Wildgoose Nature Reserve

Wildgoose Nature Reserve 🌿 Wildgoose Nature Reserve 🌿
A former gravel quarry transformed into a thriving nature reserve and lake.

Supporting wildlife, wellbeing and outdoor learning for everyone.🛖🦋
Managed by Wildgoose Rural Training, supporting people with disabilities.

🐦 A busy morning for our bird ringers! 🐦Our bird ringing team had a fantastic morning on Sunday, catching and ringing an...
07/09/2026

🐦 A busy morning for our bird ringers! 🐦

Our bird ringing team had a fantastic morning on Sunday, catching and ringing an impressive 110 birds across a great variety of species.

⭐ Six of those were beautiful Goldcrests, including this little one pictured here!

As we move into autumn, many of our summer visitors are beginning to head south, but the Blackcaps are certainly making their presence felt, with an incredible 53 caught and ringed during the morning. There were also 28 Chiffchaffs, along with a few Reed and Sedge Warblers, plus the odd Whitethroat and Willow Warbler.

Other birds caught included Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Reed Bunting, Dunnock, Song Thrush and Long-tailed Tit.

It was also great to be able to share the experience with three generations of one family who were enjoying a walk around the reserve. The ringing team were able to show them the birds up close and explain how and why birds are ringed. 🐦🔍

A fantastic morning of conservation, recording and sharing our wildlife with visitors to the reserve. 🌿💚

🐦 What do our bird records tell us about the health of the reserve?We've been digging a little deeper into our bird reco...
02/09/2026

🐦 What do our bird records tell us about the health of the reserve?

We've been digging a little deeper into our bird records from January 2025 to April 2026, and this time we've looked at the conservation status of the birds we've recorded.

Bird species in the UK are given different conservation statuses depending on how well their populations are doing, with Green, Amber and Red categories used to highlight species of greatest conservation concern.

Looking at our records, we found:

🟢 Green-listed species – 6,040 records

🟠 Amber-listed species – 1,875 records

🔴 Red-listed species – 2,325 records

The number of Red-listed records is particularly interesting and shows just how important the reserve is for birds of conservation concern.

Some of the Red-listed species recorded at Wildgoose include our Lesser Spotted woodpecker, Marsh tit, Cuckoo and Greenfinch, alongside a number of other less frequent visitors.

It is a great reminder that the work our students, volunteers and staff have carried out to manage the reserve is helping to create a home for a really diverse range of birds. 🌳🐦

From our reedbeds and lake to the woodland, scrub and grassland, each habitat provides something different for our feathered visitors.

When we started pulling together our bird records from reserve, we recorded a total of 93 species!! but we discovered t...
26/08/2026

When we started pulling together our bird records from reserve, we recorded a total of 93 species!! but we discovered that a few had been recorded so many times that they completely dwarfed the numbers for everything else!

So much so that we had to remove them from the overall graphs just so we could actually see the other species!

The four graph-busters were:

⭐ Starling – 1,270 records
🔵 Blue Tit – 531
🔵 Great Tit – 488
🪿 Canada Goose – 413

It just goes to show how frequently some species use the reserve throughout the year.

We've been looking back through our bird records from the reserve, covering January 2025 to April 2026, and we've discov...
19/08/2026

We've been looking back through our bird records from the reserve, covering January 2025 to April 2026, and we've discovered some fascinating figures.

During this period, our volunteers and birdwatchers recorded an impressive 10,252 bird records from across the reserve.

Some of the species recorded most frequently included:

⭐ Starling – 1,270 records
🔵 Blue Tit – 531
🔵 Great Tit – 488
🪿 Canada Goose – 413
🐦 Long-tailed Tit – 286
🐦 Goldfinch – 283
🐦 Greenfinch – 255
🐦 Chiffchaff – 242

But it's not just our common birds that make the reserve special. We've also recorded some much less frequent visitors, including Osprey, Hobby, Glossy Ibis, Redstart and even a Yellow-browed Warbler for a week or so last Christmas!

This is one of my favourite photos that I've taken on the reserve – a starling murmuration, something we’re lucky enough to see here each winter. I don't think I'll ever get another photo quite like this one... it's even managed to form the shape of a bird!

