Lackford Lakes Wildlife Sightings

September and October is a time of change, where we gradually change see our summer visitors leave us and start to see the arrival of our winter visitors.  There is still plenty of dragonflies and butterflies to be seen. At the same time, snipe return and we see a build-up of ducks on our lakes.

Water Birds

• Great white egret, little egret and grey heron entertain us on the lakes
• Wader-wise – snipe, lapwing and green sandpiper are regular on the slough.
• Duck-wise – teal have returned and are now building up.  Also look out for tufted duck, gadwall, wigeon and shoveler.
• A few great crested grebes can still be seen.
• Kingfishers seen daily.

Birds of prey

• Regular sparrowhawk, buzzard, red kite and kestrel
• The occasional marsh harrier passes through
• Hobby is still a possibility

Other birds

• Warblers are still passing through – look out for chiffchaff, willow warbler and reed warbler
• Mixed flocks of tits feeding – marsh, great, blue and long-tailed tits.
• Woodpeckers – green and great spotted woodpeckers are fairly active at this time of year.

Butterflies

• Good time of year for red admiral.
• Others to look out for include the whites, comma and speckled wood

Dragonflies

• Migrant hawker are very obvious at this time of year.
• Common darter like these months on the reserve – try the raised pond area.
• Look closely at branches and you just might find a willow emerald damselfly resting on it.

Our daily sightings book is in the centre.   Please add your sightings before you leave so we know what is around and what is arriving.

Heading into August at Lackford Lakes and our butterflies and dragonflies are still very active around the reserve.

Starting with those beautiful butterflies.  We are really fortunate to have good numbers of butterflies on the reserve and so far, this year we have seen 27 different types of butterflies on the reserve.  The latest addition to the list has been clouded yellow.  These have been appearing at various places on the reserve, Sayer’s Breck trail seems to be best for seeing these.  Others to look out for include:  small heath, red admiral, peacock, comma, painted lady and speckled wood.

As with butterflies, Lackford is really good for dragonflies / damselflies.  Damselflies to look out for include red-eyed damselfly and common blue damselfly.  Dragonflies to look out for include black-tailed skimmer, common darter, ruddy darter, brown hawker, southern hawker, emperor dragonfly and migrant hawker.

Other wildlife to look for include: 

• Great crested grebes on our eastern lakes
• Common terns are around.
• Flocks of tits feeding around the reserve – blue, great and marsh.
• Red-mason bees around the centre
• Lapwing and common sandpiper occasionally on the slough.
• Quite a few hummingbird hawkmoths around.
• Kingfisher being occasionally seen on the slough. 

Summer is a great time to visit Lackford Lakes to see the range of wildlife that we have on the reserve.  Please let us know what you see during your next visit by filling in the sightings book in the centre.

As we move into the middle of summer at Lackford Lakes we enter the time when our butterflies and dragonflies become really active around the reserve. 

Starting with those beautiful butterflies.  We are really fortunate to have good numbers of butterflies on the reserve and so far, this year we have seen 26 different types of butterflies on the reserve.  Right now, at Lackford it is worth looking for the following butterflies:  large skipper, small skipper, essex skipper, large white, green-veined white, small copper, brown argus, red admiral, painted lady, small tortoiseshell, comma, meadow brown, gatekeeper and ringlet.

As with butterflies, Lackford is really good for dragonflies / damselflies.  Damselflies to look out for include red-eyed damselfly and azure damselfly.  Dragonflies to look out for include black-tailed skimmer, common darter, ruddy darter, brown hawker, southern hawker, emperor dragonfly and lesser emperor dragonfly.

Other wildlife to look for include: 

• Great crested grebes on our eastern lakes
• Swifts on the cameras in the centre (currently 4 weeks old)
• Flocks of tits feeding around the reserve – blue, great and marsh.
• Red-mason bees around the centre

Summer is a great time to visit Lackford lakes to see the range of wildlife that we have on the reserve.  Please let us know what you see during your next visit by filling in the sightings book in the centre.

This past week, it has been the dragonflies and damselflies that have been amazing.  During this hot sunny spell, they have emerged in numbers throughout the reserve.  Some of the specials to look out for include lesser emperor, Norfolk Hawker and red-veined darter.

Here is the list of dragonflies and damselflies on the wing right now at Lackford:
• emperor 
• lesser emperor  
• Norfolk hawker
• brown hawker
• four-spotted chaser
• black-tailed skimmer
• scarce chaser
• red-veined darter
• common blue damselfly
• red-eyed damselfly
• Banded demoiselle

As you wander around the reserve look out too for butterflies too like painted lady, red admiral, small heath, brown argus and speckled wood.

