RSPB Middleton Lakes
@RSPBMiddleton
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A beautiful nature reserve just north-east of Birmingham. Relax or play...find a wild space to suit your mood. Account managed Mon - Fri, 9-5
Middleton, Tamworth, UK
Joined July 2011
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
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Middleton Lakes has joined the lesser spotted woodpecker club! The first drumming was witnessed at the weekend. They have been tip-tapping away in their usual spot, in the oak trees opposite the car park.
📷 Craig Alman
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Had a very close encounter with a goldcrest along the riverside trail yesterday. Too close for photos at times!
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Lots of happy faces on site as the ⭐️Pallid harrier ⭐️has been seen throughout the day. These photos were taken yesterday by Rob Bendelow as the harrier flew over Jubilee wetlands. Thanks to Rob for sharing these 👍
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A quick video video capturing the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker drumming yesterday in the woodland🌳
📷Jamie Ward
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What a Bitterntastic Spring we have had! We are delighted to share with you that Bitterns have nested for the very first time. Going from zero Bittern interest to 1 booming male, 2 nests with 5 fledged chicks has been incredible to watch (and hear).🧵1/3
It has been an incredible year for
#RSPBBoomingBitterns
. In the West Midlands, bitterns have successfully raised young for the first time in more than a century! Find out how this species is bouncing back -
Photo credit Andrew Wallbank
@atwallbank
Twitter
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The Lesser spotted woodpecker has been slipping on it's mythical status recently. Visitors have been delighted to find this species on site. Trees between car park and woodland entrance are a good place to look but they can pop up anywhere with scrubby cover! 📸by Roger Hunt
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Our wardening team, Jake + James were treated to close Barn owl views this morning! Makes early morning surveys worth it for encounters like this 🤩 (video by James Lythe)
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Working at the Welcome Hub has it's advantages. This morning our warden, Jake, has been treated to 2 males Lesser spotted woodpeckers😀 Back of the camera shot by Jake 😁
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Male Red-backed Shrike still present at 16:00, first record for the site. View from by East scrape viewing screen looking onto Jubilee.📷by our warden Jake.
@Staffsbirdnews
@MercianBirding
@BirdGuides
@RareBirdAlertUK
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Gulp! That's a sizeable meal. How many of us have eyes bigger than our bellies!😂This amazing photo was captured by our volunteer, Richard, who said the heron did eat the whole fish. But what type of fish is this? 🤔
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⭐️Savi’s Warbler ⭐️on Canal Pool (marked in red) found by
@MarkSmiles5
Still present but elusive. Car park gates will be left open tonight. No playing of tapes. A rare 11 warbler day could be had today 🤩
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It's
#worldwetlandsday
. Our reserve is part of a connected wetland landscape, home to otters, avocet, bittern, 20+ Odonata species (the list goes on!) Middleton Lakes & the Tame valley is an important place where people working together are helping wildlife thrive
#biodiversity
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Our entrance boardwalk overlooking the heronry and feeders is now once again OPEN! A huge thank you to our fantastic volunteers who completed this huge project! Great views of Little Egret and Grey Heron feeding well developed young from it this morning.
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We had a fantastic time hosting a Willow tit management and survey day. It was great to get so many from local councils, nature organisations + passionate bird folk together to discuss landscape scale approaches for this species. 1/3
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For the past 5 weeks we’ve had the digger and dumpers on North Pit to refresh and create wet features infront of the Lookout. We are pretty impressed with the results which should bring wildlife that bit closer! It’s exciting to see what will start to use this area 😃
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Nice to hear the first grasshopper warblers are returning now. The first one was heard in the play meadow today. And the lesser spotted woodpecker was drumming from the oaks at the same time! A nice duo of birds that you can hear as soon as you arrive on site!
📷Nick Martin
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Time to dust off your 'woodpecker ears' and listen out for the lesser spotted woodpeckers. Our warden, Jake, had one calling by the car park this week. Quite early for us, but, birds don't follow our rules! 😉
📷 Roger Hunt
@MercianBirding
@MarkSmiles5
@atkinson_steve
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Wow! How about these fantastic Bittern pics 🤩
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It has taken 150+ hours of monitoring by volunteers, local birders and staff to piece together what was going on, how the birds used the site and watch the Bitterns raise their families. Thankyou to everyone involved with all the Bittern monitoring this year! 📷Mark Smiles 3/3
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Meet our new English Longhorn cows. These two arrived yesterday, and are going to be grazing the Southern Meadow. We have 3 cows now, and although they are big animals they are very difficult to spot!
