If you're reading this blog, you probably know this already, but it's now official: Minsmere is simply the best. Yes folks, in a very close fought battle, we have been voted Site of the Year in the Birdwatch Magazine/Birders' Choice Awards for 2019, pipping our friends at RSPB Frampton Marsh by just seven votes! This is a great recognition of the amazing job done by our wardens and volunteers to keep Minsmere's varied habitats in perfect condition for a wide variety of wildlife, as well as providing and maintaining the excellent welcome and facilities to help our visitors to enjoy this wildlife. Most of all, though, it's a thank you to you, our visitors, for voting for us.
As regular readers, you don't need reminding about our many star species. Depending on season, these include birds such as avocet, common and little tern, Mediterranean gull, bittern, bearded tit, marsh harrier, Cetti's and Dartford warblers, nightingale, woodlark, nightjar, stone-curlew and Bewick's swan. Mammals include otter, water vole, water shrew and red deer, while adders and slow worm are the star reptiles. Our top insects include Norfolk hawker dragonflies, willow emerald damselflies, white admiral, silver-studded blue and grayling butterflies, antlions, beewolves, pantaloon bees, great green bush-crickets, water stick-insects and many more, while floral highlights range from bluebells to southern marsh orchids, sea kale to marsh mallow.
Avocet by Steve Everett - one of the many special species found at Minsmere
Although many of these species may be best seen in spring or summer, a winter visit still offers you the chance to spot some fantastic wildlife, and to blow away the cobwebs with a walk through our wild and beautiful landscapes. For example, there are around 2000 ducks on the Scrape at the moment, including almost 1000 teal and several hundred each of wigeon, gadwall, mallard and shoveler. Among these, patient observers may manage to spot the American green-winged teal, which continues to give birdwatchers the runaround as it moves between East and West Scrape, as well as unusually large numbers (for Minsmere) of pintails. Other birds on the Scrape include a few avocets, black-tailed godwits, dunlins and turnstones, up to 500 lapwings, and varying numbers of greylag, Canada and barnacle geese.
Pintail, by Clare Carter
Seven whooper swans continue to move between South Scrape and Island Mere, often resting very close to the hides. Otters, bitterns and kingfishers are seen most days at both Bittern Hide and Island Mere, where bearded tits, Cetti's warblers and water rails are more likely to be heard than seen. Marsh harriers should be easier to spot, and a dusk visit is worthwhile to watch up to 25 of these once very rare birds of prey coming in to roost. You may be lucky enough to see a barn owl then, too - one was seen between Bittern Hide and the sluice as early as 3.15 pm tonight, having been unable to hunt in last night's wet, windy weather.
Male marsh harrier, by Steve Everett
Another bird of prey that is proving quite easy to spot at the moment is the sparrowhawk that regularly perches on the bird table outside the visitor centre. When she's not there, the feeders are buzzing with busy flocks of blue, great, coal and marsh tits, chaffinches and goldfinches, with robins, dunnocks and pheasants feeding on the floor below, and regular visits from a great spotted woodpecker or two.
Our other woodpecker, the green woodpecker, is often seen in the North Bushes, or on Whin Hill. Bullfiches and goldcrests are also often in the North Bushes, while a walk along the dunes may yield stonechat or Dartford warbler.
The amphibious reedcutting machines, called Truxors, have done a great job opening up the pools and ditches at Bittern Hide and from the pond viewing mound, as well as patches of reedbed to the west of Island Mere, providing feeding areas for bitterns and adding structural variety to the reedbed. They have now moved to nearby Dingle Marshes.
We are expecting a digger to be working on the Scrape on either Monday or Tuesday next week. This will be cutting remaining areas of reed along ditch edges and banks. This is important work as it reduces places where predators can hide, and improves the viewing for visitors.
Further upcoming habitat management work includes some tree felling to open up areas of the woodland, benefiting ground flora and invertebrates. This work will start around 26 January and will result in closure of the Woodland Trail for several weeks. Please check at reception for the latest news on any planned habitat management work.