Guest blog from Rhiannon Baker, Little tern project officer, with an update on the Kessingland little tern colony

This morning there was an eerie silence on the beach: the little terns had gone. This is not bad news, however, as they have started their long migration back to West Africa where they spend their winter.

We have had 19 fledglings at our Kessingland site this year, a record number for the site since the…

After a busy bank holiday weekend, this week's species of the week blog is a day late, and is accompanied by news of some exciting finds over the last few days.

First, the latest selection of our ongoing 70 species to spot at Minsmere challenge is the whitethroat. It may seem strange to be choosing a summer migrant in late August, but this is actually a great time of year to spot many of Minsmere's warblers. Like…

We’re always mentioning bird ringing here at Minsmere, and it’s only just occurred to me that not everybody will know what we mean by this. And to be honest before I joined the RSPB I had no clue about what it entailed either, so this week my blog is going to be a dummies guide to: bird ringing.

In essence, the idea is simply to find a bird and put a ring on it! (Beyoncé style)

But why?

Giving a…

Yesterday was a day of rejoicing, and confusion, in equal measure, with lots of other excitement thrown in too.

The rejoicing was at the news that, a little over a year after its discovery, Minsmere's western purple swamphen has been officially accepted as a wild bird and added to the British list. This becomes the 610th species for Britain, and can finally be added to the Minsmere list. The decision follows careful…

As regular readers of these blogs will know, we've been celebrating Minsmere's 70th anniversary during 2017 by highlighting the incredible variety of wildlife to be found here. You'll know some of the numbers by now: about 5700 species, including about 340 birds, 1200 fungi, 1100 moths, etc. You may remember, too, that back in May half term we celebrated this diversity of wildlife by hosting a week-long bioblitz, during…

It's Monday, so it must be time for the latest species of the week blog, in which I feature one of the 70 species that we're challenging you find at Minsmere. This week it's the turn of one of the easier species. What's more, after a recent run of plants and invertebrates, it's a bird. The black-tailed godwit.

Black-tailed godwits are relatively easy to find at Minsmere as there are usually one or…

After being away for most of last week I feel like I have an awful lot of wildlife to catch up with!

East scrape is a hive of activity at the moment, with fantastic views of avocets, black-tailed godwits and other visiting waders - however with families flocking in for the summer holiday activities, I thought I’d leave the scrape walk for later in the week.

I was itching to get back outside and explore, and on…

I hope you didn't miss our species of the week blog last week. A combination of catching up following 12 days out of the office and a busy programme of activities meant that I didn't get the chance to post one. Hopefully normal service will now be resumed for the rest of the year, and this week we return with one of the most exciting insects on our 70 species challenge. Despite being a scarce visitor, which can be quite…

It seems a long time since my post. I've seen some great wildlife in that time too - breeding bee-eaters in Nottinghamshire (sadly, they've since failed), ravens, buzzards, peregrine, ospreys, common hawker and black darter dragonflies and carnivorous sundews in the Lake District, and calling quail in Shropshire (heard, but not seen). I also missed a few goodies at Minsmere, including four cattle egrets and a glossy ibis…

Notice to all visitors – Island Mere hide will be closed on Tuesday 8^th August for repair work, apologies for any inconvenience caused.

This week we’ve had a few surprise visitors to the reserve, starting with four cattle egrets on the Levels to the south of the reserve, then a little surge of red veined darter dragonflies around the South Scrape, and today a glossy ibis briefly on the scrape.

The scrape…

With Ian away on his jollies it has fallen to me to choose the first species of the week for August, and I’ve gone for this fantastic creature:

Wasp spider in web by Ben Andrew

This is the exotic looking wasp spider – latin name Argiope Bruennichi.

First recorded in the UK in the 1920’s, these brilliant creatures can now commonly be seen across southern England, along the coast in grassland and woodland…

Guest blog by Sue Stephenson-Martin, Membership Development Officer

What inspires me as an MDO (Membership Development Officer)?

Is it signing up as many new members as I can ? Yes it is! 

Is it seeing childrens faces when they connect with nature ? Yes it is!

Is it trying to inspire another generation so we don't lose our wildlife? Of course it is...

However, what inspires me as a person?

