Counting down

It's an exciting time in our household, as in many around the country, as we count down the days until Christmas. Advent calendars are opened to reveal festive pictures, chocolates, or in our case little Lego toys that will make a lovely Christmas scene when finished. With only seven more sleeps till Christmas, the excitement is really building. Will Father Christmas bring us what we want?

Midwinter is an exciting time for watching wildlife too. OK, so migration is less obvious, and the species variety may not change much from day to day, but choose a sunny day and the colours are just superb, with golden reedbeds brought to life by the setting sun, clear blue skies reflected in the water, and vast flocks of ducks parading their finest colours.

For me, one of the most beautiful and colourful of British birds is the fieldfare - a thrush that visits us from Scandinavia every winter. There are still good numbers feeding on berries in the North Bushes, alongside their smaller cousins the redwings. Look out for these thrushes in your gardens if the temperatures ever decide to drop below zero for any length of time. Another winter visitor that may appear in gardens in cold weather is the brambling, and one of these pretty little finches continues to feed among the chaffinches behind the visitor centre reception building.

Many of the ducks have moved from their usual winter home on the Scrape as work continues to replace the aging fence. The diggers will remain on site until Tuesday, then break for Christmas, so the Scrape should be much busier over the holiday period (don't forget that Minsmere is closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, though you can still watch the Scrape from the Public Viewpoint on the beach). If the ducks aren't on the Scrape, then look for them on the Minsmere Levels, which can be watched from the dunes south of the sluice. Alternatively, try out the temporary path across the Chapel Field and watch from beside the 12th Century ruin of Leiston Abbey.

The view across the Levels from the Chapel Field

There's lots to see within the reedbed too, with otters and bitterns continuing to be seen almost every day at Island Mere. The Suffolk Mammal Group are monitoring our otters and would like to know details of any sightings, so please record locations, numbers and activity either in the visitor sightings book in reception or in the specially provided book at Island Mere. 

Other reedbed wildlife this week has included up to 12 marsh harrier, especially in late afternoon, a ghostly male hen harrier yesterday, the two whooper swans and singing Cetti's warblers that refuse to reveal themselves.

An oystercatcher was an unseasonal visitor yesterday, while lapwings snipe and a few curlews can be spotted around the reserve, but winter is not a good time of year to spot waders at Minsmere due to high water levels. 

It's also worth keeping an eye on the sea. As well as the regular red-throated divers, great crested grebes and common scoters, several gannets were seen flying past today. Monday was a bit of a red-letter day for sea mammals too, with sightings of grey seal harbour porpoise, and (most surprisingly) a dolphin. The latter are rarely seen from the Suffolk coast, and species ID was not confirmed, but bottle-nosed dolphin is thought most likely. 

Other mammals to look out for at Minsmere in winter include red deer, muntjac, rabbit and grey squirrel. Foxes or stoats may be seen chasing the rabbits too.

This stoat posed at Bittern Hide for Steve Everitt earlier this year