April at Whisby and the air is full of birdsong as many of our migratory birds have arrived back to join our permanent residents in nesting at Whisby. The iconic cuckoo has returned and has been heard regularly around the Orchid Glade part of the reserve, and the team has been serenaded by willow warblers, garden warblers, blackcaps and reed warblers as we’ve been out and about. Swallows, sand martins, swifts and house martins are swooping over Willow Lake, Thorpe Lake and Teal Lake, and the black-headed gulls on Thorpe Lake have progressed to nest building and egg laying. We’ve even had a pair of swans decide to nest on the island directly in front of the wildlife barn this year!

This month the warden team has been continuing our focus on repairing and maintaining the reserve infrastructure such as paths and fences. Around the reserve you may notice short runs of a style of fencing where the rails interlock through the middle of the fence posts. This is known as Lincolnshire fencing and, of course, is unique to Lincolnshire! Our volunteers have been helping spruce up some of the runs with a new coat of paint and you might notice their handiwork near the main Grebe Lake bird hide. 

Occasionally we may need to close a path to keep everyone safe whilst we’re working there. We’ll always have signs up and try to have people around to help explain what we’re doing and why. So if you do come across a ‘path closed' sign please be patient as we’ll reopen it as soon as it’s safe and you can carry on through! 

And of course we couldn’t talk about April at Whisby without mentioning butterflies and odonata (dragonflies and damselflies). As the weather is warming up we’re seeing plenty of butterflies on the wing, and we’ve spotted large red damselflies, common blue damselflies and even the first dragonfly of the season! The best spots to see them are along the Pike Drain and the Railway Bridge Pond.