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Hi again

Minsmere’s 60th birthday celebrations continued last week with a special celebratory dinner. We transformed the shop into a restaurant for the evening. Graham Wynne, the RSPB’s Chief Executive, welcomed a select group of guests and local RSPB staff to Minsmere, with catering provided by a local company.

The event was an opportunity to thank businesses and individuals that have supported the RSPB (and Minsmere in particular) in recent years, to celebrate the conservation successes of the last 60 years, and to look ahead to our plans for the future.

One of the businesses that we have been working closely with recently is Snape Maltings – a large retail and arts centre nearby. I regularly lead guided walks along the river to coincide with their farmers markets, and this weekend will be leading four walks for the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival at the Maltings. I hope we don’t have a repeat of last year when exceptionally high tides left one marquee under water and most of the riverbank footpath inaccessible!

Also as part of the Food and Drink Festival, I arranged and led a special walk yesterday from Minsmere. After a morning walk around part of the Scrape, we strolled across the marshes to Eastbridge for lunch at the Eel’s Foot pub before returning via Island Mere Hide.

The birdwatching was superb, and we managed to spend all of the showers under cover in a hide or the pub. We were even treated to the rare sight of both black-tailed and bar-tailed godwits stood next to each other just a few metres from the hide, allowing an excellent opportunity to compare these two similar species. A good view of a bittern and one of the best pub lunches in the area made the walk even more special, though I did miss not having a Minsmere tearoom cake. Perhaps next time!

With the northerly winds this week, redwings have slowly started to arrive for the winter, so wrap up warm and come and explore the delights of the Suffolk coast for a few days. You can stay at the Eel’s Foot, or a variety of local B&Bs. For details of local accommodation, give us a call and we’ll send you a leaflet.

Hi again

It is always a pleasure to hear a speaker who is passionate about his subject.

Yesterday, we welcomed Chris Packham to Minsmere for a programme of walks and talks about wildlife photography.

Chris is well-known to most RSPB members as the presenter of Nature’s Calendar on the BBC. He also presented CBBC’s The Really Wild Show for many years. Chris is an accomplished wildlife photographer, and more than 200 people enjoyed listening to him, gaining useful tips on how to turn a snap into an award-winning photo.

I’ve dabbled in photography for a few years, so it was great to hear such an expert talk with so much passion about his subject. His photographs of elephants were stunning, yet to him they were not perfect simply because of a stray blade of grass! He spoke with a huge amount of humour, but also with a deep understanding of his subjects.

Chris Packham has recently become a Vice President of the RSPB, and urged everyone to support the Society further, especially our current campaign to save the albatross – see www.savethealbatross.net for further information.

This was a great way to end a fun-filled programme of summer activities. We still have several guided walks per week for the rest of the year, and our full winter events programme is now available – see the events section of this website for details.

Why not pay us a visit this autumn? You never know what you might see. Yesterday morning’s visitors had great views of a grass snake resting on a water vole-feeding platform in the pond next to the lecture marquee, as well as the water voles themselves. There were dragonflies everywhere, and regular sightings of bitterns, marsh harriers and hobbies on the reserve.

Come along and see it for yourself.