As we reach the shortest day of the year, we can at last begin to look forward to longer evenings and daylight when the alarm goes off in the morning - though of course we have Christmas to look forward to first.
At Minsmere today we were looking to the future too - and it looks bright from where I'm standing. I spent the morning with four lovely families as we took a series of photographs for a forthcoming promotional campaign. Watching the kids playing on the beach, exploring the woods and spotting some wildlife from Island Mere Hide was great. They all had a great time, and we got some amazing pictures. This afternoon they built dens and played in the sand martin tunnels in the Wild Zone as even more photos were taken.
Spending time with families like these reminds me of why I enjoy working at Minsmere so much. It also reminds me of why I became hooked on nature as a child. Sometimes its the simple pleasures that bring the most enjoyment: kicking piles of fallen leaves, painting pictures in the sand, finding a stick to use as a walking stick - or sword or light sabre! It's such a shame that so many children (and adults) no longer experience these pleasures for themselves. Luckily, Minsmere is the perfect place to connect with nature and unlock a lifetime of memories like this.
Some of our wildlife sightings today gave a hint of what the future may have in store too. Pick of the bunch was a raven over the South Levels this morning. Still a rare bird in Suffolk, they are becoming more frequent as populations spread east through the midlands. If I'm still writing these blogs in 20 years time I have no doubt that ravens will be breeding in Suffolk, possibly even at Minsmere. This is a great testament to the success of nature conservation in the UK, which has helped ravens to recover from decades of persecution that resulted in their loss from most of lowland England.
Raven by Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
The return of the raven mirrors that of another bird seen over the Levels today, the peregrine. Fairly recently peregrines were confined to mountains and sea cliffs, but as their numbers recovered from the impacts of DDT and other chemicals (thankfully long-since banned), they too have spread eastwards. Peregrines now breed in many of the UK's towns and cities, using churches, tower blocks and bridges as alternatives to cliffs. One pair is now resident on the power station buildings at Sizewell, so they are regularly seen hunting Minsmere's ducks, gulls and wading birds.
Two other species that are seen with increasing frequency in the UK, and at Minsmere, are Caspian and yellow-legged gulls, and both were again present on the Scrape today. The juvenile glaucous gull returned to the Scrape this afternoon too, while other sightings there included two pintails, three black-tailed godwits and 20 curlews. At least seven Bewick's swans were present too, being seen on both East Scrape and Lucky Pool.
While I was on the beach this morning we were lucky enough to watch a grey seal feeding close inshore (though there was no sign of the three harbour porpoises seen on Friday), but the highlight for me was a juvenile pomarine skua harassing gulls several hundred metres offshore. Other birds seen offshore included gannets, red-throated divers, common scoters and brent geese.
Walking back from the beach we also enjoyed prolonged views of a flying bittern over North Marsh - such long flights are unusual in winter. Marsh harriers were active over Island Mere, but some of other reedbed wildlife remained frustratingly hidden today.
Bittern in flight by Jon Evans
There is so much to see at Minsmere, so why not plan a visit over the festive period. Please remember, though, that Minsmere is closed on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day.