A spooktacular sight

As I type, the skies above the Scrape resemble a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's infamous film, The Birds as thousands of starlings arrive at their evening roost. It may be Hallowe'en, but there's no need to panic. Far from it. This is the perfect time to visit Minsmere to witness one of the most spectacular wildlife events in the UK - a large starling murmuration.

Suffolk's coastal reedbeds provide safe roosting sites for starlings that have spent the day feeding in surrounding farmland. Many of them will have migrated here to escape the frozen winters of Scandinavia, the Baltic states and Russia, and about 40000 starlings have chosen our reedbeds for their winter roost. The show begins slowly, from just before 4 pm, as first a couple of hundred starlings circle the Scrape, soon to be joined by a few more. Quickly the size of the flock increases, until the sky is full of a wheeling mass of birds, twisting and turning n unison, like clouds of smoke against the darkening sky.

A small proportion of the murmuration on Saturday evening, before the main flock arrived

This growing mass of birds attracts more late stragglers before spiraling to the safety of the reeds, like water spiraling down a plug hole. There is safety in numbers, but stray too far from the mass and they risk being picked off by a hungry sparrowhawk, peregrine or marsh harrier intent on late evening meal.

The starlings spiraling in to roost

The exact location of the chosen roost site varies throughout the winter, and the birds are likely to move elsewhere once they've attracted the attention of more predators, but they are currently choosing to roost between South Hide and East Hide, along the edge of the Scrape. You can watch them from anywhere with a view of the Scrape, though the Public Viewpoint and South Hide areas are perhaps best at present. You need to be in place from about 3.45 pm so that you are ready for the action to begin. (Please note that although our visitor centre closes at 4 pm from tomorrow, you will still be able to access the hides, car park and toilets after the starlings drop into roost.)

Whilst waiting for the starlings to arrive, there's plenty of other wildlife to keep your attention at Minsmere during the autumn. The huge flocks of ducks on the Scrape (teal, wigeon, mallard, shoveler, gadwall, shelduck and a few pintails) are rapidly acquiring their brightest feathers after the post-breeding moult. Among them you may spot a few waders such as lapwings, black-tailed godwits and snipe, plus the odd dunlin, green sandpiper or spotted redshank. A water pipit has been in the South Hide area this week too.

At Island Mere there are regular sightings of otter, bittern, up to seven marsh harriers, bearded tits, reed buntings, stonechats and water rails, plus large flocks of mute swans and cormorants. The escaped black swan remains, and our first Bewick's swan of the winter arrived last week. The luck was certainly with my family on Saturday afternoon when we had great views of both bittern and otter from the hide - the latter was a first in the UK for my well-traveled brother! In fact, he ticked off all his target species for the day in a pleasant afternoon walk - otter, bittern, bearded tit and red deer, as well as the murmuration - emphasising just what a magical place Minsmere can be.

Of course, there's much more than just birds and mammals to see, and returning to theme of Hallowe'en, there's some great fungi around at present. I'm not an expert on species, apart from the distinctive fly agaric and dinner-plate-like parasol, but here's a slecetion of fungi taken on the reserve on Saturday for you to enjoy.

It wouldn't be Hallowe'en without spiders and bats. I saw a pipistrelle in Westleton village on Saturday evening, and with the continued mild weather they'll still be hunting insects for a few more evenings yet. And this morning I woke to a spectacular display of dew-covered cobwebs in the fog.

And this spider in my son's bedroom window.