summer period) and Tuesday’s. See here for more details.

Plants for sale

We have had a fresh delivery of plants with a big thanks to all those who have donated them to us. Please feel free to pop along and have a browse, all we ask for is a donation and all proceeds goes towards the Trust.

Give a plant a home in your garden.

Sightings

The past week has seen the kingfishers showing well and now their young have hatched, they will be seen more often as the busy task of feeding the chicks gets underway. Many of the smaller birds such as the tits and warblers will have had their young fledge by now, so keep an eye out on the reserve as the parents still feed their young, but out in the open now.

Kingfisher approaches with food.

Red crested pochard still have 3 young down at Fullers mill hide and the shelduck still have 7 young on the Slough.

Birds of prey are still to been seen with hobby’s around the visitor centre and sailing lake. There have been more sightings of late of red kite and other birds visible this week were buzzard’s, kestrel and sparrowhawk.

Swifts have been plentiful, especially when the wind picks up, and so have house and sand martin’s. Great crested grebes are nesting down on the east lakes. This is also a good area for the dragonfly spotters amongst you. Recent and regular visitors Tony and Sandy (@tonyandsandy) recently saw and photographed this unusual looking four-spotted chaser.

Libellula quadrimaculata praenubila form (@tonyandsandy)

This form of dragonfly is known as a praenubila form and can be distinguished by the extra darkening of the wing-tips, which isn’t seen in the normal form. It is thought that this darkening is caused by the water temperature whilst the dragonfly is still a larvae. 

A normal looking Four-spotted chaser taken by wildlife guide Colin Robson.

Hairy and broad-bodied chaser’s  have been seen flying around the reserve and red-eyed, common blue, azure and banded demoiselle have also been seen in numbers near Bess’ hide.

Red-eyed damselfly by @tonyandsandy

Butterflies are also being spotted around the reserve. This weeks sightings include brown argus, red admiral, small copper, peacock, brimstone, speckled wood, comma and still the occasional orange-tip.