Perhaps it has something to do with the supermoon/blood moon/lunar eclipse that many people enjoyed watching in the early hours of Monday morning, or maybe the recent autumn equinox, but the seasons seem a little confusing at the moment.
Talking of the supermoon, I hope you manage to see it if you bothered to get/stay up. When I woke up there was a thick layer of cloud shrouding the sky, so I went back to bed. I'll just have to hope I'm still around in 2033 for another opportunity!
Anyway, back to the confusing seasons. The colours of the bracken and birch trees, and abundance of fungi, clearly suggest that autumn is upon us, but this beautiful warm sunny weather is more indicative of late spring. If you want to learn more about Minsmere's fungi then put Saturday 17 October in your diary and join us for UK Fungus Day.
Common earthball - one of the fungi to look for in October - by Ian Barthorpe
Another sign of autumn is the annual red deer rut, and though they are a bit slow getting going this year we will be staffing the viewpoint on Westleton Heath again this weekend. Our volunteers will be present from 1 pm until dusk on both Saturday and Sunday with binoculars, telescopes and quizzes and we'd love to see you there. There are still one or two spaces available for deer safaris towards the end of October too.
Autumn is often the best time to spot bearded tits, and the recent calm sunny mornings have been perfect for spotting small flocks flying above the reeds. North Wall, Island Mere and the South Hide area are perhaps the best places to watch them.
Bearded tit by Jon Evans
Despite the advancing season, there are still a few lingering summer migrants passing through. A spotted flycatcher between Bittern Hide and Island Mere was a surprise today, as was a common tern over Island Mere. An osprey spent several days fishing at Island Mere late last week and through the weekend, and several hobbies continue to chase dragonflies over the woods and reedbed. In the North Bushes there are still a few blackcaps, but the lesser whitethroats appear to have all moved on. A common blue butterfly was a late bonus today, as well as several small whites and speckled woods, while oen or clouded yellows have passed through this week too.
There's also been a few signs of winter already, with a ringtail hen harrier seen to fly over the Scrape this afternoon, and two early water pipits on East Scrape. It's been a good day for watching brent geese,wigeon and teal passing by offshore too. Other winter visitors this week have included short-eared owl, pintails and turnstones.
Other highlights this week have included a firecrest in the Sluice Bushes for two days, a great white egret seen a couple of times in the reedbed, regular kingfisher, bittern, otter and marsh harrier sightings in the reedbed, and increasing numbers of ducks. Oh, and the avocet count on the Scrape has gone back up to four, while other wader have included a bar-tailed godwit, upto three knot, three dunlins, a golden plover and a few snipe.
Finally, some advance warning. If you are planning to visit on Tuesday, please note that the shop will close early (at 3 pm) for stock-taking.