Rspb Fairburn Ings And St Aidan'S

From today our car park cost at both reserves is increasing by £1 to £4 per car all day. This is to help us to offset some of the costs of managing these amazing reserves. You can still get parking at both reserves in one day for £5.
EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION: the increase is £1, from £3 to £4. Blue badge holders and members will continue to park at both Aire Valley reserves for free.

Marsh Harriers and other Autumnal sightings in Paul's most recent blog form Fairburn Ings, Enjoy!

This Friday (28th September) is the our annual stock take at Fairburn Ings, so the shop will be closing at 1pm. The reserve will be open as normal.

Update on the car park at Fairburn Ings. Usual service has resumed!

Calling primary school teachers in #Leeds and #Bradford Did you know you could receive free, specialist outreach sessions from us, thanks to Aldi UK. For more information, to see if you're eligible and to book, click here: http://rspb.org.uk/schoolsoutreach (Images by Eleanor Bentall rspb-images.com)

Join us at St Aidan's Nature park for a friendly and sociable walk around the Bowers Bimble.
These free monthly walks are open to everyone, especially older people and are dementia friendly. It's a sociable stroll, taking in the scenery and wildlife aimed at improving physical and mental wellbeing

ST AIDAN’S BREAKING NEWS: Bowers lake path is open! Just over a week short of a year since it was closed, the team have re-opened the footpath around the lake. The path was closed so that it could be raised by half a meter to allow us to put more water on to the ridge and furrow without flooding the path. A 500m stretch was raised, and the benefit of the extra water to the wildlife has been almost immediate with a 50% increase in the number of lapwing nests this year compares to last. Well done team!

as summer slowly turns to Autumn, it's time for an update from Peter on the blog.

This ring was found in the car park of Fairburn Ings about a week ago. Please help us to reunite it with its owner! There is an inscription inside that will help us to verify the owner. Give us a call on 01977 628191 if you think it's yours.

UPDATE: Work has now been completed. The gates will open automatically at 8am and close at 8pm. This will help to improve security and reduce antisocial behaviour. Thank you to everyone for your patience over the last couple of weeks. 🙂
Work has begun on the new car park barrier at Fairburn Ings, so our main car park is out of action. We've opened up our staff car park and the paddock for you to use so you don't miss out on autumn migration.

FAIRBURN INGS CAR PARK CLOSURE: Automatic car park gates are due to be installed at Fairburn Ings in mid-September, these will improve security and allow the car park to be open until 8pm (4pm in winter).
Due to this the main visitor car park will be closed Monday 10th – Friday 14th September and again Monday 17th – Friday 21st September. It will be open as usual on the weekend of the 15th/16th. During the closure there will be a limited amount of parking in the staff car park behind the visitor centre, as well as parking in Lin Dike car park and Fairburn Village. The trails and shop will be open as usual every day.
Apologies for any inconvenience this causes, for more information please contact the centre on 01977 628191.

Just a reminder that the amount of car parking that we have is going to be limited for a couple of weeks.

Lots of house martins are gathering over Fairburn and St Aidan's. They're feeding up ready for their long journey back to Africa!
Image credit: Nick Upton (rspb-images.com)

Join us for the final bug hunting session of the holidays today at Fairburn. Laura from our learning team will be leading 1 hour sessions at 10am and 1pm.

Join us for Binocular and Telescope weekend! Drop in any time over the weekend for help and advice from Rob, Viking Binocular expert.
Andy Chapman will also be around on Sunday for Swarovski specific advice.

The cattle egret is still around at Fairburn - often seen in the Moat or on the flashes amongst the Highlands. Best views are from the Coal Tips trail and Lin Dike hide.
Thanks to John Buxton for this shot!

Check out the latest sightings at Fairburn Ings in Pete's new blog - it's been a stonking week for sightings!

Catch up on the lastest sightings from St Aidan's with Gael, over on the blog!

Volunteer Opportunity: We are looking for x2 Team Leaders to cover #Leeds & #Bradford #Huddersfield & #Holmfirth
Team Leaders are essential to our fundraising team in Northern England.
... Managing a small group of volunteers, team leaders are expected to help place new pin badge boxes within their area group, help recruit new volunteers using various platforms and local knowledge, reviewing reports and sharing success with their team. The role is flexible, it takes approx 1 day per month and it fits around most lifestyles. If you are looking for a role with volunteer management, and or fundraising, this could be the perfect role for you! We provide training and assist you where possible. For more information please visit: https://www.rspb.org.uk/…/volunteer-opp …/opportunities/6732/
See More

what a great place,great views lots to explore too

this site is pet friendly. 1 way of tiring your kids or dogs out.

paradise!!! received a map of the place and advice as to what we might see. Also information on bird boxes, wonderful to see and hear so many rare birds such as the bittern, cuckoo and sedge warblers

beautiful oasis

What a wonderful place! So peaceful, nothing to be heard but the birdsong and the crickets....I have not seen that many butterflies in ages. I could have sat by the Bowers Lake all day just staring. Plenty of others walking etc and nice to see bridleways for horse riding. Also the wild swimming. Huge skies, Grandson was delighted to find a piece of coal! Loved it that Oddball remains in his last place of work reminding us of the rich heritage of the area

We went today with our 3 year old little boy and he love it! We signed up for a family membership - the staff were so helpful and so great with him! We are definitely going to become regulars. I also found the shop to be well stocked and managed to pick up a few bargains!

