Guest blog by Dorcas Franklyn-Bray, Minsmere visitor

In September we hosted my daughter's 6th birthday party at RSPB Minsmere.  We were able to hire the excellent Discovery Centre and book one of the lovely experiences available for families.  These are run by the amazing volunteers and we chose pond dipping for an hour.  The staff and volunteers were friendly, welcoming and could not have been more helpful.  

The…

Continuing the bonfire theme from my last blog, there's a smoky smell emanating from the office this afternoon. The reason? With no power this morning due to a planned power cut to allow tree felling around the powerlines on our entrance road, several of the visitor team joined the wardens to help with some habitat management work. Our tasks were to remove scrub from the edge of the reedbed at both Island Mere and Bittern…

Rember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpoweder, treason and plot.

We probably all remember the rhyme from our school days, but when out celebrating fireworks night, how many people actually remember why we bother at all - commemorating Guy Fawkes's attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. 

Perhaps more importantly, how many people remember to check their bonfires before lighting them, in case a weary hedgehog…

Guest blog by Steve Everett, Minsmere volunteer guide

I spent some time in East Hide the other day watching the various ducks and waders searching for food in the shallow water and mud of the scrape.  It took me a little while to get into the hide as I was distracted for some time by all the goldcrests flitting around the bushes outside.  These are lovely little birds, fascinating to watch as they search for small insects…

I'm back from a superb week watching eagles, otters, dolphins and much more on the beautiful island of Mull, and it sounds like I've missed quite an exciting ten days here at Minsmere too.

I always consider that winter arrives with the first sighting of a "wild" swan. For me, that was last Monday when I saw four whooper swans on Mull, but here at Minsmere is was over the weekend when the first Bewick's swans…

Every summer, once the breeding season is over, Minsmere's wardens, volunteers and contractors turn their attention to the task of habitat management, helping to create the perfect home for an incredible variety of nature. Work continues throughout the autumn and winter, and it's not an easy task, as they have to juggle the conflicting needs of different species, and carry out the work in such a way as to minimise impacts…

The fantastic autumn migration has continued apace this week with hundreds more goldcrests arriving, as well as the first significant arrival of redwings and fieldfares. With them have come more starlings, helping to boost numbers gathering for the evening murmuration over North Marsh.

Finches have been passing through in good numbers too, with large flocks of linnets, goldfinches, siskins, chaffinches and greenfinches…

We've all been there, and got the T-shirt. A long journey with kids is almost guaranteed to include the words "Are we there yet?" In many cases these might be repeated many times, and perhaps by the adults as well as the children.

At least we are usually able to provide an answer, as even if stuck in traffic we should know roughly how far these is to go, and these days the Sat Nav is likely to give a pretty…

Gest blog by Jenny James, RSPB Woodbridge Local Group committee member

A lot of people will share my feelings about swifts. The screams and shrieks of swifts as they turn and swirl in the evening sky are a precious part of summer.

I want this to be more than just a nostalgic memory, and the danger is ever present, as swifts are declining in numbers. They only spend three months with us, the rest of the year they are…

Guest blog by Christine Hall, Visitor Experience Officer

On Saturday 19 September, a group of staff and volunteers got together and, donning litter pickers and rubbish bags (kindly supplied by the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team) took up the challenge of cleaning Minsmere’s beach. We were also joined by the Minsmere Young Wardens Group who were eager to get started.

Volunteers…

Yes folks, I have good news. The starlings are back.

Last night about 6000 starlings were seen over North Marsh, putting on a great display from about 6 pm to 6.30 pm. The best place to watch from is probably the North Wall.

We hope that numbers will increase in the coming weeks, and the favoured location may move, so we'll try to keep you posted, but it's definitely worth an evening visit. You may hear roaring stags…

Autumn is a great time to look for sprites. Depending on your age (at heart) and imagination, that statement could mean very different things.

To a birdwatcher, sprites are tiny warblers, some of our smallest birds. In particular, the term is often used to describe goldcrests, firecrests and rare visitors like yellow-browed and Pallas's warblers. Of these, by far the commonest, and easiest to spot, are goldcrests.…

Perhaps it has something to do with the supermoon/blood moon/lunar eclipse that many people enjoyed watching in the early hours of Monday morning, or maybe the recent autumn equinox, but the seasons seem a little confusing at the moment. 

