A day at Minsmere with the stars of the show

Minsmere is special.

And this year BBC Springwatch has been broadcasting the trials and tribulations of this wildlife-rich slice of Suffolk Coast to the nation.

It’s extra special for me though.

I’m a Suffolk boy born and bred and have been visiting Minsmere since before I can remember. I love the place, every hide and every pathway holds special memories from my childhood, it’s where I first got hooked on nature.

Now when I visit I recall where I saw a huge red deer stag on the entrance track; when I had close-up views of a great spotted woodpecker from the canopy hide; and how I saw my first kingfisher from Island Mere. Good times!  Back then it was usually just me and my Dad spending the day there. And frankly it’s still one of my favourite things to do.

And yesterday I got to spend the day there!

When the reserve was asking for volunteers to spend the day there showing visitors the special birds and wildlife that call Minsmere home, I jumped at the opportunity.

So yesterday after a 6 am alarm call, myself and the rest of our Web Team swapped our desks and computers for hides and binoculars as we spent the day helping the team with the added visitors that BBC Springwatch brings.

I may have worked for the RSPB for seven years now, but for me it was a real privilege to go behind the scenes and actually work somewhere I’ve been visiting for years. It felt incredibly weird walking up paths I’ve never been allowed on as punter!

There were four of us – myself, Katie, Maurice and Olivier. The last two had never visited before. But both had a great time, Maurice saw his first bitterns (I’ll talk more about them later) and Olivier saw his first, well, pretty much everything! I’ve never seen him wearing binoculars before, but he didn’t seem to mind for a day.

Did we see the stars?

We had fleeting glimpse of Chris Packham, but the real stars of the show were all playing ball.

Avocets swept their long, curved bills through the shallow water of the scrape; cuckoos sang their name from the tops of tall trees; and bearded tits zoomed through the reeds, always in a hurry.

Then there were the bitterns

I saw more bitterns yesterday than I have seen in my entire life. In 1997 there were just 11 booming males in the UK. Yesterday I saw bitterns more than 11 times. Ok, these were probably 3-4 bitterns, but still, that’s remarkable. Twice I saw a bittern and a marsh harrier fighting in mid-air. Just wow!

If that wasn’t good enough, I spent the afternoon on the north bank. As I was listening to one visitor explain that she’d never seen a bittern, one casually landed in the reeds just 15 metres from us!

It was so close we could hear the reeds snap as it carefully stalked through them. And then it appeared into the fringes of the pool, beautifully camouflaged, but visible to those who knew it was there. It preceded to fish and we saw it catch two fish in half an hour or so, before it decided it had had enough and flew off across the reeds. This was simply the best views of a bittern I’ve ever had – I just hope the lady I was speaking to doesn’t think bittern watching is always that easy!

Visit for yourself

The Springwatch show has broadcast this special reserve to the nation. If you’ve not been before, you really should try to. It’s a magical place. Even if you only come once, just do what you can. And if you need a guide, I know someone who wouldn’t mind vacating his desk for a day!

Web Team at Minsmere: l-r: Katie, Maurice, Olivier, Kevin.