We're 70 today! Happy birthday Minsmere

Yes folks, it's a very special day at Minsmere as we celebrate a significant anniversary. The RSPB first signed a management agreement for land at Minsmere on 25 April 1947, and so began a story of conservation success.

We'd been negotiating with the landowners, the Ogilvie estate, for several years before signing that agreement, then just a few weeks later came the incredible news that avocets had been found nesting at Minsmere. These were the first breeding avocets in the UK for 100 years so the news was initially restricted to a few local birdwatchers who kept a close watch on the. 

By the time avocets returned to Minsmere in 1963, after Bert Axell's pioneering decision to create a shallow island-studded lagoon for breeding terns and waders, avocets were established as a breeding bird on nearby Havergate Island, and their future was set. Avocets remain synonymous with Minsmere and Suffolk, as well as appearing on the RSPB's logo, while the lagoon, still known as the Scrape, has become a symbol of wetland conservation worldwide. Similar scrapes have been created throughout the UK, while Bert Axell himself helped to establish scrapes as far away as Spain and Hong Kong.

Of course, Minsmere has changed a bit over the years. Take our visitor facilities for  starters.

The car park and "visitor centre" in 1972...

and the old Beach Hut at the end of the North Wall.

A new visitor centre opened in 1996, and was extended in 2012, giving a much more comfortable welcome in the reception building, and a much larger car park  (photos by John Chapman)

While the old car park became a pond - a great place to watch dragonflies or for kids to pond dip.

In the early 1950s the RSPB helped to pioneer birdwatching hides at Minsmere, though some were a bit rough and ready.

The original Tree Hide was on the small side, and was later replaced by the much more spacious Bittern Hide

It is no longer necessary to book a visit weeks in advance. Indeed, Minsmere can now be enjoyed every day from dawn to dusk and our volunteers guides will help you to spot some of our special wildlife 

The wildlife has changed a bit over the years too. Thanks to RSPB research and subsequent careful habitat management, there have been significant increases in numbers of avocets, bitterns, marsh harriers and bearded tits, both at Minsmere and nationally. Stone-curlews, Dartford warblers and otters have all disappeared then subseuently returned, while antlions, beewolfs, Mediterranean gulls, Cetti's warblers and little egrets have all colonised. At the same time, we've also lost a few species, partly as a result of widespread declines in the UK. Willow tit, lesser spotted woodpecker, tree pipit and woodcock no longer breed at Minsmere, although woodcocks do at least still visit in winter.

Minsmere is no longer just a place to come for birdwatching either. Over the past 70 years we've identified an incredible 5700 different species of wildlife, but only about 340 of those are birds. With more than 1000 moths and 1000 fungi, as well an amazing variety of plants, insects and mammals, it's a nature reserve in every sense of the word. 

While I'm talking numbers, here's a few more that help to show how Minsmere has helped to inspire generations of people to discover nature. We know that some of our visitors have been coming regularly since the 1950s, with many of them remembering Bert Axell or even his predecessor Dick Wolfendale. I first visited as a YOC member (the forerunner to RSPB Wildlife Explorers) almost 30 years ago, and now I regularly bring my own son. He's just one of many youngsters for whom a visit to Minsmere is hopefully just the start of a journey of natural discovery. For example, in the five years since we enhanced our visitor facilities and added the Wild Zone and Discovery Centre, we've greeted 535,000 visitors, including more than 41,600 children.  We have also hosted more than 11,600 school pupils and college students. 

We'll be celebrating our 70th birthday throughout the year, starting this weekend when we launch our exciting 70 species to spot challenge. Who will be the first to spot all 70? On Monday we're also hosting Swarovski UK who are launching the superb new BTX range, a high powered telescope with twin eye cups that promised greatly reduced eye strain. BBC wildlife presenter Mike Dilger, best known from The One Show, will also be here on Monday, and we'll have signed copies of some of his books available. 

Finally, on Saturday we're also launching a special Minsmere 70th birthday mug featuring a stunning picture of an avocet. 

Do you need any more reasons to visit us this weekend?