As the BBC Springwatch team were leaving on Sunday, Minsmere played host to another exciting event in partnership with Aldeburgh Music and BBC Radio Three. As part of the annual Aldeburgh Festival, Aldeburgh Music hosted a series of events around Messiaen's Catalogue d'Oiseaux. Starting with a dawn walk at Snape Maltings, the day included a four-part performance of this famous piano piece, with recitals at Snape at dawn, midday and night-time. Part three, dusk, was here at Minsmere, on the recently vacated Springwatch stage, with an audience of 500 people watching from Whin Hill.
For those who've not heard of the Catalogue d'Oiseaux, it's a classical music piece that takes inspiration for the birds of SW France, where Messiaen lived. While species such as alpine chough, rock thrush or golden oriole may be unlikely to be heard at Minsmere, it also includes many familiar species such as little owl, avocet, curlew and woodlark. As Pierre-Laurent Aimard performed, he was accompanied by some of Minsmere's birdlife, including jackdaws, Cetti's warbler and song thrush, much to the enjoyment of the gathered crowd. You read more about this exciting event at http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/20/catalogue-doiseaux-review-pierre-laurent-aimard-aldeburgh-festival.
Ready for the show - photo by Adam Rowlands
We were very lucky with the weather on Sunday, especially given how heavily it rained the next day, but with summer now officially here it's been another beautiful day today, and the wildlife is certainly making the most of it.
Out on the Scrape, a mobile spoonbill has proved popular today, while spotted redshanks, ruff and green sandpiper are all southbound already and teal numbers have already started to increase. Several common tern chicks can now be seen and a few pairs of Sandwich terns are incubating eggs on East Scrape.
In the reedbed, bitterns continue to be seen every day, with bearded tits and reed warblers particularly visible too. With luck you may also spot a water rail, kingfisher or otter too.
Whilst birdsong is reducing as the breeding season progresses, our tits' finches and warblers can all be seen in the woods, and the Springwatch nightingale family continues to feed near the car park entrance.
The sunny weather has also been good for insect watching, including sightings of Norfolk and southern hawker dragonflies, black-tailed skimmers, various damselflies, ringlet, small heath and brown argus butterflies and a cream spot tiger moth, like this one photographed recently by one of our volunteer guides.
Cream-spot tiger by Peter Phillips