Attenborough Nature Reserve

We escaped the snow, but the Reserve was still a winter wonderland this morning!

Top of the 'Hops' - this tiny leafhopper (Acericerus heydenii) is the latest new species for Nottinghamshire to be found at Attenborough. First discovered in the south of the UK in 2010, it seems to be spreading fast.

A beautiful welcome to the Reserve this morning!

Worth getting up early for tomorrow morning! This was the last lunar eclipse over the Reserve, captured by one of our colleagues. Should be at its best around 5:30am. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-enviro nment-46908305

Firecrest (c.Robert Hoare) is still showing well 2 weeks after it arrived. Remains on Barton Lane just beyond the level crossing.

Very few starlings last night. Looks like it is the end for this winter's murmurations. Would be lovely to see some of your best pics and hear of your experiences, comments etc.

These aren't your common little egrets, these are the rarer great white egret! And they have seven of them. Got to say, we are a bit jealous...

Are your binoculars in need of an upgrade? This may be just the thing for you!

If you haven't been to see them yet, this weekend might be your last chance! The starling numbers have been going down the last few evenings, so don't miss out on this great winter wildlife spectacular.

Got a fancy camera for Christmas? Want to learn how to get the most out of it? This might be just the thing for you - https://www.attenboroughnaturecentre.co.u k/…/wildlife-photo…

Check out this median wasp (cue maths related jokes) found recently at Attenborough in a log pile. It looked pretty 'mean' and was much bigger than your 'average' wasp!

A beautiful sun rise this morning. Captured by Alena, one of our cafe staff as she was preparing for the day.

Everything you wanted to know about starlings, but we're afraid to ask...https://www.nottinghamshirewildlife .org/starling-murmuratio…

As impressive as the starlings, the winter corvid roost is a must see at the moment. Many thousand jackdaws, along with rooks and crows, gather on the islands surrounding the Delta at dusk, before flying en-masse to the woodland to roost when the sun sets.

Well done Robin Brace. Birdguides Photo of the week with an incredible picture of the firecrest that is currently at Attenborough - https://www.birdguides.com/a…/photo-of- the-week-2-8-january/

It's #Veganuary and we have a great range of Vegan specials in the cafe at the moment. A delicious vegan chili, sweet potato, falafel and roasted veg panini, and tomato, lentil and basil soup on the menu today.

The news of the starlings has made it to the US! https://ftw.usatoday.com/…/thousands-of -starlings-form-gian… They are still displaying every evening, so why not pop over to see them if you haven't already?

There is a very approachable common teal on the new path (between the Church and Corbett's Meadow) - actually a pair of them! They are typically quite timid, so a great opportunity to see these beautiful ducks up-close.

Reports of waxwing at Asda Long Eaton this morning. Worth checking any rowan or cotoneaster locally for them in the morning!

Went there after work. Got served just before the cafe closed . Fantastic strawberry � and prosecco � Charlotte and tea. Changed and went for a walk. Tiny froglets, greater waterboatmen, snails (ramshorn and pond) and adult damselflies were the highlights of this visit.

We had a glorious afternoon. I enjoy photography and there is so many different things to see. There were lots ducklings and goslings to see as well as a variety of other birds and insects. The paths are easy to walk round and on a hot sunny day there is plenty of shade. A thoroughly enjoyable place to visit.

Our first time visiting Attenborough Nature Reserve today and must say it was very enjoyable! Helping baby frogs across the pathway was fun and seeing all different kinds of wildlife. Only walked a small area but will definitely be back to enjoy more of the area over summer. The food in the cafe was lovely too and very reasonably priced. Thank you for an enjoyable few hours out of the house!

Lovely place to walk with the kids and show them the natural environment! Nice cafe and good facilities. Also took my 2 year old to one of the ‘wild tots’sessions which he really enjoyed! Great staff, friendly, informative and patient will definitely be bringing him again 😊

Love Attenborough Nature Reserve ....would be perfect , if it wasn't for the impatient , arrogant cyclists , using the path as a high speed velodrome and angrily ringing their bells at you , when you are not even remotely in their way !! Some of us wish to observe the wildlife on foot ...in peace , without constant two wheeled harassment !! Can't cyclists be banned ?? I'm not the only one to point this out !!

It’s a beautiful place to visit , love it , it’s on my doorstep so lucky .!!

Im a chilwell lad and lived here most of my life.

I come at least 4x a wk with my dogs and feed the wildlife. Nothing but praises for the the trust and upkeep of the area aswell.

You truly deserve a pat on the back aswell as all the volunteers that help with the trust.

Thankyou for my daily tranquility.

I had forgot just how nice it is to get out doors and see the scenery through my granddaughters eyes we were privileged to have an amazing beautiful warm sunny day despite it being the end of October. We decided to go left instead of right and it took 3/12 hours ... but well worth the walk we even saw a kingfisher skimm across right in front of our eyes . Lovely to see people of all ages walking or riding around . The grandchildren even got to do some exploring and climbing on big broken trees cario who is two loved it running around pretending he was a pirate . We fed squirrels swans and geese saw robin's bobbin along and even had a rat run across the path in front of us .. tired nanny but happy grandchildren . We are so lucky to have this wonderful place on our doorstep .

