The leaves are still on the trees, the earthy, autumnal colours ablaze around the lake, which like a mirror reflects its beauty. The calm waters welcoming winter visitors to the shelter from the harshness of the season. Wigeon can be seen dotted around the edge and mingled with other ducks such as shoveler, shelduck, pochard, teal and gadwall. In amongst the tufted ducks, an odd goldeneye might be seen lurking.

Out on the Slough, waders are feeding. Green sandpiper, lapwing and snipe can be seen. The latter seem to build in numbers towards the end of the day as they come in to roost. Teal flit back and forth through the water as they clean themselves. Otters have been regular visitors of late, with a group of 3 being spotted around Derek’s and Bernard’s hides.

Siskin and other finches have been seen around the reserve, dropping into to feed high up on the alder trees as they nibble at the cones for their seeds. Marsh harrier, red kites, peregrine and buzzard are more common sightings too. The marsh harrier is a female and has been sporting a pair of orange tags with black lettering L9 on them. This bird was tagged at Somerleyton in June 2020 and has had one other sighting at Minsmere on 21^st Oct 21 before being seen here at Lackford 5 days later. It seems to like Lackford as it has been visiting this week as well.

Starling numbers are down this year compared to last year, but still put on a display on most nights. Sparrowhawk can also be seen at this time, either hawking over the reedbed where the starlings go down or skirting around the edges keeping a low profile. It’s also at this time when we get the blue tit that comes in to roost on camera in one of our swift boxes. This can be seen on our screens inside the visitor centre.