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We have quite a full sightings board at the moment! With channel wagtail to add as the photo was taken before it was found! So much change out there, it's hard to keep up! That's what's so great about Spring migration 😁
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A couple of photos of yesterdays bittern. Thanks to Alan Johnson for the photos and locating it! 😀Super views of a super bird 😍
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The little egrets have done well this year. 11 chicks will fledge (from 3 nests) - at least 3 can already fly!
#WildlifeWednesday
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Very excited to have a Blyth's reed warbler on site! We are aiming to open the car park at 6am tomorrow. Thanks to our wonderful volunteer
@corfielddj
for skipping the snooze button to do this!
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Important request! We have had multiple reports recently of people leaving paths & disturbing reeling Grasshopper Warbler + trampling important breeding habitat in the process. Please remain on paths at ALL TIMES & encourage others to do so. Please RT!
Disturbing reports of people getting too close to the Grashopper Warblers in the play meadow
@RSPBMiddleton
. With very few on the reserve so far this year, please give these birds space and keep to the mown paths.
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The lesser spotted is the smallest and least common woodpecker in the UK.
Did you know that these birds have a special shock-absorbent skull that protects them from damage when drumming? 🌳
They often drum on trees with their beaks to proclaim territory.
📷 R Hunt
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Starlings aren’t the only murmurators. Jackdaws flock & fly in cool shapes too. A roosting flock of 3000+ have been using the reserve. Last night, starting at the back of the heronry silt pond then ➡️to the back of the play meadow. The noise was incredible!
#WildlifeWednesday
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Natalie, Dave & Kate are meeting and greeting from our Visitor Hub today! Its the very first time it’s been open! A working progress inside, but have a chat to the team to hear about our plans for the Hub and welcome area 😀.
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The reedbed areas were willow scrub 14 years ago and thanks to hard work and expertise of volunteers, staff, funders + contractors the birds have found this area a perfect place to raise a brood. 2/3
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VERY excited to see my first Marbled White on the reserve this afternoon!! Looking at the butterfly records on the database, I can't find any previous sightings so it may be a first for the reserve! 😀😀😀
Photo: Ben Andrews ()
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Wow! A white-tailed eagle visited the reserve yesterday. Quite the shock for visitors and the breeding birds! It landed on North pit before heading back south early evening.
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3 pipit day! Our warden, Jake, has seen meadow, rock and water pipit on Jubilee wetlands. Along with 52 snipe, dunlin, 25 golden plover, great egret and 2 Stonechats (that were following him whilst he was mowing 😃)
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Little gull feeding on Jubilee this morning. Our Warden, Jake, found it on East scrape.
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A group of great crested newts lounging under a refugia mat today. Check out their funky orange toes!
@RSPBMidlands
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With the easing of government restrictions, we are pleased to have opened The Lookout today 🥳 Please follow the signage, maintain social distancing & wear a face covering when in The Lookout. 😷
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It was a beautiful day for our Winter volunteer gathering. We cooked spuds on the fire, ate homemade cakes from the team. Warmed our hands with hot drinks, feet standing by the fire + souls catching up with others. A fitting celebration to end the year with
#supervolunteers
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This cold weather has definitely been a shock to everyone, including our wildlife 🥶
In cold weather birds have to change their behaviour to deal with the increased need for food. This amazing barn owl was snapped hunting in the meadow last week👀
📷 C Allman
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Wow! This is something special. Otters are rarely seen in the daytime here. We catch them at night on trail cams. Anne was super lucky! 😃
Had a wander around
@RSPBMiddleton
on Monday whilst back visiting family. Had a surprise on the river!
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Middleton lakes looked great in the winter sun! Lots of wigeon, goldeneye and the male hooded merganser on Dosthill lake. Bullfinches in the car park hedge which looked very striking against the bare twigs.
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It's
#VolunteerRecognitionDay
A big thankyou to all our vols who make the reserve a special place for wildlife and people. 👍✋🐞🦆🦉🌱🌳
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Jubilee is the place to be! 3 curlew sands, 1 bar tailed godwit in gorgeous breeding plumage as well as the usuals on east scrape. Greenshank, 2 dunlin and the little tern out in the middle! Magic afternoon!