Bird wise, many are now busy sitting on eggs and feeding young.  Look out for the warblers such as lesser whitethroat, common terns, great crested grebes, lapwing, oystercatcher, hobby, red kite and swifts.

In the centre you watch our live cameras on two of our swift boxes.  They have laid three eggs in both of our boxes in the last week.

The summer months are great time of year to visit Lackford Lakes for butterflies and dragonflies.  Please let us know what you see during your next visit by filling in the sightings book in the centre.

As we head into May, we are probably entering our peak time for singing birds and finding those warblers on the reserve.  Butterflies are currently good for this time of year and quite a few damselflies are emerging.

Starting with singing birds, listen and look for are blackcap, garden warbler, lesser whitethroat, whitethroat, reed warbler and sedge warbler. The star bird is nightingale.  We think we have up to 10 singing birds this year. The best time to visit is in the morning for these birds.

Other spring arrivals to look out for include cuckoo, hobby, swallow and swifts. 

On the slough, look out for avocets, little ringed plover and common sandpiper.

For butterflies up to 12 different species can be seen.  Look out for brown argus, small copper, green hairstreak, orange tip, green-veined white, brimstone and more.

Lastly, the first damselflies and dragonflies are now appearing around the reserve.  Look out for large red damselfly, common blue damselfly, hairy dragonfly and four-spotted chaser.

May is a great month to explore, Lackford Lakes nature reserve for a range of wildlife from singing birds to dragonflies.

Nightingales are back! On Tuesday 7^th April, the first nightingale returned to Lackford Lakes.  As the week continued, up to 3 nightingales have been recorded singing around our red trail (Sayers Breck).  They won’t be singing all the time, so a morning visit is recommended. 

At the same time, sedge warblers, reed warblers and whitethroat started to arrive back from Africa so the arrival of the birds from Africa really got going.  Over the coming week, more of these will arrive on the reserve, along with others that are still to be recorded. 

We have also started to see more swallows and sand martins flying over the reserve this past week.  A few house martins were recorded too on Friday 10^th April.

Not to be outdone, our resident birds are busy singing and building nests so look out for or listen for blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit, blackbird, song thrush, greenfinch, wren and robin.

The sunny weather at the start of April, go the butterflies out too.  The list of butterflies flying now include green-veined white, orange tip, small white, peacock, comma, small tortoiseshell and holly blue.

The rest of April, is a great time to visit Lackford Lakes nature reserve, for nightingales, warblers, butterflies and more.

As we approach the last few days of March, it starts to feel a lot more like spring.  Our first sand martins and swallows have been spotted.  A little ringed plover has been seen on the slough.  Even an osprey flew over a couple of days ago.  The next two or three weeks, many more birds will     arrive back from Africa, making this time of year, a great time to visit Lackford Lakes.

As you walk around the reserve, you will here lots of our common small birds singing away.  Listen out for blue tit, great tit, greenfinch, chaffinch, dunnock, robin, reed bunting and more.  This is the perfect time of year to start learning the resident bird calls before they are joined in April by the warblers.  Talking of warblers, the first ones are back and can be heard singing their name around the trails – chiff-chaff.  Blackcap are also starting to be seen and heard in the last few weeks.

On the lakes, our water birds are also thinking about spring.  They are very vocal, look their smartest and there are a lot of territorial disputes going on.  Look out for teal, shoveler, lapwing and great crested grebes on our lakes.  The great white egret is still on site and spending quite a bit of time of the slough,

The first insects can be seen around the reserve.  The bees are out quite a bit now and the first butterflies have been seen. Butterflies around include brimstone, peacock and comma.

Lastly, our otters continue to entertain with sightings coming in from Bernard’s and Steggall’s.

As we head into early march, it is starting to feel a little more like early spring.  Birds are singing, some are nest building and a few butterflies can be seen on sunny days.

As you walk around the reserve, you will here lots of our common small birds singing away.  Listen out for blue tit, great tit, greenfinch, chaffinch, dunnock, robin, reed bunting and more.  This is the perfect time of year to start learning the resident bird calls before they are joined in April by the warblers.  Talking of warblers, the first ones are back and can be heard singing their name around the trails – chiff-chaff.

On the lakes, our water birds are also thinking about spring.  They are very vocal, look their smartest and there are a lot of territorial disputes going on.  Look out for teal, shoveler, lapwing and great crested grebes on our lakes.  The great white egret is still on site and spending quite a bit of time of the slough – will he find a mate this year?

The first insects can be seen around the reserve.  The bees are out quite a bit now and the first butterflies have been seen. Butterflies around include brimstone, peacock and comma.

Lastly, our otters continue to entertain with sightings coming in from Bernard’s and Steggall’s in the last few days.

The days are getting a little bit longer so some of our birds are thinking about the breeding season.  Woodpeckers are drumming, song thrushes are singing and our ducks are displaying.

