Spotlight On... Ashni Vaja
Charnwood Forest volunteer Ashni Vaja
In each issue we will feature a 'Spotlight' on one of our volunteers.
In this issue we Charnwood Forest recorder Ashni Vaja talks about how they got involved with the project and the skills they have developed in the process
My passion for nature and wanting to expand my knowledge on wildlife made me start volunteering with the Wildlife Trust around 5 months ago. My enduring enthusiasm for wildlife led me to pursue a degree in Biology. Having completed my first year of university, I was eager to come out of my comfort zone and try something new that is related to my interests and potential career aspirations through gaining some experience in recording and identifying of wildlife outdoors.
I came across the Charnwood Forest Project organised by Isabel, and the various activities arranged within this project caught my attention I’ve joined activities ranging from general wildlife recording sessions to Meadow Botany ID training on wildflower and grasses, to reptile survey training, moth trapping and a bat evening walk and talk with bat detectors. Having very little experience and knowledge of surveying and identifying wildlife, both Isabel and fellow volunteers have an awe-inspiring wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm and create a very inclusive environment in which I am encouraged to learn and ask questions. I’ve learned a variety of skills such as using field guides, binoculars, hand lenses and bat detectors - the list is endless! All of these skills have helped me develop my understanding of the natural world beyond what my university course taught me. I truly believe this project is invaluable in helping Leicestershire’s conservation efforts within Charnwood Forest.
Beacon Hill - Ben Hall/2020VISION
Charnwood Forest recording volunteers
Charnwood Forest recording volunteers
From a volunteer standpoint, being able to go out into nature first hand to observe and learn about so many different plants, fungi and animals helped me develop a new perspective on even the smallest plants and insects (that I never knew existed!)
This has inspired me to continue developing my knowledge in my own time, through reading books and developing the skills I’ve learnt in these sessions. My interest in identification of wildlife has only grown with each activity I have attended. It is difficult to pick a specific favourite session, because each activity was enjoyable and insightful, but some highlights would include the bat evening walk and talk. This was an activity I found incredibly interesting in being able to go out at night and experience firsthand bats being picked up on the detector. Another highlight is a mollusc identification session in which we identified a variety of different slugs and snails (which included even the smallest of snails that you could easily miss) as well as a moth trapping evening in which I learned a great deal about various types of moths.
I believe these skills and knowledge I’ve gained so far will be valuable not only for my future career but also within my daily life I will continue to expand my knowledge of nature and look forward to the remaining sessions within this project. I would highly encourage and recommend others to join these sessions if you ’ re interested in gaining a whole new perspective on the natural world
Charnwood Forest recording volunteers
Smallest Beetle in Europe Discovered at Rutland Water – Microscope ID Club
The smallest beetle in Europe, measuring just 0 4mm in length, was recently discovered at Rutland Water Nature Reserve It is only the third time this species has been recorded in Britain and the first time it has been recorded outside of East Anglia – where the two previous records originated.
The discovery was made by Senior Species and Recording Officer, Tim Sexton, during a fungi foray as part of the UK Fungus Day celebrations
The tiny beetle, Baranowskiella ehnstromi, is a member of the feather-wing beetle family (Ptiliidae) and feeds predominantly on the spores of the bracket fungus Phellinus conchatus – a species which itself is scarce in Britain, with fewer than 100 records, and is largely confined to Willow trees.
While researching the fungus, Tim found a journal article mentioning that the smallest beetle in Europe feeds almost exclusively on Phellinus conchatus, so went back to look at the tree where it was found As the beetles are so tiny, a piece of the bracket had to be taken back to the Volunteer Training Centre to be looked at under the microscope. It was then that several of the dimin ti e beetles were spotted crawling over the he fungus pores.
the beetles were sent to the County rder for Leicestershire and Rutland, ch, who confirmed the record.
ired by this microscopic discovery? n the microscope club at the Volunteer ntre, Rutland Water Get in touch for olunteering@lrwt org uk
teer – Thank You Event
s ago, we celebrated the work of the eer reserves team and had a get th food and a big thank you A lovely lled with great company, food and ts of love for our wonderful reserves . hank our volunteers enough for their rt and dedication over the years m we could not achieve our vision for cestershire and Rutland.
big thank you to Next for their chocolates to us as a way of showing ation to our wonderful volunteers.
Baranowskiella ehnstromi - Tim Sexton
Restore, Reclaim and Renew: Helping Nature Thrive Again
You have the power to help us create a wilder future We have a vision for a wilder Leicestershire and Rutland. Imagine our counties with more wildlife, more wild places and more people having a strong connection to nature.
