After all the excitement of last week's Hoopoe, things have settled down into a more normal late autumn pattern this week. Even the weather has followed that pattern, with dull wet days followed by crystal clear blue skies and morning frosts. Those clear bright days, like yesterday and today, have really shown off the reserve and its wildlife to the best effect, and like many photographers, I was busy with my camera yesterday.
The views across the Scrape were superb with huge flocks of ducks resting on many of the islands, or dabbling in the shallows. The is the view of East Hide, looking across the Scrape from South Hide.
One of the more obvious duck species, with its bright white breast, huge flattened bill and bottle-green head, offset by a small yellow eye, is the male Shoveler.
The more subtly plumaged grey-brown Gadwalls are easier to overlook among the many browner female ducks, but I love the finely patterned plumage, black undertail and white wing patch that combine to give an unmistakable identification. Here, two drake Gadwall are sleeping with a single female.
This pair of Mute Swans on West Scrape looked superb in the sun, especially with the millpond-like water reflecting the blue sky, but they frustratingly refused to lift their heads in unison.
They looked so serene, that I felt compelled to video them for the best of the action.
The Whooper Swans on East Scrape were even less obliging, until one eventually lifted its head for a quick preen before settling back to sleep.
The two Bewick's Swans quickly moved elsewhere, but among the other highlights on the Scrape this week have been several Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls, one or two Goosanders, Water Pipit, Green Sandpiper, Turnstones, Dunlins and a few late Avocets.
The superb light and bright sunshine might have given the impression of an early spring day, but I was still shocked when a very late Swallow circled me a few times at the Sluice - my latest in the UK by an incredible eleven days! My photography skills certainly aren't up to photographing Swallows in flight, but the views from the Sluice were amazing, whether looking out to see, or inland.
I still can't help admiring the beauty of the East Hide boardwalk, either. It doesn't seem like two years since this amazing structure was completed.
Perhaps the rarest bird of the week, in Minsmere terms, at least, was the lovely male House Sparrow that spent a couple of days around the feeders, in company with the regular Nuthatch, Coal, Marsh, Blue and Great Tits and Chaffinches.
Meanwhile the Water Voles are still being seen at the pond, though a bit less frequently, while I had good views of a Stoat in the car park today and two lucky visited spotted a rather unseasonal Slow Worm on the North Wall.
The Marsh Harriers have been the most obvious birds around the reedbed, but we're still getting regular sightings of Bitterns, Bearded Tits and Kingfishers too. Cetti's Warblers and Water Rails are more likely to give away their presence vocally than to move into the open. At least three Pochards remain at Island Mere with a few Tufted Ducks, and Snipe and Grey Herons are regularly seen feeding in the cut areas in front of the hide. The Whooper Swans often move down to the mere too, and there they've been a bit more active, with David Naylor taking this superb picture that shows off both the majestic beauty of the swans and the stunning autumn colours in the reedbed.
Finally, I'll finish where I started, with another beautiful view across the Scrape, this time looking out from Wildlife Lookout.