This blog is worth a read:

Is this the world record for House Sparrow nestboxes?

www.youtube.com/watch

Wes, one of the small but dedicated team working at Coquet Island, made this video to help encourage people to show their much needed support for our sealife.  It's brilliant - just 28 seconds long, worth watching, and worth sharing (please......).

The consultation for England's seas closes at the end of this month , and the process is currently stuck in Northern Ireland - so show your support…

(Article from the EDP Saturday March 16th)

Who’s your wildlife hero? David Attenborough? Michaela Strachan? Skippy the Bush Kangaroo?

Image by Eleanor Bentall (rspb-images.com)

Mine’s a little closer to home. She’s a wildlife heroine and she’s my mum.
I went to visit my parents last weekend (Mother’s Day was on Sunday 10th, in case you’d forgotten) and spending time in my family home made…

I will admit something to you now. Don’t get me wrong, i love all seasons and winter certainly has it’s own charm. However, I am seriously ready for Spring. I am ready to walk to work without my hat and gloves and my three pairs of socks! I am ready for the sun to warm my chilly cheeks and for the lush green gardens to re-emerge from their hibernations! And, I am ready to wake up to bird song once again.

I was lucky enough to go to a village school. There were only 6 children in my year and we had two classrooms; one for the Infants and one for the Juniors. We lived in the village down the road and on warm summer days we would walk the two miles to school through the fields. I’m not painting a picture of a Victorian idyll here; I left primary school in 1999. Connection to nature was a part of my daily life; I’ve grown…

Here's a blog from Heather about how we work with farmers to make the most of their land for wildlife..

or you can watch this video to get a glimpse into Wildlife Friendly Farming

http://vimeo.com/55785798

That’s it – I'm going to to learn Danish. On a sliding scale, how easy do you think that will be? I gave it some thought last night and noted the pros and cons.

Amongst the pros:

1)    some Danish words sound remarkably like our own; mor means mum.

2)    the Danish language seems to have musicality; we say, ‘see you later’, Danes say ‘hi, hi’.

3)    I did quite well at languages at school…

Hot on the heels of last week’s announcement about our second corporate member I am pleased to announce that The Bell House Hotel have also joined us!

The Bell House Hotel is located in Saxmundham, about 8 miles from Minsmere.  It’s an old coaching inn that once hosted royalty!  In 1737 King George II stayed at the hotel.  The historic surroundings are complemented by modern food and service.  Each boutique room…

The EU Budget: why it is a terrible deal for wildlife

Welcome Riverside Beef!

Riverside Beef are the newest corporate supporters of Minsmere!

Run by Jon Reeves, Riverside Beef grazes cattle on riverside pastures and water meadows across East Anglia.  Riverside Beef have a strong tradition of supporting conservation – in large part due to Jon’s role as site manager of the RSPB’s Ouse Washes reserve!

Image by Jon Reeves

Jon has a long standing interest in…

I’ve read all the jokes, heard all the parody songs and seen all of the comedy sketches. People love to make fun of us East Anglians! My teachers used to say that people who take the mickey out of you are simply jealous, and I can certainly believe that. I would envy people who lived here if I didn’t myself.  Although, with over 70% of the land in East Anglia farmed, I can understand how we are easy targets…

Do: 

Submit Big Garden Birdwatch and Big (and Little) Schools Birdwatch results & put up a nestbox.

Did you know February 14th is the start of National Nestbox Week? Check out your local reserve to see what's on in your area.

Give: 

Join the RSPB and make a small, regular donation to help us plan for  future richer in wildlife.

Join before the end of March and receive this nestbox as a welcome gift. Perfect…

Hope is a small word, yet one which carries huge meaning: nothing less than our dreams and aspirations for the kind of life we want to lead and the kind of world we want to live in.