We visited on 3rd March on one of the coldest days of the year with half of the lakes and streams frozen over. It was a fantastic experience and our best day yet at Fairburn Ings. The staff were great, very friendly, and knowledgeable when it came advising on a new pair of binoculars. The wildlife was wonderful as always, and I can highly recommend a visit to anyone interested in wildlife bird life.

Really enjoyed my visit, first time for ages. Watched the Kingfisher diving and feeding in full view. Inspired me to join RSPB and a close friend is going to Volunteer.

Perfect spot. Kids love it - especially the pond dipping. Plenty to see and do. Also great for enthusiast birders. Super hides and loads to photograph, if that way inclined (I am!! ;) ).

Lovely place. Fantastic walks and loads if different birds

Love going to these amazing places with my family

It was our first time there. Lovely place to walk and see the birds also the scenery was very nice. Can bring kids there and lots of entertainment to amuse them. Car park fee is £3. RSPB do have well come centre and a rest room.

I visited St Aidans yesterday and had a wonderful time what a haven for wildlife. I just loved the peace, the wide open space and sky. I was blessed with fantastic sightings of Great crested grebes, mute swans, tufted ducks, shovelers, pochard, teal,gadwall, canada geese, moorhen, coot and stonechat plus a weasel running across the path. It was heaven , can't wait to return . Brilliant work being done by RSPB.

Hubby and I opted to side step Old Moor today in favour of making our fist visit to Fairburn Ings...and it certainly won't be the last, all the staff we met were extremely friendly...Thanks to site manager Darren for all the info on where to find birds...we saw the spoonbills, herons, cormorants and heard a cuckoo several times....next time we visit we will cover more of the site and not go "off piste" and follow the wrong path :-) Got the mesh feeder we wanted so all was well...can't wait to make a return visit now :-)

Had a wonderful day out today. Lovely long walk, pond dipping and the highlight of the day was seeing a bittern � wonderful. Thankyou to all the fabulous volunteers.

Fantastic place and lovely helpful staff. We love visiting and seeing the amazing variety of bird life.

All I can say is the reserve and staff are Fan bloody tastic

Very impressed by my first visit here on Friday. Lots to see, knowledgeable, friendly staff and volunteers and great wildlife. Lots of potential for this relatively new site, will be even better when the RSPB have finished installing some hides and more benches.

Lovely peaceful place.. surrounded by nature .. great!

what a great place,great views lots to explore too

this site is pet friendly. 1 way of tiring your kids or dogs out.

paradise!!! received a map of the place and advice as to what we might see. Also information on bird boxes, wonderful to see and hear so many rare birds such as the bittern, cuckoo and sedge warblers

beautiful oasis

What a wonderful place! So peaceful, nothing to be heard but the birdsong and the crickets....I have not seen that many butterflies in ages. I could have sat by the Bowers Lake all day just staring. Plenty of others walking etc and nice to see bridleways for horse riding. Also the wild swimming. Huge skies, Grandson was delighted to find a piece of coal! Loved it that Oddball remains in his last place of work reminding us of the rich heritage of the area

We went today with our 3 year old little boy and he love it! We signed up for a family membership - the staff were so helpful and so great with him! We are definitely going to become regulars. I also found the shop to be well stocked and managed to pick up a few bargains!

We visited on 3rd March on one of the coldest days of the year with half of the lakes and streams frozen over. It was a fantastic experience and our best day yet at Fairburn Ings. The staff were great, very friendly, and knowledgeable when it came advising on a new pair of binoculars. The wildlife was wonderful as always, and I can highly recommend a visit to anyone interested in wildlife bird life.

Really enjoyed my visit, first time for ages. Watched the Kingfisher diving and feeding in full view. Inspired me to join RSPB and a close friend is going to Volunteer.

Perfect spot. Kids love it - especially the pond dipping. Plenty to see and do. Also great for enthusiast birders. Super hides and loads to photograph, if that way inclined (I am!! ;) ).

Lovely place. Fantastic walks and loads if different birds

Love going to these amazing places with my family

It was our first time there. Lovely place to walk and see the birds also the scenery was very nice. Can bring kids there and lots of entertainment to amuse them. Car park fee is £3. RSPB do have well come centre and a rest room.

I visited St Aidans yesterday and had a wonderful time what a haven for wildlife. I just loved the peace, the wide open space and sky. I was blessed with fantastic sightings of Great crested grebes, mute swans, tufted ducks, shovelers, pochard, teal,gadwall, canada geese, moorhen, coot and stonechat plus a weasel running across the path. It was heaven , can't wait to return . Brilliant work being done by RSPB.

Hubby and I opted to side step Old Moor today in favour of making our fist visit to Fairburn Ings...and it certainly won't be the last, all the staff we met were extremely friendly...Thanks to site manager Darren for all the info on where to find birds...we saw the spoonbills, herons, cormorants and heard a cuckoo several times....next time we visit we will cover more of the site and not go "off piste" and follow the wrong path :-) Got the mesh feeder we wanted so all was well...can't wait to make a return visit now :-)

Had a wonderful day out today. Lovely long walk, pond dipping and the highlight of the day was seeing a bittern � wonderful. Thankyou to all the fabulous volunteers.

Fantastic place and lovely helpful staff. We love visiting and seeing the amazing variety of bird life.

All I can say is the reserve and staff are Fan bloody tastic

Very impressed by my first visit here on Friday. Lots to see, knowledgeable, friendly staff and volunteers and great wildlife. Lots of potential for this relatively new site, will be even better when the RSPB have finished installing some hides and more benches.

Lovely peaceful place.. surrounded by nature .. great!