Over the next year we have an ambitious plan to make a huge difference to our counties The work we do depends on more than just project-based funding it requires a strong foundation to drive long-term impact. This funding enables us to keep our essential operations running, from maintaining vital resources to empowering our dedicated teams.
This year we aim to raise £60,000 to create a sustainable foundation for our conservation efforts. With your support we'll be ready to tackle urgent challenges, support innovative projects, and protect wildlife and nature every day.
With your help, we will Restore, Reclaim and Renew Together, we will breathe new life into our toree's recovery 30 is to ry, ing the : es, creating king them erations ansform the bursting or it to sit ew access make this
Reed Sweet-grass raking at Tom Longs Meadow - Helping Nature Thrive Again
RECLAIM: Building Nature Recovery Networks
Creating partnerships and connecting people to nature by working with landowners and businesses to work together for the benefit of nature Reclaiming areas of lost habitat by working with farmers, businesses, golf clubs and many other groups to build wildlife corridors connecting areas together to allow more movement for wildlife and increase abundance of species. Your gifts will:
Create vital wildlife corridors, ensuring that wildlife can move freely and safely across our landscape
Foster strong partnerships, enabling us to work hand-in-hand with local landowners and organisations to create a network of wildlifefriendly spaces
We already have an established network of landowners committed to working with nature in mind. The Corridor Club in Charnwood Forest is connecting vital areas through wildlife corridors, and The Greener Golf Group is dedicated to working in a more wildlife friendly way. With your support we can engage with more partners on a larger scale to create a bigger, more joined up region full of wild landscapes and areas for the heart of our cal project needs to With your support, ion to nature that ort their healthy well being. Your
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national campaigns o our supporters ger voice for o experience the e. We are looking engage with more ructure, networks rk to really take
Building a pond at the BNCHA garden
Frans Pond
Earlier this year we were approached by Tony Clarke who offered us some funding towards improving a pond area This pond is known as Fran’s Pond after a previous Reserve Officer who developed the existing pond from scratch
The area had got increasingly choked with vegetation and during the summer, it was not even apparent there was still a pond there. Tony is very keen on his dragonflies and believed with some work, this pond could become one of the best ponds on the reserve for Dragonflies and Damselflies.
In the August Volunteers Newsletter, Reserve Officer Matt Heaver shared information on the progress that had been made. A digger was brought in to extend and deepen some areas of the pond over the late winter, leaving a basic canvas from which to work from. A boardwalk was then to be built between the areas of water to allow visitors to get close to the pond and view the plethora of life it contains.
Thanks to many hours put in by our volunteers, we can now say the boardwalk is officially open! The project has been a huge success with 17 species of Dragonflies and Damselflies already recorded around the pond in the last 6 months.
Events & Courses
You can now book onto our exciting courses for 2025 We run both Hedgelaying and Dry-Stone Wall courses from the Volunteer Training Centre at Rutland Water Both of these 2 day courses are suitable for beginners and are a great way to learn something new whilst getting hands on.
At our hedgelaying course you will have a brief introduction to the ancient art of hedgelaying, learn what it involves, when to hedge-lay and how You will also get the opportunity to lay your own section of hedge.
Dry-Stone Wall course will give you the basic principles of the craft of stone wall building or repair and give you an understanding of the construction of a field wall You will learn the techniques of the craft while you get hands on experience.
To book onto these events, or any of our guided walks and talks, please visit the events page of our website: https://www.lrwt.org.uk/events
Official opening of the Frans Pond Boardwalk
Juliette Colaço-Fournier - Assistant Reserves Officer
Sensational surveys
Over the last month or so, we have been lucky enough to carry out a variety of surveys on our sites, led by Tim Sexton (Rutland Water Senior Species and Recording Officer) and Beth Fox (Rutland Water Assistant Species and Recording Officer). A huge thank you to both Tim and Beth for your time and expertise, including Tim’s detailed report which has informed a lot of the information below These opportunities have been really interesting and enjoyable and have allowed us to learn more about our sites and in turn, how to manage them effectively.
