Moz’s adventure began when he came to Minsmere with his family to have an exciting day pond dipping! Moz was very excited, not just because pond dipping is super fun but, as all monsters know, the best place to find fellow monsters is lurking in the bottom of ponds!

Hoping to find some of his fellow monsters, Moz was very enthusiastic helping Violet with lots of dips in the pond. He was so excited to see his monstery…

I often reflect on how lucky we are to live in such a wildlife-rich part of the country. Nestled between the wild coastline and the tranquility of the broads, RSPB Minsmere is a wonderful place for experiencing the spectacles of nature at any time of year.

However, when summer arrives I get particularly excited about a certain species taking flight. As temperatures warm, a spectacular transformation occurs in our ponds…

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,…

It's that time of year when you're just as likely to find a crowd of visitors standing around outside the visitor centre as you are sitting in the hides, despite the amazing variety of wading birds that are passing through on migration. The reason? Insects. Mostly, but not exclusively, butterflies.

Among the butterflies, one of the most popular, and one of the largest, is the painted lady, and several of these…

For this week's latest installment in my species of the week series I have deviated away from the 70 species to spot checklist to turn the spotlight on the amazing variety of wading birds that are passing through Minsmere right now. I could have picked any of about 20 species of wader, but have chosen the green sandpiper simply because we sent this fabulous photograph of one by  Paul Lloyd.

Green sandpipers breed…

We're nearing the end of the first week of Butterfly Conservation's fantastic Big Butterfly Count, which runs until 12 August. Like our annual Big Garden Birdwatch (which takes place in January every year), the Big Butterfly Count is easy to complete in your own garden or as part of any countryside walk. So easy, in fact, that all you need to do is record how many butterflies of each species you see in your chosen…

On Saturday night I once again had the opportunity to experience Minsmere from a different perspective by camping overnight on the reserve. This is something that can be only be done on two weekends a year as part of our special camp nights. The first, that I was part of, was exclusively for the Minsmere Wildlife Explorers group, as their end of season celebration. The second, this weekend, is our public Big Wild Sleepout…

With the school holidays upon us, our volunteers have been busy today helping families to discover the delights of pond dipping. This is such a simple way for families to connect with nature together, yet many of the parents and grandparents haven't had ago themselves before - or if they have then it was many years ago. 

It's such fun dipping a net into the pond, scooping out a bunch of weed then tipping the contents…

Butterfly season is well and truly upon us, so it's the turn of another of these fluttering insects to take the spotlight from our 70 species to spot challenge. There's a good variety of colourful butterflies to spot at the moment. Many are familiar visitors to gardens, such as the distinctive and colourful red admiral and peacock or the easily confusable large while and small white. Others, like the grayling that I photographed…

As is often the case at this time of year, our visitor experience team and our volunteer guides turn their attentions to Minsmere's smaller inhabitants, with a host of insects drawing us away from our desks, or keeping us out of the hides.

Interestingly, though, even the birds have been playing along with the miniature theme today. Among the large numbers of black-headed and Mediterranean gulls and kittiwakes on…

In my last species of the week blog I looked at the different species of gulls and terns that had been seen on the Scrape and mentioned that July is the best month to look for roseate terns at Minsmere. That turned out to be a rather prophetic piece of writing as the very next day one of these beautiful seabirds arrived on South Scrape. It has been seen every day since, but often for only a few minutes at a time, so a…

It's a few days late, but it's time for this week's focus on one of the 70 species to spot at Minsmere, and with so much activity on the Scrape it's only right that I turn my attention back to birds this week. 

The Scrape is full of gulls in various plumages, as well as good numbers of terns, waders and ducks, and it's the turn of one of the tern species to star this week (sorry - pun intended!)

This amazing summer weather, which seems set to continue for several more days, simply invites you outside to enjoy nature in all its glory, and took full advantage to enjoy an extended lunchbreak day today with a stroll around the Scrape, camera in hand. It was extremely pleasant, with the strong easterly breeze doing a great job of keeping temperatures lower, without adversely affecting my enjoyment of the reserve.

