Minsmere is widely known as one of the best birdwatching sites in the UK, but it is, of course, much more than that. It is, quite simply, one of the best nature reserves in the UK - whatever type of wildlife you are interested in.
A quick look at some of the highlights from today's sightings board shows some of the variety here, with mammals, reptiles and moths all listed.
Our very popular water vole was seen again at the pond this morning. A baby has been spotted on the pond in the last few days too. Three otters were at Island Mere again this morning. Other mammals that are usually easy to see include rabbits, grey squirrels, red deer and muntjac, while stoats and weasels are regular too.
An adder was seen around the adder trail this afternoon. While it's becoming harder to spot these beautiful snakes in the warmer weather, one of my colleagues was delayed from going home on Saturday when this female adder curled up against the tyre of his car.
Ringlet and meadow brown butterflies are now numerous on the grassy areas, and are probably the commonest butterflies here at the moment. Cinnabar moth caterpillars are busily munching through ragwort too. We haven't yet had reports of white admiral, purple hairstreak or grayling at Minsmere, but all three have been reported locally so keep your eyes peeled. It has, however, been a good day for hawkmoths. A stunning pair of poplar hawkmoths were photographed close to the adder trail today, and a beautiful broad-bordered bee-hawkmoth was feeding on the buddleias close to the visitor centre at lunchtime. Here's one of the latter from a couple of years ago.
Of course, there are some good birds to look for too. A pair of little ringed plovers were spotted behaving very defensively on the dunes today, suggesting that they might even have chicks despite this not being a typical habitat for them. One adult was also seen on the Scrape. Other waders present include about 20 spotted redshanks, almost 300 avocets, a couple of ruffs, several dunlins and ringed plovers and at least 100 black-tailed godwits on the Scrape.
The little gull count has peaked at 23 so far, while a couple of juvenile Mediterranean gulls this morning suggests successful breeding somewhere locally - one pair appears to be nesting here.
Bitterns continue to show well at times, marsh harrier chicks are now fledging and can be easily spotted perched or flapping across the reeds, and bearded tits have been seen at both Island Mere and the North Wall. Best of all, over the west end of the reedbed today, a honey-buzzard was spotted soaring on thermals with a common buzzard and two marsh harriers this morning. Honey-buzzards are scarce breeding birds in the UK, but this must have been a wandering individual as they don't nest locally. It provided a useful comparison with the other two more familiar raptors.
Finally, just a couple of miles away from Minsmere, a flock of 11 bee-eaters spent a few hours in Leiston on Sunday, where they were often perched on wires. They flew off towards Minsmere, but haven't been relocated.
This brown hawker was a surprise guest in the visitor centre yesterday
I wonder how he explained that when he got home late.........'Sorry, dear, a snake stopped me leaving?' Priceless!
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.