After celebrating our 75th birthday on Monday, it was heart-warming to receive an email from two lovely ladies reflecting on their brilliant visit to Minsmere. So much so that, with their permission, I thought I'd share their feedback with you. I know that their thoughts will strike a chord with many other visitors too. So, here in full, and unedited, are Helen and Emily's thoughts about Minsmere. Thank you ladies! We hope to see you back at Minsmere again soon.

Dear Team

We are still coming down from the most brilliant day at Minsmere………

We are total novices and my daughter and I decided we would challenge ourselves to try and identify as many different birds as we could…..

We arrived and had the warmest of welcomes from a lovely lady (short blond Bob hair) who was both informative and encouraging (……..go for it she said)!!!. 

We picked up a delicious coffee and set out for the East Hide….it’s fair to say we were blown away by the spectacle before us…..soooooo many birds.  With the help of the laminates, the books and some very kind and patient fellow birders we were off!!!! There were some gaffs, lots of laughs and some truly wow moments……we met such lovely people throughout the day and the birds and wildlife simply breathtaking……….Each hide gave a different perspective and the contrast from the open marshes into the woodlands was magnificent……..

Highlights?  The birds - seen and unseen …… we had the privilege of watching the Marsh Harrier for almost an hour ……. we heard the Bittern coughing (!) and a lovely gentleman told us that the call we could hear in the woods was a Cetti's Warbler…… he said if we spotted that we would find gold!!! :) 

As we returned to the visitor centre we crossed the maintenance car park and a warden called from his car “have you had a good day” we said “yes, the best” and he said tell me about it. So we regaled our story of more than 30 species ticked off in our book and two heard but not yet seen, this alongside countless butterflies and insects…….

Truly you are great custodians and we are very grateful for all the hard work and endeavours.

Helen and Emily