In October, we surveyed both an existing pond and a newer (roughly 1 year old) pond at Holwell Nature Reserve It was an exciting day, filled with incredible invertebrates in both ponds We used the BMWP method (some of you may recall this method was beautifully explained by Beth in the last volunteer newsletter) which uses aquatic invertebrates as biological indicators of the water quality. The new pond has established well and had a BMWP score of over 100, which can be interpreted as very good - unpolluted/unimpacted water Some of the highlights found were water measurers, whirligig beetles, hawker dragonfly nymphs and, to Mick’s (one of our volunteers) delight, a leech! The older pond along the mineral line had a BMWP score of well over 100, which included water cricket (uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland), an abundance of diving beetles, micro-caddisflies and water scorpion. It was great to see a good variety of aquatic invertebrates in both the established and newer pond.
Many of you will know about the incredible wildflower display at Merry’s Meadows and will associate the reserve with delicate wildflowers such as green-winged orchids, frog orchids, sawwort and pepper-saxifrage. And you would not be wrong, Merry’s Meadows is an incredible example of a species-rich grassland but, as we found out this autumn, it also has an incredible array of grassland fungi (which makes sense as grassland fungi are a good indicator of unimproved grasslands!).
Early in November, we visited Merry’s Meadows to carry out a CHEGD grassland fungi survey. CHEGD is an acronym used to describe several groups of grassland fungi and takes its name from the initials of the five groups of fungi listed below:
Aeshnidae dragonfly- new pond Water
CHEGD grassland fungi survey - Sarah Bedford & Juliette Colaço-Fournier
A selection of specimens to ID back swimmer - Holwell new pond
Clavariaceae - Fairy Clubs, Spindles, and Corals
Hygrocybe - Waxcaps
Entoloma - Pinkgills
Geoglossaceae - Earthtongues
Dermoloma - Crazed Caps (and includes a few other key grassland species)
Waxcaps are probably the most well known of the grassland fungi and they come in a vast array of incredible colours. Waxcap grassland fungi are of particular conservation concern as they are positive indicators of semi-natural, unimproved grasslands - a habitat which has become seriously threatened throughout the UK and Europe, with a loss of over 90% in the last 75 years. Most species are associated with unfertilized, unimproved, nutrient-poor grassland - sites with a history of treatment with artificial fertiliser are unlikely to have more than one or two species present Waxcap grasslands require a considerable period of time to develop their characteristic mycota. A minimum requirement is 20-30 years, but the more diverse and important sites can often take many hundreds or thousands of years to establish. Therefore, many European waxcap grassland sites have disappeared over the last 100 years and the UK now contains a significant proportion of the overall European waxcap population.
The CHEGD score for Merry’s Meadows was 23; 15 species of waxcap, six species of club/coral and two species of pinkgill. I was hoping to see some earthtongues but we didn’t find any on this occasion We’ll have to look again in the future as grassland fungi do not necessarily produce fruiting bodies (the fungi we see above ground) every year. Some of the highlights that we found were Crimson Waxcap (Hygrocybe punicea), a scarce species in Leicestershire and Rutland and listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the global IUCN Red List and Orange Waxcap (Hygrocybe aurantiosplendens) and Honey Waxcap (Hygrocybe reidii) which were the first records of these species in Rutland.
The results of the survey are just phenomenal. There have not, to our knowledge, been any grassland fungi surveys carried out at Merry’s Meadows but previous records show six species of waxcaps have been found there, so 15 on a single site visit is brilliant. To put it into context, for a site to be of international significance for waxcaps, 15+ species on a single visit need to be identified and for national significance 11-14 species of waxcaps need to be found Another feather to add to Merry’s Meadows already beautifully decorated cap. We hope you’ll find the time next year to get out and about at Merry’s Meadows (and our other grassland sites) and enjoy first, the fantastic wildflower displays, and, later in the year, the incredible fungi.
Clavulinopsis corniculata - Meadow coral
Hygrocybe psittacina - parrot waxcap
Hygrocybe punicea - crimson waxcap
Clavaria fumosa - smokey spindle
Entoloma porphyrophaeum - Lilac pinkgill
Oily waxcap
Super survey team! - (L-R) Beth Fox, Tim Sexton, & Juliette Colaço-Fournier
Katie Jobbins - Assistant Reserve Officer
We’ve had a decidedly muddy start to autumn here at Rutland Water, with much of our focus on cutting back vegetation from the islands across all the lagoons and removing willow from the largest reedbed on the reserve all while carefully navigating our wellies and vehicles through the muck (with mostly successful results)!
Removing vegetation from the islands and wetland edges is crucial to provide our overwintering ducks and other waterfowl with loafing areas - calm, safe spaces where they can rest during the winter months During one of these tasks on Lagoon 1, we had an exciting wildlife encounter: two water voles were spotted while clearing the islands, with one even coming dangerously close to Malcolm’s foot!