Which bird would you most like to spot on the reserve? 👀🐦

🐦 **Another busy morning for our bird ringers!** 🐦Our ringing team had another successful session on the reserve, with *...
13/08/2026

🐦 **Another busy morning for our bird ringers!** 🐦

Our ringing team had another successful session on the reserve, with **47 birds ringed across 14 species**.

The list includes Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Bullfinch, Lesser Whitethroat, Wren, Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

⭐ **Our photo of the day is this beautiful Willow Warbler.**

The biggest numbers came from **Chiffchaffs, with 16 ringed, followed by 12 Blackcaps**. We also had some lovely summer visitors passing through, including Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers, Whitethroats and Willow Warblers.

Bird ringing gives us a valuable insight into the birds using our reserve and helps build a picture of how populations change and move through the seasons.

A huge thank you to our dedicated volunteer ringers for another fantastic morning of monitoring! 💚🌿

What's going on a Wildgoose Rural Training and Nature reserve over the summer...
27/07/2026

What's going on a Wildgoose Rural Training and Nature reserve over the summer...

🐦 A fantastic weekend for our bird ringing team! 🐦Our volunteer bird ringers had another successful session on the reser...
27/07/2026

🐦 A fantastic weekend for our bird ringing team! 🐦

Our volunteer bird ringers had another successful session on the reserve, ringing 55 birds from a wonderful variety of species, including Blackcap, Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler, Whitethroat, Dunnock and Green Woodpecker.

⭐ The star of the show, however, was this stunning Redstart, beautifully photographed by Ellie.

Redstarts are summer visitors to the UK, spending the winter in sub-Saharan Africa before making the incredible journey back each spring to breed. Their fiery orange-red tail gives them their name, and they often flick it while perched, making them one of our most charismatic woodland birds.

Bird ringing helps us monitor the health, survival and movements of our local bird populations, providing valuable information that supports conservation across the UK.

A huge thank you to our dedicated ringing team for another brilliant morning's work! 💚

01/06/2026

✨ QUIZ NIGHT AT BONNIE’S ✨

Spaces are limited, so get your team together and book your spot now!

🐓🌿 Join us for our Wildgoose Open Day on Saturday 6th June 2026! 🌿🐑Come and explore our farm, nature reserve and tea roo...
01/06/2026

🐓🌿 Join us for our Wildgoose Open Day on Saturday 6th June 2026! 🌿🐑
Come and explore our farm, nature reserve and tea room and see the amazing work our students do throughout the year. There’ll be something for the whole family to enjoy including:
🎶 Live music
🛍️ Craft market
🐐 Animal talks
🌾 Nature reserve tours
🍔 BBQ & refreshments
🍰 Sweet treats
🐴 Pony rides
🎯 Games and activities
It’s a great chance to meet our animals, enjoy the outdoors and discover how Wildgoose Rural Training supports disabled people through hands-on rural learning and conservation work.
📍 Wildgoose Rural Training, Old Quarry Drive, Hallow, WR2 6LS
🕙 10am – 3pm
🎟️ FREE ENTRY
We’d love to see you there! 💚

🐣 Nine Great Tit chicks almost ready to fledge from one of the many bird boxes around our reserve and farm! 🌿💛Our studen...
18/05/2026

🐣 Nine Great Tit chicks almost ready to fledge from one of the many bird boxes around our reserve and farm! 🌿💛

Our students and volunteers monitor and record activity in the nest boxes each week, helping us learn more about the birds breeding here on the reserve 🐦📋

It looks like these chicks have been enjoying a bit of luxury too — the nest looks to have been lined with fur from La Paz our alpaca! 🦙✨

Did you know that Great T**s can feed their chicks hundreds of times a day and will often remove caterpillars’ hairy outer skins before feeding them to their young? 🍃🐛

🐦🌿

Address

Old Quarry Drive
Worcester
WR26LS

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4pm
Tuesday 8am - 4pm
Wednesday 8am - 4pm
Thursday 8am - 4pm
Friday 8am - 4pm
Saturday 9am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 3pm

Telephone

+441905620840

Website

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