It's been an exciting week at Minsmere, with a superb variety of birds and insects spotted around the reserve, but Wednesday was a real red letter day for insects watchers. both of the day's star species had a cat theme - which was rather ironic given that Wednesday was also International Cat Day!
The highlight for the staff and volunteers on duty that day, as well as proving very popular with many visitors, was yet another new addition to reserve's already huge moth list - a stunning Jersey tiger moth. It spent most of the day feeding on hemp-agrimony flowers between South Belt Crossroads and Wildlife Lookout, though by the time I got to see it it was resting on a willow branch high above the path.
Jersey tigers are scarce moths in the UK. They breed locally in small numbers along the south coast and turn up as migrants elsewhere along the south and east coasts. Their range is increasing, but this was probably only the fourth one ever seen in Suffolk. Not only are they scarce, but they are also stunningly beautiful. What this picture doesn't show is the brilliant red underwing.
The other star insect seen on Wednesday as an adult antlion that spent the day resting on a blue rope alongside the sand martin colony photography area. Antlions are now common at Minsmere, with many larval pits found in suitable sandy areas throughout the reserve - most notably alongside the visitor centre - but the adults are nocturnal so are rarely seen. This one was found by one of our younger visitors, 8-year-old Billy, whose dad showed me the photo, allowing several of us to see this spectacular insect. The last time I saw an adult, young Billy hadn't even been born!
Other popular insects this week have included at least two hummingbird hawkmoths on the Buddleia at the visitor centre, grayling and paited lady butterflies around the visitor centre, willow emerald damselflies near where the Jersey tiger was found, emerald damselflies and emperor dragonflies at the pond and great green bush-crickets along the North Wall. Not forgetting, of course, the residents of Digger Alley.
Our wasp spiders are out and about now too, with at least three seen close to the East Hide steps this morning.
Of course, for many of our visitors, the birds will always be the main attraction, and those visiting the Scrape hides this week will not have been disappointed. The variety of waders includes green, common and curlew sandpipers, ruffs, spotted redshanks, greenshanks,redshanks, snipe, whimbrel, ringed and little ringed plovers and oystercatchers as well as up to 100 dunlins, 120 black-tailed godwits and 200 avocets. Up to three black and five little terns have been seen alongside common and Sandwich terns and up to 30 little gulls. There's also lots of moulting (eclipse plumage) gadwalls, teals, mallards and shovelers to test your ID skills.
East and South Hides are particularly productive at the moment, but the birds can be more distant from North Hide and Wildlife Lookout. We'll be starting the seasonal habitat management programme next week, beginning on West Scrape. This work involves cutting the vegetation on the islands and banks, helping to ready them for the coming winter and next year's breeding season, as well as improving viewing for visitors. We only work on one section of the Scrape at a time, so when we're cutting West Scrape, the birds will move onto East and South Scrapes instead.
Elsewhere, the first wheatears of the autumn have been spotted along the dunes or from the North Wall, and a few yellow wagtails are beginning to turn up on the Scrape or Konik Field. Lesser whitethroats, whitethroats, garden and willow warblers are also being seen in the North Bushes. Bearded tits are being seen regularly at Island Mere, as are hobbies and marsh harriers. It's a quieter time of year for otter and bittern sightings, but they are both seeing seen at least once each day, so patience may be rewarded at Island Mere or Bittern Hide.
Wheatear by Jon Evans
Finally, in the spirit of sharing sightings for the week, our family activities have also turned up a few interesting sightings. Star finds at Monday's pond dipping were a water stick insect and a water vole, while on Wednesday we found a grass snake and several caddisfly cases. Two bird skulls were unearthed during Tuesday's owl pellet dissection, following on from a mole the week before. Thursday's ringing demonstration was cut short by the rain, but not before they'd ringed a selection of warblers, tits and finches. These events will be repeated for the rest of the month too.
This will be my last blog for a couple of weeks. Hopefully Matt and Hannah will have a chance to update during that time, but you can also check for daily updates on the RSPB Suffolk Facebook page and @rspbMinsmere on Twitter.