Talking of the supermoon, I hope you manage to see it if you bothered to get/stay up. When I woke up there was a thick layer of cloud shrouding the sky, so I went back to bed. I'll just…

Who remembers playing Subbuteo as a child, or with their children? We've recently acquired the table football game for our son, and it's great fun reliving my own childhood and flicking little plastic players around the pitch trying to score a goal. But did you know that the game Subbuteo was named after a bird? Falco subbuteo: the hobby.

Hobbies are small falcons. They are perfectly evolved for high-speed pursuit…

After all of the excitement of last week, sightings have become a little more predictable this week, though there have still been a few unusual species to look out for between the showers and more prolonged rainstorms.

The barred warbler remained near the sluice until Sunday before eventually departing, having rewarded many birdwatchers with good views of what was, for quite a lot visitors, their first sighting of this…

Guest blog by Gordon Smith, residential volunteer/reserve assistant

As I start to write this blog I have just finished a thoroughly enjoyable spell as a residential volunteer at the RSPB’s flagship reserve – of course the one and only Minsmere.  I was fortunate enough to spend almost a whole year at Minsmere, having arrived in early October last year and leaving just at the end of August.

As I look back I…

Following last week's look back at the incredible events of early September 1965, it's nice to be able to report on another excellent week for migration at Minsmere, with several unusual birds paying us a visit at the same time.

The week began with a few redstarts, whinchats and lesser whitethroats, as well as various commoner warblers, being noted in the North Bushes and along the dunes. A lovely female black…

What happened at Minsmere on 3 September 1965 has gone down in history as one of the most remarkable ornithological events ever in the UK. I wasn’t even alive then, and can hardly imagine the enormity of what actually happened, but I do know that, 50 years on, it is unlikely that such an event will ever be repeated.

Over the years, Minsmere has, of course, been host to an incredible number of unexpected sightings…

Guest blog by Lizzie Guntrip, writer, naturalist, broadcaster and inclusive nature ambassador 

Sitting on one of the benches at the North Wall, with my feet tucked up underneath me, I hear a nearby “ping-ping” coming from the reedbed in front of us. I am leaning against the bench back, with my knees resting on the bench’s arm, looking out over a wave of reeds to where an open pool reflects the blue of the sky. My legs…

Guest blog by Steve Everett, regular Minsmere visitor

Along the path from the pond to the North Wall, there is a stretch of path with sandy sides that has become a magnet for visitors over the past few weeks.  This is the realm of the bee wolf, a digger wasp that specializes in catching honey bees and stocking its larder with them as a food source for its young.

The bee wolf starts by digging a tunnel up to a metre…

It seems that as far as the weather was concerned I picked the right week to leave the country, as while I was enjoying (some) sun in central France, the UK was experiencing somewhat variable, and at times very wet weather. And in typical Bank Holiday fashion, today has seen a return of cool, wet weather, which has put off all but a few hardy souls from visiting.

As for the birds, I perhaps chose the wrong two weeks…

Guest blog by: Alison Cross, Learning Assistant

Ian is very good at keeping us all updated about the wildlife seen at Minsmere, while I am going to update you about the little featherless two legged creatures...children! This week is the fifth week of the summer holidays, (for some parents it might feel like the tenth week) but there is still plenty of things to do at Minsmere.

Pond dipping on Mondays has been very…

With the breeding season over, the annual habitat management season is now underway. As usual, we start with clearing vegetation on the Scrape, where the first work party was hard at work on Thursday.

The Scrape management programme involves cutting the long vegetation from the banks and islands, before raking and burning it. As Minsmere is open every day, from dawn to dusk, we have to carry this work while the reserve…

Mid August is a time of change. Birds are on the move, with familiar species leaving our shores, to be replaced (sometimes only temporarily) by visitors from farther north or east. Berries are ripening, seeds setting, and leaves are already beginning to change colour. Insects that we've been enjoying for the last few months are coming to the end of their lifecycle, and others are only just emerging.

The first obvious…

We have a fabulous little activity sheet for children called Nature's colours. It's a simple piece of card with 20 different colours and shades. The idea is to walk around the reserve and see how many different colours you can match. For example, the marsh mallow flowers perfectly match one of the shades of pink, and the reeds match one of the greens.

Anyone lucky enough to have spotted some of today's star birds…