Yes folks, it's that time of year again. Digger Alley is open for business, and the usual guests are already arriving and putting on a show.

For those not in the know, Digger Alley is a stretch of the visitor trail that cuts through the North Bushes between the pond and North Wall. The passage of feet over the years has eroded the sandy path so that it now sits a few centimetres below the adjacent scrubby area, leaving…

It's been a gorgeous day to celebrate the second ever Suffolk Day, and Suffolk's wildlife has definitely played its part in the celebrations.

Our volunteer guides were telling me at lunchtime that between the four on duty today they had more than 150 years of experience visiting Minsmere - so they certainly should know the reserve as well as anyone else. As ever, they've enjoyed sharing that knowledge with our…

It's National Insect Week, so it seems only right that this week I turn my attention to one of Minsmere's very special insects. Antlions had only been seen a handful of times in the UK before 1996, when they were discovered nesting alongside the Minsmere visitor centre. They have subsequently spread to other parts of the Suffolk coast, but Minsmere still remans the best place to look for them. 

Antlions look like…

It was a perfect day for a stroll along the beach today. And I do mean a stroll, as the chill breeze made it slightly less suitable for sunbathing unless you could find a sheltered sunny spot. That wasn't a problem for me, as I was enjoying the walk anyway, and I was particularly interested in looking at the fabulous shingle flora.

Many visitors have commented this year about how impressive the sea kale has been…

There's been lots of comments among birdwatchers this year about reduced numbers of certain species. Swifts, house martins and some of our other summer migrants seem to have arrived late, or not at all in some areas. The reasons are complex, but may be related to poor weather on migration. They do, however, follow on from years of declining populations for many species, as highlighted in the State of Nature repor…

As Suffolk's best nature reserve, and one of the county's most popular visitor attractions, we are pleased to be involved with the forthcoming Suffolk Day, on Thursday 21 June. After all, Minsmere's Big Five continue to attract hundreds of visitors to Suffolk every year, long after the RSPB helped to secure their future in the UK thanks to research and habitat management work here at Minsmere. What are our Big…

I made a rare foray "north of the border" at the weekend to search for the UK's largest species of butterfly, the swallowtail, at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen nature reserve. Late spring is best time to see these impressive butterflies, and, sure enough, we saw several during our visit, including two posing for photographs in the garden outside the reception hide.

The UK race of swallowtail is restricted to the…

It's that time of year when our reedbeds suddenly acquire colours other than green or golden-brown as a host of wetland plants burst into bloom, their vivid colours designed to attract pollinating insects. One of the brightest, showiest of these flowers is the yellow flag, which is this week's species to look for from our ongoing "70 species to spot at Minsmere" challenge.

Yellow flag, or yellow iris…

There was great excitement this morning when word came over the radios of a male red-backed shrike perched close to Bittern Hide. Matt and I immediately rushed down, cameras in hand, hoping for a good photographing opportunity. Alas, by the time we arrived it had moved further away, and retreated to the lowest branches of a dead tree, just a little too far away for any worthwhile photos. At least we saw it, though.

You only need to enjoy a quick walk around the reserve to enjoy the spectacle of this week's species of the week from our 70 species to spot at Minsmere challenge: sheep's-sorrel.

Look at any of our grassy areas, and you'll soon see the carpet of red advancing towards you, like the Martian weed in HG Wells famous The War of the Worlds. I must confess to having not read the novel, but I love listening to Jeff…

It was another lovely sunny day today, but it was rather chilly out on the reserve in a blustery northerly wind. Nevertheless, there were plenty of insects on the wing, especially if you could find a sheltered south-facing spot, out of the wind.

Insects were the main targets for my lunchtime walk, starting with dragonflies at the pond, where I was in luck. Two beautifully marked hairy dragonflies were patrolling the…