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.
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| Osprey over the reserve © Mick Odell |
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| 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.
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.
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| Earth star on the reserve. |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Black-tailed godwit on the slough © Alan Theobald |
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| Juvenile female kingfisher © Barry Woodhouse |