In the Lagoon 3 reedbed, we turned our attention to cutting back willow growth, a particularly muddy and challenging task The work was aimed at increasing connectivity within the reedbed, with the hope that more birds will find suitable nesting sites in the coming years, such as bitterns.
The weekend volunteers spent a day brush cutting and removing the vegetation on the orchid patch, an important job which prevents the build up of nutrients in this area to encourage wildflowers to continue to grow each year and provide food and shelter for a wide range of pollinators.
All in all, it’s been a muddy but rewarding few months, with every task helping to make the reserve a more welcoming place for wildlife
Cutting back vegetation from the islands
Chris Hill - Reserves Officer
September is the time of year when we get the new Fun-Yak boat out onto Hobley Lake at Cossington to commence the maintenance of the tern rafts and islands It’s not a task I particularly look forward to as water levels are usually quite low by the end of the summer. Because of this, the soft wet clay is exposed around the margins of the lake. The term ‘walking through treacle’ springs to mind. Fortunately, none of the volunteers have fallen into the lake because they couldn’t lift their wellies out of the mud
Eventually, we manage to bring the rafts to shore and prepare them for the following season.We remove the years detritus and replace with clean gravel. To finish, we then cover with a tarpaulin to prevent overwintering birds making a mess of the fresh gravel (the tarpaulin is removed the following April to allow the birds to nest on the exposed clean gravel).
Whilst several of us are working on the rafts and islands, another group of volunteers are removing small willow growth from the margins of Upper Marsh and Hobley Lake Although we try to allow natural processes to shape the reserve, allowing unmanaged growth of trees and bushes around the margins of the water features will result in fewer wetland birds at Cossington.By keeping the margins free of trees allows humans to view the birds (quite important for a wildlife charity that depends on membership revenue) and the birds feel safer because they can see predators approaching. At the time of writing this article, common snipe have arrived in numbers and are loving the muddy margins around the scrapes, ponds and lakes.
We don’t often find the time to get here but Tom Longs Meadow was visited on October 15th After a truly soggy beginning to the year, I was surprised to find that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. To comply with the reserves management plan, an area of Reed Sweet-grass was mown beforehand and then raked up by the volunteers I have no idea why it is called Reed Sweet-grass, but other more appropriate names could be Reed Dominant-grass or Reed Comes Back Thicker-grass. It is hoped that cutting the grass will allow the spring flowering beauty, marsh marigold to spread further afield. We will wait and see.
Reed Sweet-grass raking at Tom Longs Meadow
Removing the willow at Cossington
Chris Hill & Alex Moore in the boat at Cosssington
ShelduckRetreats
RutlandEstates
are excited to showcase these new property developments in the Rutland Water area
Beth Fox - Assistant Species and Recording Officer
Oozing with character, these unique new detached properties have taken inspiration from nature; by being modelled on rabbit burrows (the natural nesting location of Shelducks) they are ideal for those searching for a more private home location. Boasting a private entryway leading into a substantial open-plan area, the cleverly designed spacious capacity would easily fit a large family clutch of up to 10 eggs. The building itself has been constructed out of up-cycled piping buried into the ground, ensuring good quality insulation whilst still providing a thoroughly rustic feel. These properties are all located on the islands of Lagoon 1, and with only six available this is an opportunity not to be missed.
Floor plan and Key Specifications:
Patio-garden with easy access links to the waterfront.
Generous open-plan living quarters with a cosy feel
Showings available from the Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre, Mallard Hide, and Harrier Hide
Black-headedbun’Gull’ow
This exciting new apartment complex offers unique detached living whilst still being set within a close-knit community of 24 apartments, this is perfect for those gulls wanting a more colonial feel. Made of quality treated timber and featuring modern minimalist designs these homes have been set on stilts, and completing these properties is a cleverly designed dual-purpose balcony and undercover retreating area. This ingeniously offers both a high vantage point from which look out over Lagoon 3 and a safe place for chicks to keep warm. These properties are ideal for small families with up to three eggs.
Floor Plan and Key Specifications:
Good community links
Stunning waterside views
Showings available from Shoveler Hide
Plots available:
Many thanks to the volunteers who were involved in quoting and surveying (…aka installing!) these properties over the past few weeks.
