Tonight is twelfth night. In the Christian calendar, this is the day that the wise men visited Jesus in the stable, and marks then end of the Christmas celebrations. It's also the time to take your decorations down and stow them away for another year.
Being twelfth night, it is also, of course, the twelfth day of Christmas, and on the RSPB Suffolk Facebook pages we've been celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas with a series of posts highlighting some of our fantastic wildlife. In this blog, I'm reproducing these posts, with a little editing and minus most of the pictures.
On the first day of Christmas, we bring you a snowy robin.Sadly it wasn't a white Christmas but we think you'll like this snowy robin.You can enjoy the robins and other wildlife in your garden and look ahead to the Big Garden Birdwatch on 28-30 January.
On the Second Day of Christmas, we bring you a wren in full voice.Wrens feature in many old traditions. Until as recently as the 20th century, many were hunted on Boxing Day, also known as St Stephen's Day. They have featured on coins (anyone remember the old farthing?) and heraldry.There's also a famous fable about how the wren flew higher than the eagle - http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/bnm/bnm23.htm Wrens are among our commonest birds, but can be hard to spot as they skulk among the undergrowth - hence their Latin name, which translates as "cave-dweller". Luckily, their loud, powerful song makes them easy to locate.
On the third day of Christmas we give you a gorgeous black-browed albatross, with incredibly cute chick.Usually confined to the southern oceans, a black-browed albatross famous landed briefly on a freshwater pool at Minsmere in July 2015!The RSPB and our Birdlife International partners have been working hard to protect albatrosses in the southern oceans. You can help by sending us your used stamps, or bringing them to us at Minsmere. https://www.rspb.org.uk/…/albatro…/howyoucanhelp/stamps.aspx
On the fourth day of Christmas we bring you the bearded tit, one of Minsmere's Big Five species. After the exceptionally cold winter of 1947 as few as six bearded tits remained in the UK - at Minsmere. Better management of Suffolk's reedbeds, and the establishment of new reedbeds elsewhere has helped them to spread, and in 2014 a record 770 pairs nested in the UK, with Suffolk remaining a stronghold.
On the fifth day of Christmas we celebrate the turtle dove, a bird that features in the original song despite being a summer visitor to the UK.Did you see any turtle doves this year? If so, you were lucky, as this is one of fastest declining species. The RSPB is working with farmers, landowners and various partners to try to reverse the fortunes of this beautiful little dove and ensure that it continues to return to the UK each summer. Find out how you can help at http://www.operationturtledove.org/
On the sixth day of Christmas it's the turn of the starling to shine. And shine they do when seen up close in the sunshine!During autumn and winter, starlings form huge flocks at dusk before roosting communally in reedbeds, woodlands or on buildings in many towns and cities. Look out these flocks, known as murmurations, near you.Although still common, starlings are in serious decline as a result of changes in landuse across their range. The results of the Big Garden Birdwatch show an 80% decline in abundance since 1979, with starlings now only visiting four out of ten gardens! Will you see any on 28-30 January.www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch [We don't have any murmurations at Minsmere at present but you could try Dingle Marshes, Lowestoft Docks or Redgrave and Lopham Fen]
On the seventh day of Christmas we look back at a fantastic year at Minsmere. The unexpected appearance of potentially the UK's first ever western purple swamphen in July, and a North American cliff swallow in November were major highlights, but other notable sightings included black-winged stilt, Baird's sandpiper, Thayer's gull, bee-eater, honey-buzzard, and, of course, the pantaloon bees
Happy New Year!And what better way to celebrate than with our most iconic species, the avocet - star of the eighth day of Christmas.After an absence of 100 years, avocets returned to nest in the UK in 1947, choosing a small pool at Minsmere near the current location of Bittern Hide, as the lagoons on Havergate Island. Both became RSPB nature reserves, and in 2017 we will celebrate the 70th anniversary of this momentous event alongside Minsmere's 70th birthday. They'll be more on these celebrations as the year progresses.
Avocet by Oscar Dewhurst
On the ninth day of Christmas we look at one of Suffolk's most popular mammals, the brown hare. Hares are widespread, but declining, and can be seen in many fields across Suffolk, but the easiest place to watch them is on RSPB Havergate Island.Havergate is only accessible via RSPB boats, which depart from Orford on the first Saturday or each month (August to April), and on a few event weekends per year. For full details of trips see www.rspb.org.uk/havergateisland and to reserve a space please call 01728 648281. [There are still a few spaces this Saturday if you're quick]
It's the tenth day of Christmas and we bring you the bittern.In Medieval times they might have featured on the Christmas Day menu, but today they are much sought after for other reasons. Bitterns are shy and elusive (usually) and remain rare birds with just over 150 booming males in the UK - a significant improvement on the 11 booming males in 1997.Research, and subsequent habitat management and reedbed creation have helped them to spread to new areas, but Minsmere remains one of the best places to see bitterns, with birds often parading in front of Island Mere or Bittern Hides.
Bittern by Jon Evans
On the eleventh day of Christmas we stick to the heron theme with a great white egret.These elegant birds are being seen much more frequently at RSPB Lakenheath Fen, Dingle Marshes and Minsmere, and are now breeding regularly in Somerset. They look set to follow their smaller cousin, the little egret, and colonise more widely. Will they breed here in Suffolk in 2017? Keep you eyes peeled at a wetland near you and perhaps you'll see one.
And so we come to the twelfth day of Christmas, and what better way to finish the series than with a gorgeous waxwing.So far, this has been a good winter for sightings of waxwings in many parts of the UK, though not here in Suffolk. Check you local parks, supermarket car parks and gardens for these spiky crested berry-guzzlers.What bird would you most like to see in 2017? [Ten waxwings were on Dunwich Heath this morning, so they are coming our way]
Waxwing by Jon Evans
To see the pictures, and to keep up to date with all of the RSPB's work in Suffolk, including regular sightings updates from our reserves, why not check out our Facebook page. You can also keep up to date with news from Minsmere @RSPBMinsmere on Twitter. You don't need to login to see our posts, but you we will need to do so if you wish to comment on them.