Next Sunday, 1 February, we switch to summer opening at Minsmere. This means that the visitor centre remains open until 5 pm, and the cafe hours switch to 9.30 am to 4.45 pm. To help us to get ready for spring, the cafe will be closing early on Monday, at 2.30 pm, for a deep clean, so if you're planning to visit that day make sure you get your refreshments early.
Our opening times aren't the only impending signs of spring, as the first avocet returned to the Scrape yesterday. It is still present today.
Even more surprisingly, I saw a cow parsley plant in full flower on my way to work on Thursday - that's at least three months early! Of course, snowdrops are flowering in many gardens now, and our daffodils are already sprouting nicely.
It has felt rather springlike today too, with almost unbroken blue skies, though the breeze has made it feel chilly at times. Apart from the avocet, there have been some good sightings too. The redhead smew remains on East Scrape, along with a pair of pintails, and was joined today by a dunlin and four turnstones. Bearded tits showed very close to the path between South Hide and the sluice. Bitterns were seen at Bittern Hide and Island Mere. Two whooper swans were on Island Mere, where the female otter and two cubs were seen, followed later by the lone dog otter. Redwings, goldcrests and bullfinches were all seen in the woods and a stonechat along the North Wall.
And, of course, our feeders were extremely busy, with a constant stream of tits and finches feeding on them. I hope you feeders are well stocked for the Big Garden Birdwatch tomorrow - or that you did the count today. Don't forget you can enter your results at www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch
A coal tit by Ben Hall (rspb-images.com) - one of the birds on Minsmere's feeders