Matt Heaver- Reserves Officer
It has been a long process, but I am pleased to say that the new boardwalk next to Fran’s pond at Rutland Water NR is officially open! A huge thank you to all the volunteers who have helped with this project over the Spring and Summer You volunteers have done an amazing job turning the plans on paper into a reality and it has been a great pleasure to work with you all on this exciting project. To commemorate the opening, several volunteers and staff held an opening event on Friday 4th October. We were also joined by Tony Clarke who funded the project and a blast from the past visit from Fran too Many thanks to Sarah for supplying the cake! At the last count, about 17 species of Dragon and Damselflies have been recorded using the newly extended pond with several species seen egg-laying so we are expecting an even better year next year. You can see a montage of the creation process photos on our Youtube channel here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=axMt5TKo 58
Of course, you can’t go anywhere near a newly improved pond with Tim Sexton without him dipping a net in to see what he can find. While enjoying celebrating the opening of the boardwalk, we had been watching a Great Diving Beetle which after much careful positioning, Tim managed to catch. It turned out to be Dytiscus circumflexus (what a mouthful!) which is considered widespread but is rarely recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland with only 3 previous records
Dytiscus circumflexus
Dytiscus circumflexus
By September, thoughts turn to managing the wetlands ready for the winter wildfowl to move in. This involves wading through mud and water with a variety of cutting tools to clear the islands so that the wildfowl can use them as resting areas while being able to keep an eye out for predators. Each year our amazing volunteers get stuck into the task, sometimes literally in the mud, to get the islands cut. I am pleased to say at the time of writing, that this year all the islands have been cut and no volunteers got stuck, possibly a new record! Thanks everyone As well as volunteer help, we can also cut some of the islands with machinery but sometimes the mud wins and my proud record of not being stuck anywhere on the reserve came to an end this autumn with twice getting stuck in the Aebi. Thanks to Jill and Katie respectively for pulling me out each time!
The most recent task we have been completing has been the removal of willow scrub from the Lagoon 3 reedbed. Many reedbed species are intolerant of large tracts of willow so removing it is a constant battle. With Bitterns recorded booming on the reserve last Spring, we are keen to improve the reedbed to see if we can encourage them to breed Our volunteers got stuck in to clearing a patch of willow in October. Once again liquid mud was our enemy, but we got there in the end. Special thanks to Chris Barrett and Mich Michell for attempting the near impossible when I sent them out to clear a remote patch of scrub on the edge of the lagoon I only found out later that they had managed to cross 2 ditches to get there and managed to cut and remove all the scrub in one day. Truly going the extra (wet) mile there so well done!
Aebi stuck in the mud
Sophia Attwood-Clarke - Reserves Officer
The Sustrans boundary fence at Cloud Wood kept us busy for a few weeks after the last volunteer newsletter. Spanning the Western boundary of the reserve, it is approximately 500m long, and just about every post had rotted and decided to have a lie down. New intermediates and strainers have replaced the old and we took the opportunity to replace the stock netting that was there with a single strand of wire
The green path at Kelham has slowly been swallowed up in places by thorn species thriving either side. One of the jobs on the list for the winter months is to let the light back in and improve accessibility along this corridor, which will entice insects and birds alike The Wednesday team kicked this off, coppicing blackthorn, hazel and hawthorn and creating a dead hedge with the brash.
The Friday Cloud Cover group have switched over to Thursdays and, now that the boundary fence has been reinstated, we have turned our hands to this year ’ s winter woodland work. This comes in the form of a .27ha coppice block. It can feel destructive and counterproductive to clear fell large areas. It goes against our green instincts. The truth is that late-stage coppice, where trees take over, has the least benefit for wildlife The influx of light from coppicing triggers the profuse growth of woodland flora, which set their seeds until they diminish under the developing canopy. Invertebrates enjoy the abundance of nectar plants, and bare ground in a woodland setting is sought after by certain bird species. As the vegetation grows, so do populations of generalist foliage-feeding insects and insectivorous birds In early to mid-stage coppice, the combination of the sun ’ s warmth and shelter from the increasing foliage, is beloved of many bird and small mammal species for feeding and nesting.
Most recently, I took the powerscythe to Narborough Bog to cut this year ’ s fifth of the reedbed Volunteers assembled on the two days proceeding to remove the cut reed and top the willow brash which Alex and I had generated with chainsaws. Two ginormous hibernaculums were created. We have a little reed left on the deck and some more coppicing to do for this month’s Sunday task
Thank you so much team!
