Things to do at or near Minsmere

Hi Pete

Here's a few suggestions for early August:

At Minsmere:

• look for migrant waders on the Scrape - esp E Scrape
• look for terns and little gulls on S Scrape
• marsh harriers and hobbies should still be visible at Bittern Hide, but bittern may be more tricky unless still a few feeding chicks
• look for dragonflies around the pond, where the sand martins may still be feeding young in early August
• the swallows at the sluice will provide great photo opportunities
• marsh mallow will be in full bloom along the path to the sluice
• butterflies and possibly hummingbird hawkmoths will be feeding on buddleia bushes
• if you have the family with you, we'll be running family events on every Thursday in August - no booking required.
• Book on a guided walk
• Still the cahnce of nightjars at dusk on Westleton Heath

Other places to go birdwatching:

• RSPB Snape - an excellent place to look for dragonflies, butterflies, arable weeds, marsh harriers, kingfishers
• RSPB Havergate Island - limited access, but there is a boat trip on first Sat in August, departing Orford at 10 am. Advance booking essential - 01728 648281 as only 12 places on boat. Great for spoonbills and avocets in August
• RSPB Boyton Marshes - a secluded gem. Great for avocets, barn owls, butterflies. Sea lavender should be in flower. Views towards Havergate
• Orfordness (NT), Walberswick (incl RSPB Dingle Marshes) and Sizewell Beach (gulls, terns, skuas) also worth a look
• Seawatching from Southwold or Kessingland

Other places to visit for a day out:

Best bet is to look at Visit Suffolk website for places to visit. Ideas local to Minsmere include Long Shop Museum, Leiston; Aldeburgh; Southwold. Beccles is a lovely market town only 30 mins from Minsmere.

Hope this helps and enjoy your visit. 

In reply to Ian Barthorpe:

Brilliant Ian, thanks for the detailed response.

A guided walk was on the agenda already, I know from experience how good these can be, plus the family day sounds good for my daughter.

I got excited for a moment re Havergate Island - we all love boat trips and went out only last weekend with RSPB Poole to see guillemot, kittiwake and puffin on the Purbeck coast - until I realised that the first Saturday in August is the 7th, and we leave on the 6th :( But by the sounds of things there are plenty of other places to enjoy.

I love to watch dragonflies but they're so darned difficult to photograph - I hope the pond at Minsmere has sufficient branches around it to encourage them to take a rest every now and then!

Thanks once again, Pete

In reply to Pete:

No need to book for the family days so perhaps we'll see you on 5 Aug.

The dragonflies often rest on reeds or other leaves around the pond, or the boardwalk, and if it's breezy you may find them along the woodland rides. Photos are usually possible with patience.

There are boat trips that go around Havergate, run by a different company, on a boat called Regardless. These give you a chance to see some of the wildlife using the estuary - avocets, egrets, etc and if you are lucky you may spot a spoonbill. Orford is worth a visit to check on the availability of places on these boats and there is also the castle to visit there.

Enjoy Suffolk

Ian

In reply to Ian Barthorpe:

Had a wonderful time, thanks very much for the advice Ian. Though we didn't make it on 5th, we did book for the walk on Sunday 1st, found ourselves the only people booked on the walk, and had two guides all to ourselves!

Quite a quiet time but great to get out for a few hours. Thanks very much to Derek and to a volunteer whose name I'm afraid I forgot.

I took some photos, the birds I was able to identify but had some trouble with a couple of things (not least with my memory, since our guides did tell me what each of these were!). Can anyone help with these?

First, a very bedragled-looking butterfly (male meadow brown?)

Quote from Derek: This is the rarest thing you'll see today. I can remember him saying this but not what the plant is!

and lastly

Okay, you got me, that last one was not on the Scrape but at Pleasurewood Hills up in Lowestoft! We went there at my daughter's behest *despite* our guides' advice!

Thanks once again for your helpful insights,

Pete

In reply to Pete:

Glad you had a good visit. I'll pass your thanks on to Derek and Phil.

The butterfly looks like a ringlet to me. Although they usually have more spots on the upperwing, there is a frequent aberrant form with only one spot. Meadow brown should have some orange around the spot, even when worn.

The yellow flower is marsh sow-thistle. One of  the easier yellow compositae (daisy-family) to identify as it's the only one to grow to more than six feet high in a reedbed. A nationally scarce plant, though quite frequent at Minsmere. I prefer the gorgeous marsh mallow myself though.

As for Pleasurewood Hills! I can't really comment as I've never been, but I'm sure Thomas will want to drag us along in a year or so, but I'm glad you were able to visit some of Suffolk's other attractions. There really is so much to do for families in Suffolk.

In reply to Ian Barthorpe:

Thanks for that Ian. Yes we ended up having loads to do and a week was nowhere near long enough. One of my other hobbies is cycling and I went out on a couple of 25-mile rides winding down to Thorpeness and Aldeburgh, and over to Framlingham. Beautiful countryside along the way and quite active at the moment what with all the harvesting going on.

We saw a distant red deer on our Minsmere walk but were really rewarded one evening when returning back to our cottage we saw a group of about five red stags just hanging around in a wheatfield, by Dunwich forest. Enormous and all antlered-up - of course it'll be that time of year soon....

Its probably good that Thomas is still young, will give you time to save for a visit to Pleasurewood Hills. We went mainly because it was Alice's birthday during the stay, so it was her birthday treat. But so bloomin' expensive! Not a lot less than my rspb membership, and that lasts a whole year!

Cheers, Pete

Oh, before I forget, if anybody is interested here's a link to a Flickr page where I published the best of my Minsmere photos, tho' to be honest none is particularly brilliant. A half-decent image of a Whitethroat in there. When I have time I'll maybe upload a couple to the rspb site.