@MercianBirding
@Staffsbirdnews
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Its been a ⭐️3 woodpecker⭐️ morning. A male lesser spot was in a tall alder tree along the bridleway (marked on the map), great spots were drumming by the car park and greens were on the track by fishers mill 🙂
@MercianBirding
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Nicely full sightings board from a very busy sunny bank holiday weekend. Hobby’s have been showing well. At least 5 seen catching insects over the wetlands. A terrapin near the Lookout was an unexpected sighting!
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The Koniks are back on the wetlands. They will be grazing Jubilee for the next couple of months, creating and managing this mosaic of wetland habitats to benefit a whole host of species. Plus they look pretty cool wading about in the water 🤩
📷 by Holly Hadfield
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It is good to see the cattle enjoying a drink from the natural watering pool after the team cleared it last week🐄🐎
You can often find the cattle and konik ponies well camouflaged in the Southern Meadow.
#rspbmiddletonlakes
#konikponies
#englishlonghorns
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Volunteer warden, Marion, was very excited today to get this photo of a short eared owl on the Dosthill part of the reserve. If visiting this weekend keep a look out for this beautiful owl 😍
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Our volunteers rock! 😆Every day they provide Middleton Lakes with their energy, skills, kindness + strength. 💚This
#volunteersweek
we are saying a BIG thankyou to all you do and for making Middleton Lakes the awesome place it is. 👏👏👏
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Our Visitor Hub, play area + Lookout remain closed. We have opened our car park 8am-4pm, but please be mindful it has limited capacity. Please stay local to your nearest reserves/greenspaces. Anyone choosing to visit should observe all advice around social distancing and hygiene.
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What a poser! Taken by our volunteer Lou down the access track. Using his car as a hide meant bird not spooked and fab photo
@RSPBMidlands
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As is tradition in December we have a mega work party to say ⭐️Thankyou⭐️for everyone’s hard work. Spuds cooked on the bonfire, home baked goodies and stove heated mulled wine 🙌😀💚 Today was a good day! Thankyou to all our
#supervolunteers
💪💚⭐️
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Our intern team - Kate & Jasmin - came across the ‘ring tail’ harrier this lunchtime. They grabbed a few seconds of video of it before the lapwings promptly chased it from the Jubilee wetlands 😀
@MercianBirding
@Staffsbirdnews
Ringtail Harrier briefly over N Pit 08:00, lost to view over Dosthill NR .
@RSPBMiddleton
@MercianBirding
@Staffsbirdnews
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A green-winged teal is currently viewable from the Lookout on North pit. Be aware ⚠️ the path to the Lookout is flooded after today's heavy rain. Wellies are a must!
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Wow, there are loads of birds to be found 2day! Very impressed with the variety of birds and spectacle out there 2day.
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Will today be the 4th day the White tailed eagle turns up? The last 3 days, it's been an afternoon appearance and from the Dosthill part of the reserve. Look at the size comparison with the Buzzard!
Third day running the White-tailed Eagle has been at
@RSPBMiddleton
. Distant views over Dosthill and then disappeared into the trees. Great size comparison to see it being mobbed by a buzzard.
@MercianBirding
@Staffsbirdnews
@Staffs_Birds
#birdphotography
#birding
#birds
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Cattle egrets have been roosting with the other egrets. Watch from the boardwalk near the feeder area + look left into the big oaks. Standing in the car park and watching the birds fly over the oaks into the heronry is also a good place.
📷Ben Andrews (rspb-images)
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This week is
#NationalBirdBoxWeek
🦉
At
#rspbmiddleton
we have a lot of success with Barn Owls raising families in various boxes dotted around the site, including 3 known pairs in 2023
📷 Ross Johns (Birds handled and ringed under license)
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There's a fab variety of birds on site at the moment inc ➡️ Ls woodpecker, pintail, bittern, marsh harrier, avocet, ringed plover, snipe, siskin, barn owl. Yesterday a possible Siberian chiffchaff spotted along the riverside trail. What else is out there to be found!
