A couple of weeks ago I raised my birding profile by being able to help a visitor correctly tell the difference between a Mediterranean gull and a black headed gull. I was later referred to in the Visitor Centre as the “gull expert!” ...they obviously hadn’t bumped into any of our guides or more learned colleagues that day!

Today as I went out for my lunchtime walk I was asked by Matt to try and find…

I should have known that it was going to be a strange day when I looked out of the kitchen window and spotted a jackdaw and a rook in the garden. Nothing too unusual for some, perhaps, but I was only thinking the other day that we hadn't had a jackdaw in the garden for a couple of years, and this was the first a rook had actually decided to touch down in the garden. Perhaps it's something to do with the fact that I'm…

With migration in full swing, April is always a month of surprises, but today's star sighting was certainly more of a surprise than most, not least because it was a species that is not really known as a migrant. In fact, it is a species that is increasingly difficult to find in most areas, with just a few isolated populations remaining in Suffolk - and indeed in many other counties. The species in question formerly bred…

Guest blog by Erin Fletcher, age 12

On Saturday 8 April,  I volunteered at RSPB Minsmere for the first time as a guide. I was very excited and couldn't wait. My mum came with me as I am only 12 years old.

Erin in her RSPB uniform

We headed off to the East Scrape and on the way we saw 8 sand martins flying over near the sand martin holes. We stopped at the stone-curlew field but couldn't see any. It was a lovely…

Some of the most popular events at Minsmere each year are the Waveney Bird Club's regular ringing demonstrations. These offer visitors, young and old, a great insight into one of the most important aspects of the scientific study of birds.

By catching birds in carefully designed nets, specially trained birdwatchers can measure and weigh the birds, giving valuable data on the health of the populations. The birds are…

It's always a bit of a culture shock coming back to work after ten days, but taking a holiday in early April means that Minsmere looks very different to when I last saw it. 

The first, and most obvious, change is that the place looks much greener as many of the trees are now bursting into leaf. The second change is the much stronger scent of coconut wafting around the reserve from the gorgeous golden gorse.

Of course…

My name is Anna and I’m the new Learning Intern for the next six months at Minsmere.  I moved into the Volunteer Chalet a couple of weeks ago and am starting to find my feet in this wonderful part of the country.  I’m sad to say that I have never explored East Anglia before coming to Minsmere for my interview, but am hoping to make up for lost time now. 

I grew up in Dorset, on the Jurassic Coast, and studied…

You’ve heard us celebrate the amazing variety of wildlife found at Minsmere – 5700 species and counting. This is an incredible testament to the dedicated survey and monitoring efforts of our staff, volunteers and visitors over the past 70 years.

During those 70 years there have been some significant changes at Minsmere, with many new species colonising, while others have sadly been lost. Perhaps inevitably…

I wasn't expecting much from my brief lunchtime stroll today. For starters I only had time to walk to the start of the North Wall and back and wasn't planning to visit North Hide. It was also decidedly chilly with an easterly wind and low cover giving the air more of an autumnal feel than the second day of British Summer Time. I simply wanted to enjoy ten minutes of fresh air.

As is often the case, though, when…

Contrary to many people's expectations, the recent warm weather has not been very conducive to seeing our adders. It's been so mild overnight that they haven't needed to spend long basking and have been active by 9 am, thus harder to spot. So, the noticeable drop in temperature overnight was very welcome - and the adders seemed to respond in style this morning. 

However, they were not seen in the usual area…

Most of the visitors to Minsmere are looking for something new, a new bird to add to their year sightings list, a new bird to add to their lifetime list or a new experience with nature. It is our human nature to want to experience new things and children are just the same. Over the Easter holidays at RSPB Minsmere we will be running many different family events to provide children with the opportunity to experience new…

Spring migration took another step forward this week - just as the weather showed signs of taking a turn for the worse. After a week of warm sunny weather, it's been a return to cooler, cloudier conditions today, accompanied by the odd shower, before turning a bit wetter in the afternoon.

The warm early spring weather did encourage several chiffchaffs and a few blackcaps to make the final leg of their migration,…

Do you remember playing with a jack-in-a-box as a child? You pressed a button and up popped jack, the puppet, to bounce on a his spring. I was reminded of this toy this afternoon when watching another bouncing jack at North Hide.

