A belated happy new year to you from RSPB Minsmere. I trust you had an enjoyable break.
Winter arrived with a bang over the New Year period, and with the freezing temperatures came a host of good birds. It’s always good to see a smew, especially a stunning drake, so we were pleased when three turned up in early January. A few goldeneyes also arrived, and pochards finally came back onto Island Mere bringing a female scaup with them. This is a good bird for Minsmere.
The white-fronted geese from nearby North Warren moved to Minsmere to find more sheltered feeding during the easterly winds, while a family of whooper swans and more Bewick’s swans also arrived. Better still, a drake green-winged teal, all the way from North America, joined the hordes of teal on the Scrape, and three waxwings flew over today.
I led a guided walk on Monday to look for Minsmere’s wildfowl, and actually caught up with all the species, except for the whooper swan. A nice bonus.
Minsmere’s konik ponies are always popular, but some of them were moved to nearby RSPB North Warren last week. Here they will help to create idea conditions for nesting lapwings in the spring. The koniks are sure to prove just as popular at North Warren as they do here at Minsmere.
It may seem a long way off, but I’ve been preparing for the spring already, planning the events programme and starting to think about family activity days for this year. Watch this space for more details.
Talking of events, are you ready for the Big Garden Birdwatch? This year sees the 30th anniversary of the first survey, which I remember taking part in. Help us to celebrate this milestone by taking part yourself. The dates are Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 January, and you can find out more at www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch. Keep your eyes peeled for something special. I saw my first garden reed bunting 30 years ago! What will you find?