Now that the clocks have changed, it can be frustrating that it's dark before I go home in the evening. This means I can't pop into Island Mere Hide or down to Bittern Hide to check for roosting harriers, bitterns or starlings - unless I go at dusk and stay in the office later instead. However, it doesn't mean that there are no wildlife watching opportunities after work.
Last night was a great example. As I left the office at 5.30 pm, two tawny owls hooted from the nearby woods. Everyone loves owls, but tawnies can be among the hardest to see as they are strictly nocturnal. But their distinctive hooting call gives away the presence of these otherwise silent hunters, and November is probably the best time to hear them.
This is because tawnies stay on their territories all year and about now they are starting to strengthen their pair bonds ready to start breeding in January! Yes, as early as that. Tawny owls are probably the earliest nesting birds in the UK.
Despite being so difficult to see, a hooting tawny owl is one of the most distinctive and familiar sounds in our countryside, and may be heard in many gardens too. Yet the familiar "two-whit-too-woo" is not actually given by a tawny owl, but by a pair. One bird calls "ke-wick" followed immediately by a reply of "hoo-hoo". Last night, I heard just the hooting "hoo-hoo", although there were certainly two birds calling.
My night time wildlife watching didn't end there, as a short distance along the entrance road I slowed down as a large, hairy shape bumbled along the verge. The distinctive backside belonged to one of our most exciting mammals. A badger! We know there are a couple of setts at Minsmere, and we often see signs of their presence, but like the tawnies, badgers are usually nocturnal, so any sightings are a bonus. This was only the second time I'd seen a badger at Minsmere this year, after bumping into a mother and two cubs in broad daylight at our Springwatch weekend in June.
A night time drive home is often a good time to search for wildlife. Rabbits regularly scuttle from the verges, seemingly on a suicide mission. More frightening is the sudden appearance of a red deer in the headlights - not a creature you'd want to hit unless you can afford an expensive repair bill. As last year, the red deer rut viewpoint was incredibly popular, with superb views of these majestic beasts. The viewpoint is now closed, but if you're visiting Minsmere keep an eye open for deer at any time. There were four close to the path at lunchtime.
The leaves have fallen from most of our trees in recent gales - a sure sign of winter's coming. Yesterday's weather, though, wouldn't have been out of place in the tropics, but for the cooler tremperature. We had several showers of monsoon-like proportions, resulting in a rapid rise in water levels in the reedbed. The Scrape's looking superb too, so the long dry summer already seems a distant memory. Winter is very definitely on its way. I usually consider my first sighting of a Bewick's or whooper swan to be a sign of the changing season, and I saw both on Island mere on Friday, and again on the Scrape today.
Roll on the first frosts, and the arrival of winter proper, with its accompanying abundant ducks, glorious sunny evening and birds coming in to roost (though not starlings yet at Minsmere - Snape Maltings is the place to see them at present). Come along and see them for yourself.