The jack in question was a jack snipe. In fact, not one jack snipe, or even two, but three jack snipe. Smaller cousins of the more familiar common snipe (of which at least 20 were also visible…

I was informed early this morning that it was International Women’s Day and with that in mind I decided that today I would head out onto the reserve on a man hunt. I had a particular male in mind that I have been meaning to catch up with for over a week now and I wanted to appreciate his physical form for myself. The man in question was indeed the male out of the pair of smew we have had around the Scrape at Minsmere…

It's a big year at Minsmere, as we'll be celebrating our 70th anniversary as an RSPB nature reserve later this spring - they'll be much more on this as the spring progresses. But that's not the only anniversary that we'll be celebrating.

As of early March in 1947, one of Minsmere's most iconic birds was still considered a rare visitor to the UK, having been absent as a breeding bird for more than…

I suppose it wouldn't be right as Brits not to be talking a lot about the weather, but just as spring felt like it was beginning to spring, autumn returned with a vengeance as Storm Doris swept across the country on Thursday. We had plenty of warning, and took the precaution of closing the woodland parts of the reserve all day, leaving access open to the visitor centre, North Wall, East Hide and Island Mere - the latter…

Just for a change the weather gods were smiling on us last week, with mild spring-like weather bringing the crowds out during the school half term holiday. We had a lovely email this morning from a couple who enjoyed their first visit to Minsmere at the weekend and the found the reserve easily accessible in their mobility scooter (don't forget that we have two scooters for hire - if you need them please book in advance…

There are many reasons to Show the Love this week, and just as many ways to do it. 

Show the Love is part of the Climate Coalition's campaign to reduce the impacts of climate change and encourage governments and individuals around the world to act now to ensure a future for our planet and its wildlife. The RSPB is a member of the Climate Coalition and this week we're wearing our green hearts with pride to support this…

Although the weather hasn't exactly felt spring like this week, the snowdrops are already blooming near the car park entrance, and the daffodils behind the visitor centre are in bud. It won't be long before they're bursting into flower too. There'll be further signs of the coming spring int he Discovery Centre this week as many of our younger visitors will be busy hammering nails into pre-cut planks of wood…

A sudden drop in temperature was enough to get many birdwatchers' hearts racing as we anticipated potential new arrivals. It may already be February, and some of our wintering ducks may soon be preparing to start the long migration back north and east, but others are still moving west, pushed onwards by the advancing cold. One such species is the smew, one of our prettiest ducks, but also one of the scarcer species to…

I set off for my lunch time walk today with one thing on my mind, to see a bittern. I had been out for a lovely walk on Friday down to Island Mere after being inspired by one of the guides saying "he had just had the most magical fifteen minutes at Island Mere”. I too had a wonderful experience at Island Mere seeing a bittern in flight and then secretively feeding at the edge of the reedbed but it was a specific bittern…

When we read reviews of Minsmere on Trip Advisor, or in our visitor survey forms, several themes keep recurring: visitors love our cakes; ; our volunteers are very friendly and helpful; many visitors come to spot the wildlife; and visitors also enjoy the scenery and chance to escape from the hustle and bustle of modern life.

Alongside many of these comments runs another theme: Minsmere is a truly special place. A part…

Did you take part int he Big Garden Birdwatch at the weekend? With the upturn in the weather, it had a serious impact on the numbers of birds visiting y garden. Where I'd seen ten different species in ten minutes during the frost a week previously, my hour-long count on Sunday morning yielded a mere six species: 12 starlings (down from the usual 30 or so), five blackbirds, two woodpigeons, two robins (we rarely see more…

Are you ready for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend? If possible, try to find one hour on Saturday, Sunday or Monday (yes it runs over three days this year) to count your garden birds, then submit you results at www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch. Remember, you only record the largest count of each species during the hour, not a cumulative total.

We've had a regular pied wagtail in our garden in recent days, so I'm hoping…

I mentioned in my last blog that two of the white-fronted geese that have been visiting Minsmere this winter are wearing green neck collars. These collars, with large printed numbers for ease of identification in the field, have been fitted as part of a research project to find out more about the movements and life histories of white-fronted geese.

The white-fronts at North Warren today by David Fairhurst

White-fronted…