Guest blog by Charlotte Bishop
Hello,
I am a new intern at Minsmere and I have been here for three weeks. I arrived on Sunday 3 July in glorious sunshine and after spending some time wondering when the road into Minsmere would ever end I made it to the volunteer accommodation. I was told I would have a couple of days to explore. I will admit that I am not the most accomplished bird identifier as this is a new hobby for me however I usually find people in the hides I visit very helpful. So thank you if it was any of you. I went off with my binoculars and bird book to see what I could find and to my surprise I saw a bittern and a hobby, with the latter being one of my dream species to see.
After that great success it was time to start my new role as Visitor Officer intern which meant a day of being told several names - and forgetting nearly all of them - and being told that I would be helping to organise the family days over the summer. I’m afraid you are now going to have to read me plugging this amazing day! There will be six family days in total and they are on every Thursday from 28 July to 1 September. We have lots of fun things to do from watching bird ringing, to bug hunting and practicing using binoculars ready for the family hide and much more. It is from 10 am to 4 pm and the event is free with normal entry fees applying. I am really looking forward to it and I hope the weather will be kind.
I know butterflies have been mentioned in several recent blogs, but I wanted to mention that a new butterfly trail has been opened with the Canopy Hide being a great place to see them as well as just outside the visitor centre. Recently as I have been walking to the centre I have been surrounded by beautiful red admirals which has been a real treat.
Red admiral by Ian Barthorpe
Hope to see you all soon and don’t forget the family day.
Charlotte