It's seeing the world…

This weekend is the RSPB’s Big Wild Sleep Out, an amazing opportunity to experience our reserves after dark. Due to a prior booking, we held ours at Minsmere last weekend and despite a mixed weather forecast we were extremely lucky to have only a couple of showers.

After arriving and pitching their tents, our adventurous campers began with investigating the creatures in our pond, with the adults as excited as the…

Summer is here at Minsmere, and regardless of the intermittent drizzle and occasional torrential downpours (where has the sunshine gone?!) we are starting our busy holiday programme of fun-filled family events.

The week kick started with owl pellet dissection. For the people, like myself who spent many rainy days playing the board game ‘Operation’ as a child, but with this time with actual bones and no flashing red nose…

Several families enjoyed an amazing camp night at Minsmere on Saturday night into Sunday morning - more details of what they got up to will follow later in the week. This was our contribution to the annual RSPB Big Wild Sleepout. Don't worry if you missed out this time as there are other Big Wild Sleepout events around the country this weekend, including not too far away from us at RSPB Lakenheath Fen  [sorry, I've…

We always know that the seasons are changing from winter to spring when we arrive at work in late February or early March and are greeted by the sound of gulls. So it is in mid July when a sudden eerie silence descends on the Scrape as the gulls depart en masse following the end of the breeding season.

It's been a good year for many of the species on the Scrape, with record numbers of Mediterranean gulls - 28 chicks…

Summer is here, and what better way to enjoy the great outdoors than to spend the night in it?

Over the next few weeks many staff, volunteers and visitors will be pitching in with the RSPB Big Wild Sleepout, taking place at a variety of reserves all over the country.

Last Saturday and Sunday was the turn of our Minsmere Wildlife Explorers, and their annual sleep out. Amy had prepared an action-packed weekend of family…

On any visit to Minsmere in late July or early August, you'll almost certainly certainly be greeted by a host of fluttering butterflies, dashing dragonflies or buzzing bees around the buddleia bushes, even before you reach the visitor centre.

These bushes are a great place to make a flying start to your 70 species challenge before heading out in search of some of the birds and plants on the list. One of the most obvious…

As is usual in mid July, the Scrape is a great place to test your bird ID skills with migrant wading birds passing through, young birds fledging, gulls and terns gathering after their post-breeding dispersal from breeding elsewhere in NW Europe, and ducks rapidly losing their bright colours to adopt the female-like moult plumage known as eclipse. Consequently, many of the birds that you see on the Scrape may not match…

As it’s Monday, it’s time for the latest species of the week blog, in which we highlight one of the star species featured in our exciting 70 species to spot challenge. For those new to these blogs, this is a fun activity to help celebrate Minsmere’s 70^th birthday.

If you are visiting Minsmere this summer, you can pick up a sheet at reception and then see how many of our star species you can find. As…

Time for a quick ‘hello’ I think, and to introduce myself as the new part-time Visitor Experience Officer at Minsmere! Some of you know me already - I’ve been here at Minsmere since early last year working with Chris and the Learning Team, assisting with flocks of excitable school children as they explore the reserve.

Children jumping by Nick Cunard

I come from a background of outdoor learning, or…

There are some great birds around at Minsmere this week, but I make apologies for choosing another insects as our star species this week since insects are such amazing creatures and often only around for a few months or weeks.

First though, a quick summary of some of the recent bird sightings, starting with the purple heron that remains at Bittern Hide though continues to show only occasionally. Similarly, the two Savi…

Despite the sometimes indifferent weather of the last week or so, it's a superb time to watch Minsmere's amazing variety of insects. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful some of these tiny creatures are - and what incredible lifecycles some of them have. They also have some impressive names.

Let's look at the butterflies for starters, where you have admirals, skippers and coppers, not to mention hairstreaks…

The recent hot weather has obviously had a positive effect on some of Minsmere's most fascinating insects as our various digger wasps and mining bees have emerged a few weeks earlier than usually, giving you the chance to look for two of our 70 star species, as well as a host of other related species.

The action takes place in the North Bushes, right beneath your feet, where these amazing insects dig burrows in the…

(Apologies that this week's species of the week is late - I was off sick on Monday when it usually have been written.)

With the current heatwave bringing sub-tropical weather to the UK, it's perhaps only right that our latest species of the week is one that brings with more than a hint of Mediterranean warmth.

Just a few decades ago, there was great excitement when Mediterranean gulls first started to colonise…