📷R Hancy
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We are proud to be part of this project with
@thetamevalley
@WestMidBirdClub
@ladywalk_nr
& YOU can be too. To get involved with volunteering activities or to tell us your willow tit sightings, email willowtit
@tamevalleywetlands
.co.uk. Help reverse the decline
#WildlifeWednesday
With funding from Severn Trent Water's Boost for Biodiversity fund, we are starting an exciting project to bring back willow tit, one of the most threatened UK native birds. Visit our website for more details, project updates and how you can involved:
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Fungi don't always grow on the ground or on trees. Sometimes they find a home on our infrastructure! For
#FungiFriday
here are some Oysterlings(?) on a rope barrier. Our work party volunteer, Marion, kindly sent in this lovely find 😃🍄
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Yey! Marbled white on the reserve today. 2nd sighting this year. Fingers crossed it’s the beginnings of a reserve colony 😀
@BCWarwickshire
@RSPBMidlands
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Oh my goodness the amount of peacocks today is something else! Not seen this many for years! They are all over the site, but check out the buddleias - one must have had 50+ peacocks feeding on it 😃 And there must be 100s across the reserve
@BCWarwickshire
@savebutterflies
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A busy sightings board just in time for the West Midland all day bird count on 2nd September. If you are visiting the reserve that day tag us in your sightings + use the hashtag
#WestMidsAllDayer
to take part.
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The outside of the office is brimming with insect life today! So many using these plants (which I think are golden rods). Such diversity on one small patch 😀🦋🌱🌼🐝🐛🦟🕷
@lisajrwilliams
@Buzz_dont_tweet
@briza_kat
@Lucy_Lapwing
@RSPBMidlands
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It's been a week of spring migrant arrivals. The first sand martins, little-ringed plover, blackcap and willow warbler have been spotted on site. What else will we add to the arrivals list this weekend?
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The starlings have been creating interesting shapes! One of our regular visitors Roger commented, "I didn't go out this afternoon with the intention of photographing mushrooms, but this Starling murmuration gave me one!"
📷Roger Hunt
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Great morning to be doing livestock checks. Lots of redwings, meadow pipit, siskin & lesser redpoll flying over southern meadow. Some of the redwing were in the scrub. Best so far is a noisy Brambling flying over and a ⭐Hawfinch⭐
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It's been a 3 egret day! Not often you can say that! Regular little & Gw egrets were joined by a cattle egret found by
@atkinson_steve
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Bee orchids are popping up on the reserve. They play hide and seek with us every year😆 For such a striking coloured plant they can be rather hard to find in the grass! And don't always grow in the same place. If you see one, we'd love to see your photos 😍
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If you go down to the woods today you may be followed...by this little one. This gorgeous juv robin (it doesn’t have it’s red breast yet!) is showing less fear than most. Appearing very close to visitors & taking seed out the hand! 😃
Have you met the ‘friendly’ robin yet?
🥰
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The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and the Greater Spotted Woodpecker share some of the black and white features which can make them look similar. Sometimes it can be hard to tell them apart!
Can you spot the difference?👀
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Caspian tern still on jubilee north. Having a snooze on jubilee north with some common terns.
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An incredible record from
@ladywalk_nr
😀 Incredible and very cute 🥰🥰🥰
Comfortably our earliest brood ever, 6 chicks on the Tame today. GWE, drake Pintail & 2 Shelducks.
@MercianBirding
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1K
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We've finally found an otter on the trail camera!
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A very serene icy morning but lots to see! Firecrest was playing hide & seek in brambles by the river culvert/NE corner of Jubilee. 20 PFGeese flew SW, Chiffchaff canalside of Jubilee. Loads of duck & geese across the site. 2 woodcock over the wood early am!
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Update on the access on site - still some water covered paths, passable in wellies but take care. Whilst in Canal meadow taking this photo, a flock of Long-tailed tits flew along the hedge with Chiffchaffs, Goldcrest, Treecreeper & best of all a ⭐️Lesser-spotted Woodpecker ⭐️
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Merry Christmas to all our wonderful supporters, volunteers, and neighbours 🌟
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The sun is bringing the butterflies out! First Orange tips and Speckled woods of the year recorded today 😊
@BCWarwickshire
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The white tailed eagle is still about and ranging a fair bit. Could be seen anywhere over the wetlands but does seem to prefer North pit & Dosthill. Listen out for the alarm calls of the gulls as an early warning system 😅
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One of the most sought after birds at Middleton Lakes,
@wildpresent
had this incredible experience with a male⭐️Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ⭐️ today. A proper WOW moment 😍With a Blue tit as a size comparison you can see how teeny-tiny this woodpecker is!
Very nice and unexpected moment with a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the Tame Valley this morning
@RSPBMiddleton
@WKWT
@thetamevalley
@WestMidBirdClub
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#wildlifeWednesday
. Site manager Nick was accompanied by these 2 whilst checking fences! Great snap of a very flighty bird
@RSPBMidlands
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Lovely to see so many of our wonderful volunteers at our alternative Christmas meal - Spuds on the fire!