Had a fantastic two days here and got great photos of the bird and insect life,the cafe Is a great oasis after each walk...there are three different walks...A highly recommended place to visit for nature lovers and also families,we seen a lot of children just absolutely loving their day out there was so much to see.

Great place . So relaxing and staff very friendly . Only problem is cyclists going at the sleed of lightning in the middle of the path and dogs that run off their leads around the nature reserve disturbing the birds . But that's the people and their inconsideration and certainly not the staffs fault. Had such a great day and will be telling my friends about this place . Thankyou

Beautiful countryside, stunning flora and fauna. Peaceful, soothing the soul

Amazing variety of birds to see on the lakes, in the woods and fields. Hides and viewing points well placed. Most paths, view points and hides accessible to mobility impaired. I recorded six miles- walked every path at least once, several twice and the one by the visitor centre about five times linking them all up. Skylark trail not very good in very hot, summer weather but the other two trails worthwhile. Worth the visit for the Sand Martins alone. Good cafe in the visitor centre.

Always a lovely visit..well worth the three pounds... lovely snack in cafe.. and beautiful walks .. we will be back soon.

We really enjoyed the nature and the beautiful scenery but why on earth do you allow cyclists on the narrow footpaths? They do not slow down and there were so many we had to keep alert for them and missed the joy of walking and observing the sights.

Passing through the area so just turned up for a walk. Some great walks available although flooding had got the better of them, certainly needed wellies and at one point a boat would have been handy! Got to see the Kingfisher and made friends with a pair of Robins. At this time of the year (April) the place wasn't too busy so therefore the cafe was quiet & convenient for a well deserved sit down and a cream tea. Would love to go back in summer, although i get the impression parking would be a nightmare.

If you don't see something special at Attenborough you are not trying. It can get very busy around the centre but you don't have to go far to get away from that.

Shame that the car parking has been put up to £3, I understand that this funds the centre which is great but I don’t think this encourages people to visit and embrace nature. No wonder people are parking on the road just before the entrance for free. Also the cafe staff never seem to have a clue what they were doing. There were no knives left in the cutlery section, I asked one of the girls i there were any knives and she looked at me as though I’d got two heads or something.

My young family and I visited the Reserve on Easter weekend.

It was the first time I’d been to Attenborough for many years, and the first thing that met me was the despicable amount of rubbish.

Not just where the cars have access all around the area (which were just awful!) but as I walked around the area with my family, we were appalled by the continuous amounts of rubbish in amongst the bushes and grass along the walk ways.

Sofas, mattresses, huge piles of bin bags everywhere! And you can see from the way the rubbish had degraded that it has been there for quite sometime.

It’s a terrible shame when you have such a fantastic area filled with masses of wonderful wildlife.

It requires immediate attention! Maybe offering more bins for the public (ask the council for assistance) more signs threatening legal action for fly tipping (which I saw none), and maybe in the hot spots install some cameras.

It needs to stop, in the interest of conserving what I imagine in the spring and summer months is a beautiful spot for wildlife and its visitors. Also contact the fishing clubs that use the waters around the area and ask them for help in attempting to catch fly tippers.

Although we love to visit the Attenborough nature reserve, we were very disappointed today and our children left devastated. I understand 'these things happen' however I personally feel like there could be measures to prevent these things from happening. We took our two young children aged 2 and 6, we started off near the nature reserve visiting centre where you can feed the ducks etc. Having a lovely time when all of a sudden this dog came leaping out of nowhere scaring all the swans, geese and ducks which meant they were flying amongst the children. One swan ended up hitting my 6 year old child in her face! THEN the dog proceeded to attack the flock and ended up mutilating a young gosling infront of all the children. It wasn't a pleasant site to see obviously . The owner was nowhere to be seen at this point. I ran to the dog whist he was still mauling this young chick. He eventually dropped it , the poor thing was half dead and all the children witnessed this. Finally his owner decides to walk round the corner all calm like nothing's happened! I couldn't help but voice my opinion at him to which he responded ' it wasn't my fault ' YOUR DOG WAS OFF THE LEAD! 10 minutes later as the children started to recover from this ordeal another brainless woman with two children decided to let her dog swim in the lake where the ducks were chasing yet again the flock! The children were screaming once again ! You have signs saying no dogs at this point BUT AT THE FOOTPATH LEADING UP TO THE CAFE/SHOP! Your a nature reserve. You should do everything you can to help to preserve the wildlife ! I personally think dogs shouldn’t be allowed in this area ! A lovely lady came out to speak to the dog owner and told me this happens all the time and a lot of the ducks get killed due to dogs being allowed on that small bit where the ducks live. When I walked in the centre with this duck I was just told. They don't intervene and to leave it where it was killed ! Disgusting ! Luckily an old lady took the body of the chick away so the children couldn't see . I think this is totally unacceptable for a nature reserve ! Dogs are fine on the lead etc. But letting dogs onto the secluded area where these ducks obviously live is diabolical.

Such a shame but we won't be visiting here again as our children are left so upset and traumatised by the ordeal