Sophia at Narborough Bog
TRO Alex Moore with volunteers at Narborough Bog
TRO Alex Moore with volunteers at Narborough Bog
Mowing, raking and coppicing at Narborough Bog
Coppicing Cloud Wood
Mowing, raking and coppicing at Narborough Bog
Sam Pitt Miller - Trainee Reserve Officer, Rutland
I’m counting the weeks as they go, or my traineeship will pass as one quick blur! It’s week 15, and whilst every day is still a school day, I certainly feel like I’m getting into the flow of things. Highlights so far have undoubtedly been tractor driving and chain sawing. Being out in the tractor all day with the flail, steadily working up and down fields overlooking Manton bay, is rather pleasant, if I do say so myself And the act of felling a tree, whilst somewhat saddening, is also thoroughly exciting, and of course completely justified in the name of thinning out single age woodland! It seems that forestry work is the main theme of the winter and I’m very much looking forward to it
It’s very nice living at the VTC during the week and having the reserve on the doorstep, the nights have drawn in but I’m already looking forward to spring evenings out on the reserve looking for wildlife. I’ve particularly enjoyed the mothing this autumn, catching several new species for me in the cherry wood trap, including a rather exciting Dark Crimson Underwing
It’s been great to understand how the reserves functions and how everything fits together, not least, what an important part all the volunteers play in getting everything done! It’s been a pleasure meeting and working with you all and I look forward to the remainder of my time here
Dark Crimson Underwing
Hard to believe we ’ re four months in already, the weeks seem to have flown by! The team and all the volunteers have been really welcoming and fabulous to work with and get to know. We’ve packed in loads of training and every day I’m learning new things. In just our first week we had a tour of the reserve and visitor centres, met all the grazing livestock, and completed our brush cutter and trailer training!
I’ve enjoyed being able to get stuck into all the different areas of reserve work, and seeing the reserve from new perspectives, like from the lagoon islands. It’s great experiencing how the reserve changes with the seasons and tie that into the work we ’ re doing, understanding the different habitats and species here, and what we ’ re aiming to create. So many interesting projects to get involved with as well. I’ve really enjoyed learning fencing fundamentals on the new Lagoon 5 fence, and also helping with the final few weeks of work on the boardwalk beside Fran’s pond. Possibly having way too much fun learning how to drive all the tractors and use the various kit we have for them We’ve also been lucky enough to learn drystone walling and hedge laying though the courses run on the reserve Sam and I continued the TRO tradition of running the Badger Watch events this season and I’m pleased to say we had badgers show up for every session. In November I was both excited and relieved to successfully achieve my chainsaw certificate and am looking forward to lots of tree and scrub work over the winter season.
One of the highlights for me is having the reserve as my backyard! It’s brilliant being able to join all the varied activities around and on the reserve like moth trapping, WEBS surveys, water quality sampling, bird ringing, fungi walks and Osprey talks I was lucky enough to view the spectacular aurora borealis from the VTC and can even say I’ve been able to contribute to some new species records for the reserve, like the record great white egret count in September!
All in all, it’s been a fantastic start to the traineeship and I’m looking forward to the next eight months!
Jill Dobbie and the team at Rutland Water
Jill Dobbie - Trainee Reserve Officer, Rutland
Matt Scase - Visitor Centre and Events Assistant
The autumn and winter have brought a different feel down to the nature reserve here at Lyndon With our visitor centre closed until March it is much quieter now, but there is still a lot happening and a lot that needs to get done.
Perhaps the highlight of the last few months for me has been the many events that we are now running along with the nature (and of course people) that have been on them. From beginner nature walks to family bat walks there has been so much variety. Back at the start of the year, I wrote in my newsletter update that I was hoping to see a kingfisher this year at Lyndon. I’ve certainly been able to do that now, in fact I feel like I’ve been spoilt recently with so many sightings. Getting to do these events has given me such a great opportunity to showcase the reserve here at Lyndon.
No summary of the events would be complete without talking about the Otters The early morning Otter watches have proven to be the most popular of the events we are running I was pretty nervous at first given how difficult it can be at times to see them. Despite their famously elusive nature, I am pleased to say we have consistently seen Otters on the reserve, which has been so incredibly lovely to watch
Over the winter and into the spring we will be continuing a number of events both on the Nature Reserve and in the centre here at Lyndon. Do take a look at what we are doing and join us for one of them: https://www.lrwt.org.uk/lyndonnature-reserve-events
Kingfisher at the Lyndon Nature Reserve
Gibbets Gorse at Rutland Water
Front cover image is a Tree Creeper at Launde Big Wood Back cover image is cutting the islands at Rutland Water Nature Reserve