Rember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpoweder, treason and plot.
We probably all remember the rhyme from our school days, but when out celebrating fireworks night, how many people actually remember why we bother at all - commemorating Guy Fawkes's attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
Perhaps more importantly, how many people remember to check their bonfires before lighting them, in case a weary hedgehog has already settled down to hibernate beneath a lovely warm pile of leaves and sticks. Sadly, it may get a bit too warm for some unlucky hogs, though with the evenings still being quite mild some won't have headed to hibernation yet.
If you are planning to visit Minsmere next week, please note that due to planned engineering works, we expect to have no power at all on Tuesday morning, 10 November. As a result, the cafe will remain closed until about 12 pm, after which they will only be serving hot and cold drinks and cakes. No hot food, soup or scones will be available as the staff won't be able to prepare these in the morning.
There'll be cakes but no scones available on Tuesday afternoon
The shop will remain open, but will only be able to take cash sales until the power comes back on at about 12 pm. You will, of course, be welcome to browse, and come back later to make your purchases.
With no power, we'll also have no pump for the water supply, so the toilets will be closed all morning too. We will provide portaloos, so you shouldn't get caught short.
As our computers will also be unavailable, some of the visitor experience team will be joining the wardens and volunteers for a variety of habitat management tasks. This may include some burning of vegetation in front of the reedbed hides, but other parts of the visitor trails shouldn't be affected, so don't let us put you off visiting.
There is actually lots of wildlife to look for at the moment too. Ten Bewick's swans and a great white egret have been seen around Island Mere today, as well as reports of an otter this morning. Marsh harriers, kingfishers and bearded tits are also present in the reedbed as usual. Out on the Scrape, an impressive 120+ snipe were counted yesterday, while other waders so far this week have included seven avocets, three knot, four spotted redshanks, 20 golden plovers and 25 black-tailed godwits. Other highlights on the Scrape include a drake pochard, drake pintail, adult yellow-legged and Caspian gulls, and eight brent geese this morning. A peregrine was spotted hunting over the Scrape this morning, and was later seen feeding on the Levels, and a short-eared owl was seen near the sluice. Closer tot he visitor centre, the brambling and marsh tits were around the feeders again, and redwings have been seen in the North Bushes.
We hope that the disruption on Tuesday doesn't cause you too many problems.
Snipe by Jon Evans - they won't all be as easy to see as this