Last month I mentioned one of our most distinctive summer visitors, the hummingbird hawkmoth. Over the last few weeks, you may have noticed stories in the media, or on this website, about other moths at Minsmere.
The reason? We have been celebrating the discovery of the 1,000th species of moth and butterfly found at Minsmere. This was a moth called the many-lined - a scarce visitor from the continent. Since announcing this fantastic news, we have added yet more species to the reserve list.
How do we know how many moths there are here when they mostly fly at night? One of wardens, Robin Harvey, and a volunteer called Jeff Higgott, have spent hours recording the moths that visit special traps. The moths are attracted to bright lights, then caught in a box full of cardboard egg boxes to be studied and released the following morning.
Over the last three years, Robin and Jeff have discovered many new species at Minsmere, including the Minsmere crimson underwing - a species never seen in Britain until being found at Minsmere two years ago. Minsmere is now firmly established as a superb place to watch insects, as well as birds.
Minsmere is also important for mammals, and our large red deer herd will soon start their annual rut. You should be able to see the deer from the roadside as you enter or leave the reserve this month.
Throughout the summer, water voles have obligingly shown themselves to visitors near our pond dipping area. And over the next few months, we expect to see a bit more of our otters on Island Mere due to the low water levels while we carry out reedbed management work.
All this confirms that to manage a nature reserve for birds, we also need to manage it for everything else. Minsmere is a great example, with incredibly diverse populations of a wide range of species. Why not visit us this winter and learn more about this superb reserve from our guides by joining a guided walk?