Hope is also the name of a farm in Cambridgeshire where the RSPB puts into practice what it preaches about wildlife-friendly farming.  Here, on 181 hectares of prime arable land, we have not only increased our crop yields but we’ve also seen…

Print this voucher and take it along to one of the seven RSPB nature reserves listed below to redeem the offer.

For Terms and Conditions please click here

Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer

As my partner in crime always says “It’s better in the East”. And I couldn't agree more, especially when we can have a friendly competition with our neighbours over the number of people who have taken part in Big Garden Birdwatch this year.

How did your Birdwatch go in your local patch? Did the weather scupper you and how many cups of tea did you get through…

Today I’d like to tell you a couple of stories about crowds.

To set the scene for the first story, imagine you’re in the Castle Mall in Norwich on a busy Saturday before Christmas.
You’re wandering through and you pass a shop, empty of merchandise but there are people inside; two artists painting gorillas. You do a double-take then stop and read the sign, which tells you about the Go Go Gorillas! trail in…

Blogger: Kim Matthews, Campaigns Officer

This is an important month in the bird watching world.  The first of January is the day the new year-lists start and many birdwatchers undertake the challenge of ‘A Big Year’ with the aim of seeing as many different species of birds as possible in the following 12 months.

January must be such an exciting time for birdwatchers everywhere, whether they are attempting…

The RSPB will select each week the winners for our RSPB in the East social media competition on Facebook and Twitter.

• Each week we will announce how many winners will receive a prize.
• This is open to UK residents only.
• There is no cash alternative to the competition prize.
• Any entry which is incomplete, illegible or late will be deemed invalid in the sole discretion of the RSPB.
• Winners will be notified within…

It was only when his retrieving dog carried it back to him that C.M Inglis realised quite what he had just caught. Mr Inglis was in Darbhangar, India and he had just caught a pink-headed duck.  This wasn’t just any old duck however, it was in fact the last known wild specimen of pink-headed duck, now unseen or heard of since 1935. It’s thought that these ducks were probably lost due to the gradual loss of their chosen…

You may have picked up that there has been quite a lot of media attention around the increase in proposals for large scale solar panel installations (or ‘solar farms’) in the region lately. The Conservation Team at the RSPB in the East comments on lots of planning applications each year to safeguard the region’s wildlife and habitats, and have already commented on eighteen solar farm proposals in the past three months…

• The Great Escape voucher is valid from 25 January 2013 until 31 March 2013 and is the property of RSPB.
• This may not be used in conjunction with any other offers.
• Offer valid at the specified reserve only and can only be used once at each location.
• Only one voucher per family, youths under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
• There are no cash alternatives.
• The RSPB reserves the right to refuse redemption if we…

I am genuinely excited about this!

Not only have a we got a fantastic event on at the Forum in Norwich but I've moved house so get to do the Big Garden Birdwatch for a whole new garden.

I've started preparing already. I'm saving my yoghurt pots to make some fatty seed feeders and I'm putting seed out on the bird table (a disused patio table, there's no glamour there) each morning.
The great thing?…

I walked into work this morning fresh with thoughts about a new year, a new calendar and new adventures. It’s amazing how therapeutic a clean slate is. It’s the 2 January and heading back to work feels the same, but different! It’s funny how we take to a new year, with renewed enthusiasm, the promise of making a change for the better. The irony being that every year, we say the same things!

I arrived…

It’s been a blogging good year and what better way to round it up than a look back at what had us talking in 2012.

January – we defied the convention of New Year diets and made January all about food on our blog.
We paired up with Dozen Bakery and Pulse Cafe Bar, both in Norwich and both kind enough to dominate a product or two to raise some money for the RSPB. 

February – a beautiful, nostalgic b…

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me … two turtle doves.

26 December is, as the traditional Christmas song goes, the second day of Christmas and the Operation Turtle Dove partnership is launching an exciting competition today!

Operation Turtle Dove is a new partnership triggered by the impending crisis facing turtle doves. However, the partnership logo of the special symbolic doves of love…