Even on the dullest of winter days, there's always something to brighten up a visit to Minsmere, starting outside the visitor centre. Here, you can watch the constant to-ing and fro-ing of blue tits, great tits, chaffinches, along with several marsh tits, coal tits, goldfinches and greenfinches, as they dash between seed-laden feeders and the safety of nearby trees. Watch carefully and you may even spot our female blackcap, who is especially fond of the apples that we've been putting out in the hope of attracting waxwings or fieldfares.
Female blackcap and blue tit enjoying a tasty apple. Photo by Clare Carter
Once out on the reserve, the large flocks of ducks on the Scrape will also add more than a splash of colour to proceedings. Drake wigeons, teals, mallards, shelducks and shovelers are sure to catch the eye, while even the drake gadwalls bring their own understated touch of glamour. Granted, the females may lack their partners' bright colours, but as bathing and feeding ducks splash around you'll soon see that they are far from simply brown.
Gadwalls by Ian Barthorpe
The handful of avocets that remain on the Scrape will stand out even more on a dull day, their gleaming white plumage easily catching the eye. Likewise, when the black-tailed godwits flap their wings you'll see a broad white wingbar. An impressive flock of 100 golden plovers would have certainly stood out if seen well, but were a little harder to spot at distance on the South Levels.
Although some reedbed birds, such as bitterns, Cetti's warblers and water rails, are superbly camouflaged, and notoriously difficult to see, a few species are among our most colourful. Winter is a good time to see kingfishers at Minsmere, and bearded tits are regularly seen around Island Mere, even feeding on the fallen seeds or grit boardwalk at times. Also at Island Mere, a party of seven whooper swans is regular, otters are seen every day (at some point) and an evening visit should yield several marsh harriers coming into roost.
Other colourful birds in the woods include great spotted and green woodpeckers, jays, and the ever-present woodpigeons, while your visit might also be enlivened by an encounter with a red deer. Bittern Hide and the North Wall are good places to spot them. What will you see on your next visit?
Jay by Ian Barthorpe