The warden + work party build a fire + cook spuds for the team. It's always great to catch up with our team in their natural habitat out on Middleton Lakes.
#wardenwednesday
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Our warden, Jake, has been out monitoring this morning. Spying a rather handsom male Garganey on Jubilee south 😃
@Staffsbirdnews
@MercianBirding
@atkinson_steve
@MarkSmiles5
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Did you know that RSPB Middleton Lakes used to be a gravel quarry?👀👷♀️
These photographs were taken pre 2007, before any of the amazing habitat work began. What a throwback!
#rspbmiddleton
#habitatwork
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Excellent start to the
#WestMidsAllDayer
currently on 93 with mandarin, tree pipit, willow tit, redstart, great egret, dunlin, lrp the highlights so far. Can we reach a 100 species for the day? Tweet your sightings to
@MercianBirding
and use the
#WestMidsAllDayer
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It's feeling a little bit more Spring-like this week! Chiffchaffs singing. Black-headed gulls back on islands. Avocets, redshank, ringed plover, dunlin + pintail some of the wetland highlights. Plus, all 3 woodpecker species are possible in a day.
📷 Sam Turley (rspb-images)
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It’s a beautiful morning here at Middleton Lakes 🥰 The canal from Fishers Mill Bridge looked stunning in the morning light ✨
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Nice to see a short-eared owl from the reserve today. One of several good birds inc bittern on North Pit (seen whilst Warden Will was working up there) GW Egret, Dunlin, Green Sand + Yellow Wagtail on Jubilee plus a tree pipit flying south over the wetlands 🙂
@MercianBirding
More photos of the short eared owl that i found in the crop field this morning at
@RSPBMiddleton
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Super pleased to have the reserve + Bitterns featured in the
@WestMidBirdClub
2021 annual report. Big thanks to
@MarkSmiles5
for all his efforts with the article 🥳
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Team Middleton are in Birmingham today supporting the #
#ClimateStrike
with our
@RSPBEngland
colleagues.
#YouthStrike4Climate
#FridaysForFuture
#UnitedForClimate
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Late news from yesterday morning:- hawfinch in the oaks on the access track. Lesser spotted woodpecker in the oaks opposite the car park & 4 Egyptian geese in the farm paddock. Certainly made Blue Monday less blue!
@MercianBirding
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A rare photo of the Koniks getting into the festive spirit 😂😝 Wishing all our supporters, friends & neighbours a happy and healthy Christmas and a jolly new year. 💚
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🐛Vapourer (aka Rusty tussock) Moth Caterpillar spotted at the reserve
#mothmonday
📷Marion Parnell
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A nice selection of birds and the 1st spring insects being spotted. All seen in the past 2 days. Thankyou to everyone who lets us know what has been seen on the reserve.
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We know that for many of you, Middleton Lakes provides enjoyment + solace in the natural world throughout these challenging times. In line with Government guidance on essential, daily exercise outdoors, during
#SecondLockdown
, our car park and trails remain open for you to visit.
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Although we are closed to visitors at present, we want to help bring the reserve to you. This week we are celebrating the warblers found on our site. 10 species call Middleton Lakes their home, can you name them all? We'd love to see your images of these birds on past visits 🥰
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Colour ringing provides a great insight into individuals migration history! This Black-tailed godwit visited us on the 20/04/20. 7 days later it was spotted on Loch a’ Phuill, Isle of Tiree - presumably it's now in Iceland! It was originally rung in Portugal on the 9-1-2019 😀
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Have you spotted our Konik ponies?
Konik ponies have become increasingly popular in UK habitat conservation. They are the perfect breed for the reserve as they have adapted well to wetland sites and encourage a richness of biodiversity by grazing grassland.
📷 K Ashley
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One of our volunteers was lucky enough to see a short-eared owl in the southern meadow today. It was sitting on a fence post on the south side and flew north towards the river/Dosthill!
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The heronry is becoming more active day by day as the grey herons return to establish pair bonds, repair nests + fend off rivals. It is one of our favourite signs of Spring on the reserve 😀🌱What are your favourite
#signsofspring
? 🌱🌸🌱
#wildlifewednesday
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Red necked phalarope showing well on Jubilee east scrape. Someone must have a better photo! Please share if you do 😀
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