When you arrive on a morning to Lackford Lakes at this time of year, you can’t help but notice the sound of singing birds so our resident birds are starting to think about the forthcoming breeding season. Song thrushes are particularly vocal with at least four singing around the centre this week.  Blue tits and great tits are also singing at times and looking at nesting sites so if you want to put up a nestbox – now is the time to do son.

Similarly to the area around the centre, ash carr is full of singing birds during a morning visit.  This is the best spot for drumming great spotted woodpecker.  List out for blue tit, great tit, marsh tit and nuthatch in this area too.

On our lakes, our ducks are looking their best and are trying to impress the females.  Teal are displaying and are extremely vocal.  Look out for shoveler, gadwall, tufted duck and pochard too.  The slough is the best spot to watch our ducks.

More early hints of spring include marsh harriers visiting the reedbeds as they think about nesting, our first oystercatchers of the year are appearing on the reserve, and the first butterflies have been reported.

Other highlights of recent weeks include great white egret, bullfinch, large flocks of siskin, the occasional report of bittern and otter being seen.

Lastly, our starlings are coming to the end for us and they are starting to move elsewhere.

It has been an exciting start to January at the lakes, with our starlings, crossbills, siskins, redpoll all being seen in good numbers around the reserve. 

We have now seen 73 species of birds around the reserve in 2026.  The smaller birds have been stealing the show, especially around the centre and in ash carr. The feeders at the centre have been busy with finches like greenfinches and tits like long-tailed tit.  In the trees around the centre, good numbers of siskin and redpoll can be seen.  Ash Carr has been good for crossbill, treecreeper, nuthatch and siskin.  Crossbills have also been good on the path to Steggall’s viewpoint.

Water birds have a bit more of tricky time, with most of our lakes frozen for a few days.  The Sailing Lake and long reach from Bess’s has kept open water so our water birds have gathered there.  We are now beginning to melt so our water birds should start to spread out throughout our lakes.  Look out from teal, tufted duck, pochard, little egret, great white egret, grey heron and wigeon.  We seem to have a bittern spending the winter on the reserve - best chance of seeing this is down at steggall's viewpoint.

The starlings at the end of the day have been amazing for the start of 2026, with around 7000 gathering over the reedbed towards the end of the day.  We are now sure how long they will do this so best to visit soon if you wish to catch the starlings.  With daylight stretching, they could appear anytime after 3pm.  Yesterday they made a late appearance so expect to stay until dark (currently 4:30pm). 

Mammal wise – we have now recorded five species of mammal on the reserve including hare and regularly sightings of otter.  For otter you will have to be lucky, your best chance will be from Steggall’s viewpoint.

For a winter visit, we recommend an afternoon visit to the reserve.  This will allow you to see the best of our winter wildlife – water birds, smaller birds and to finish with the starlings towards dusk.

During the last few weeks, the reserve has taken on more of a wintery feel.  Duck numbers have continued to build up, lots of redwings are around and lots of siskin can be seen.

One feature of winter is the gathering of ducks on our lakes.  Sailing lake is particularly good for diving ducks like tufted duck and pochard.  The slough is always favoured by teal and here is one of our special birds, the green winged teal.  This bird turned up in the middle of November and seems quite a home on the slough.

The slough area viewed from Paul’s, Bernard’s or Double Decker viewpoints are also good for lapwing and snipe. These can often be seen settled on the islands in this area.  An otter has also been seen during the past week in this area and seems to make appearances during the middle part of the day so keep an eye out in this area.

On the trails, look out for redwings feeding on the berries and at the tops of the trees, siskin and the odd crossbill can be found.  Mixed flocks of tits, calling away is always a feature of winter at the reserve.  Look out for long-tailed tit, blue tit and great tit.  We have also noticed quite a few goldcrest around too.

Towards the end of a winters day, watch hundreds of jackdaws and rooks gathering around the lakes. They can often be seen sitting on the top of trees before flying off to roost making quite a bit of noise.  We have also seen over 100 cormorants arriving towards the end of the day and can be seen roosting in the trees at the back of the sailing lake just before darkness.   

Here is what has been around this November at Lackford Lakes.

Ducks numbers building up including good numbers of tufted duck, pochards, shoveler and teal.  The slough and the sailing lake are the best locations.

Good numbers of snipe and lapwing to be found on the slough.

The crossbills are still around.  They are quite mobile so keep looking at the tops of the trees.

Quite a few siskin are back on the reserve with an odd redpoll in amongst them.

Otter can be seen occasionally on the slough or near Bess's hide

Good numbers of redwings can be seen on the reserve, particularly in the mornings.

Still a few common darter dragonflies and red admiral butterflies to be seen.