Do you know your gulls?

Well the Iceland Gull is still showing on the sailing lake and Peter Rutt took this photo of the gull in the gull roost. But can you tell which one is the Iceland Gull?

Where’s the Iceland Gull?

The answer will be posted at the end of the blog, no cheating! Also spotted on the sailing lake amongst the 15,000 strong gull roost this week, have been several Yellow-legged gulls. Both these and the Iceland gull have proved to be quite an attraction of late.

Half-term activities

As many of you will know, it's been half-term this week and we've had many activities here at Lackford, designed to educate and occupy the youngsters whilst away from school.

One of the most popular events, and one to get fully booked early, is the bird box building event.  

Great fun building the boxes.

And everyone who build a box got to take it home for their garden.

Many hands make light work.

 We also had nature trails for the youngsters to follow with questions and answers

 And there was also the opportunity to make your own bird feeders using pine cones, lard and bird seed, which was also popular.

Messy, but fun

 On Friday, the end of half-term was brought to an end with 27 Young Wardens between 10-15 Years helping with the coppicing of Alder at Lackford.

The Young Wardens get to work

All were rewarded with a tasty jacket potato for lunch

Away from the reserve

Unusually this week, we're going to drag you off to Shiplake, Oxfordshire where artist Wendy Nicholson resides. Wendy visited Lackford whilst on holiday and was lucky enough to get to see one of our Kingfishers. Wendy was so inspired by what she saw, that she created this beautiful textile Kingfisher

Textile Kingfisher by Wendy Nicholson

We would like to thank Wendy for sending this picture in and allowing us to share it with you. You can see more of Wendy's amazing work here.

The unveiling 

As many of you now know, Hughes Electrical of Stowmarket have very kindly donated us the large 42" Flatscreen LED for visitors to watch our wildlife cameras on. Well this week, Richard Whymark from Hughes came down to present us with the plaque which will hang proudly next to the TV. The press (Bury Free and EADT) were also there to mark the occasion and BBC Radio Suffolk also came down to talk to us about our wildlife cameras.

Visitor assistant Hawk Honey accepts the plaque from Richard Whymark.

For those of you who missed the radio interview, you can hear it again here and just move the slider along to 2:41:40.

Sightings

It's been a busy week on the sightings front with the welcome news that after spending their winter around the coast of Britain, Great Crested Grebe's have come back ready for spring at Long reach and the Sailing lake.

The Bittern made a surprise appearance in the week by walking about out in the open, away from its well camouflaged backdrop of reeds. Ken and Jane Rowe were there to catch the occurrence on camera

Bittern out in the open at Steggall's © Jane Rowe

The Little Egret has also been spotted several times around the reserve.

Little Egret © Rich Berry

Little Egret © Jane Rowe

Gold crest, Bullfinch and Siskin have been spotted along Ash Carr. Tree Sparrows have been sighted on the field feeders along Church Walk, a lovely bird to see.

The Kingfisher has been very active this week on the visitor centre pond, being sighted every day this week.

Kingfisher © Jane Rowe

Reed Buntings were spotted at the Double-decker hide and Goldeneye have been showing at the Sailing lake along with 14 Shoveller ducks. Snipe at the Slough and Buzzard's  have been seen overhead.

Don't forget to check our sightings board in the visitor centre when we're open for latest sightings, or to add your own sightings. The board is sited next to our interactive map which is updated regularly to where the latest sightings happen.

Our interactive map with photo bird counters denoting sightings.

As you can see, sightings are marked with photo counters, we currently need some more counters. So if you have any pictures of Siskins, Tree Creeper, Great Crested Grebe and Sparrowhawk that we could use, then please forward them to us at lackford.centre@suffolkwildlifetrust.org

The answer

So, do you know your gulls? At the start we asked you if you could spot the Iceland Gull from the picture, lets see if you were right?

Iceland Gull circled

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.

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