As March draws towards an end, adders continue to prove the biggest draw for many of our visitors. In particular, two adders nicknamed Rylan and Goatee, are regularly showing very well just behind an electric fence below the sand martin colony. Their location means that it's easy for lots of visitors to spot them without disturbing them or putting themselves in danger, which is why we encourage visitors to watch these adders rather than looking for them elsewhere. If you are visiting, please help us to keep these sensitive snakes safe by focusing your attention on Rylan and Goatee - our volunteers will often be on hand to help you yo find them.
Why Rylan and Goatee? Around this time last year, one of my colleagues contacted BBC Radio Two, asking if any of their presenters would like an adder named after them. Rylan Clark and Liza Tarbuck said, "yes please," and so we named two of the adders after them. Although one was called Liza, it was a male, and he doesn't appear to have emerged from hibernation so far this year. Rylan, however, has been active since late February. He's a beautiful black (melanistic) adder - yes, we've been told that he should be called Edmund or Baldrick, but those names were taken many years ago.
Goatee is a more typically coloured male adder, named because of the white goatee beard on his chin.
Male adders emerge from hibernation early, using the spring sun to get them into breeding condition before they moult their skins (called sloughing) in time to look their finest for when the females start to emerge in mid April.
You can see some fabulous photos and videos of these two adders, and many of Minsmere's other recent sightings, by following our Twitter pages and looking for the posts by Whistling Joe, who is one of our guides, and took the two photos above.
Bitterns have also proved popular this week, though only for some visitors. While they have, typically, proved to be elusive for many visitors, others have reported watching a bittern feeding in front of Bittern Hide for an hour or more. This just goes to show that you ca be lucky, but you may have to be patient too. As for booming, they're still reluctant to get going yet this year, with just a few booms in the early hours, but it's only a matter of time.
Marsh harriers have been much more reliable, displaying over the reedbed or collecting nesting material. Bearded tits have showed well at times, but are likely to be remaining hidden this weekend, with the windy weather. At least three pairs of great crested grebes are displaying at Island Mere, where several coots and tufted ducks have been joined by large flocks of black-headed gulls. The latter are, presumably, taking advantage of an emergence of midges to grab an energy rich meal in advance of the breeding season.
Black-headed gull by Steve Everett
The gulls are not the only birds returning to the Scrape in bigger numbers, ready for the breeding season, with up to 19 Mediterranean gulls and 70 avocets seen already. There are also a few pairs of oystercatchers, redshanks, ringed plovers and lapwings, several migrant dunlins, turnstones and black-tailed godwits, and the odd Caspian and yellow-legged gulls. Duck numbers are declining as they migrate back north for the spring, while Canada, greylag and barnacle geese are starting to set up their territories.
Among the scarcer birds seen this week have been spoonbill, water pipit, sanderling, garganey and an alpine swift. The latter, seen by just a handful of visitors on Thursday, was one of about 100 that have been reported across the UK and Ireland over the last week or so, during one of the biggest influxes ever to this country. It will be a few weeks yet till the first common swifts arrive, but there are a few sand martins trickling through already. Other spring migrants seen this week include swallow, willow warbler, blackcap and wheatear.
Sand martin by Davene Everett
The warmer spring weather has also tempted the first butterflies and bumblebees out this week, with sightings of brimstone and peacock butterflies and buff-tailed bumblebees, in particular.