January was an interesting month on the nature reserve, with wild weather and amazing wildlife in equal measure. We've said goodbye to our wonderful starling murmuration - they gave us a great show throughout December and well into the new year but moved on to a new roost site in the middle of the month. At the height of the murmuration we had over 25,000 birds dancing in the skies over Grebe Lake. It's nice to know that the management work we have done in the reedbeds over the last few years has been a success in attracting these mesmerising birds and we look forward to welcoming them back next season.

We had a very wet start to the month with nearly a month's worth of rainfall falling in about three days. This caused problems with flooding on our paths and then with high winds quite a few trees couldn't cope with this extreme weather and fell over. You may have spotted us about with spades digging drainage channels or chainsaws dealing with fallen trees. We only clear up fallen trees if they affect the path network; you may have noticed that many of them we have left fallen in the woods for insects to feast on, creating another habitat for the reserve.

Two work parties joined us in January to tackle scrub clearance tasks, at Teal Lake and the rail bridge. Clearing back the scrub in certain areas resets the clock and allows early-stage plants and animals to take advantage of these habitats. We will let these areas grow up and succeed for a number of years before going in and doing the same thing again, maximising the habitats available around the reserve. On the rail bridge we hope that the trees planted a number of years ago will be able to use the increased light levels to get growing, and maybe a few bee orchids might pop up around them.

Every year we clear some of the viewpoints to ensure that our visitors get the best possible view. Most years this just involves a bit of a trim but occasionally we need to hit an area a bit harder as the trees grow in from the edges and eventually obscure the view without you even noticing! This month we tackled the viewpoint by Hide 1 looking out over Grebe Lake, removing some of the willows that were leaning out into the viewpoint and over the water. We have left some of these trees though as willow emerald damselflies were using them to lay eggs in the late summer. Keep an eye out here for this large damselfly from July through to September.

We continue to see signs of spring popping up around the reserve, with increased activity from the birds and plants like willow and hazel starting to flower. Have you seen any signs of spring yet?