With another lockdown set to start on Thursday, you have just today and tomorrow left if you want to buy your Christmas cards, crackers, calendars or nature-themed presents in person, as we will, unfortunately, be closing the shop again from close of play tomorrow.
You will, of course, still be able to stock up on Christmas goodies, birdfood, feeders, etc, via the RSPB's online shop, at https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/
We hope to be able to re-open the shop in early December, but that obviously depends on whether the new restrictions are lifted in time.
We are still looking into the details of the Government guidance, our staffing levels to safely manage our sites and which facilities it might be possible for us to keep open on our reserves, and will update later in the week regarding whether our hides, nature trails and toilets will remain open or be closed once more. Likewise, we expect the cafe to be closed, but are awaiting confirmation on this at the moment.
Although there is lots of great wildlife to see at Minsmere, from ducks and gulls on the Scrape to finches in the woods or marsh harriers over the reedbeds, I'm not going to whet your appetite too much in case we close completely. We do, of course, encourage you to continue to enjoy some of the amazing wildlife that you can spot local to where you live, even if you are unable to continue to visit us here at Minsmere. For example, you might find flocks of finches or buntings feeding among game cover crops around field margins, or redwings and fieldfares foraging in local orchards. If you visit your local park, river or reservoir then you should find a good variety of ducks, and maybe even a kingfisher.
Fieldfare by Jon Evans - look out for these beautiful thrushes feeding on windfall apples or berry-laden bushes
You might be lucky enough to encounter a barn owl quartering the field margins, or hear tawny owls hooting from large gardens or churchyards, even in urban areas. November is a great time to catch up with owls, as the tawnies have already started displaying, so are particularly vocal at dusk, while the short afternoons, make a dusk barn owl encounter more likely.
Tawny owl by Jon Evans - although rarely seen by day, your local tawnies are likely to be very vocal after dark this month
November is also a good time to look for fungi - grasslands, woodlands and churchyards are all good places to look.
Please watch this space, or keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest news on what facilities, if any, are open.
Birch polypore is one of the easier fungi to spot - providing you remember to check the trunks of silver birch trees