Today is the first day of winter, according to meteorologists (though astronomers will tell you it's the winter solstice on 21 December) and it has certainly felt a bit wintry at times. Perhaps not so much so as yesterday, when a sprinkling of snow cast a white cloak across the reserve. As is usually the case with the first snow of winter, it didn't linger long, despite several further flurries, but it clearly marked the changing of the seasons.
It's remained cold today, with a few squalls of hail this morning. There's a definite wintry feel to the reserve's wildlife too. Sitting in the office yesterday, I was able to watch a flock of 17 Bewick's swans heading west. As this was more than double our previous highest count of the winter, these were presumably new arrivals from The Netherlands. I'm not sure whether they landed at Island Mere or continued west, but they haven't been reported today. The family of two adult Bewick's swans with one youngster remain, thought he single juvenile whooper swan hasn't been reported for a couple of days.
Bewick's swans by Jon Evans
Another bird that we always to hope to see when the temperature drops in the smew - a beautiful small diving duck. Only a handful visit the UK each winter, arriving any time between late Novemebr and mid January, and often staying til March. This cold snap may not have been long enough or harsh enough to drive them west from Denmark and The Netherlands, so we'll have to wait a bit longer. You can, however, listen to me talking about smew, one of my favourite ducks, an The Today Programme on BBC Radio Four tomorrow morning. I should be on about 8.40 am.
We're still waiting for the first smew this winter but you can hear all about them tomorrow morning. Photo by Jon Evans
The onset of cold weather always brings hope of a waxwing invasion, but as yet there are very few in the UK. Will it be a waxwing winter or not? There have certainly been some birds leaving Scandinavia in unusually high numbers this autumn with a widely publicised influx of hawfinches and a more recent mass arrival of parrot crossbills, though we haven't seen species at Minsmere yet.
There have been some of our scarcer winter visitors seen this week though, with up to three water pipits and eight goosanders at Island Mere on several dates. One of our hardy seawatchers, John Grant, managed to spot a little auk, two great northern divers, two velvet scoters, three eiders and several other auks offshore this morning, along with the more predictable numbers of red-throated divers, great crested grebes and common scoters.
Numbers of ducks on the Scrape continue to increase, while an unseasonably high count of ten avocets remains. Other waders include a few black-tailed godwits, curlews and redshanks, up to three dunlins and turnstones and the occasional knot, plus lapwings and snipe. Most of our feral geese feed either at RSPB North Warren or near Southwold in winter, often returning to the Scrape to roost, and as the first few white-fronted geese have now arrived at North Warren it's worth keeping an eye open for them too.
The Island Mere bittern has been less visible during the cold weather, though bitterns and otters are still regularly seen there. Up to 14 marsh harriers have been roosting in the evening, but we still have not located a local starling roost despite large numbers feeding on the nearby pig fields during the day.
If you've been to Minsmere this week, you might also have seen one of our more exciting pieces of machinery at work in the reedbed. The Truxor is an amphibious reed cutting machine. With this, we can cut larger patches of reed more quickly than with brushcutters, as well as getting into wetter areas. We've already opened up a couple of pools in North Marsh, a ditch near Island Mere, and the pools at Bittern Hide, and will also be working behind Wildlife Lookout next week. This work will help to create areas of fresh new growth, improving the suitability of the reedbed for breeding bitterns, marsh harriers and bearded tits.
The Truxor at work. Photo by David Baskett
Of course, the arrival of winter also means the countdown to Christmas has begun, and the cafe have a delicious seasonal menu on offer. There's also a great selection of Christmas cards and gift ideas in the shop. If you're looking for something more unusual to buy a loved one, why not consider a gift membership to the RSPB, or perhaps a voucher for a personalised tour of Minsmere. Please contact us for further details.