So another year ends. It's been an exciting one. Here's just a few of the highlights (I'm bound to have missed a few):

  • funding received from Heritage Lottery Fund to allow us to start work on the Minsmere Discover Nature Project. For details of the other funders for this excting project, see here.
  • car park resurfaced and enlarged in March
  • Island Mere Hide replaced - new hide opened 25 November
  • successful family days in the summer to trial new activities for next year
  • Environment Agency rebuilt North Wall - opened 24 December (though will close again for a couple of weeks in January)
  • best seawatching ever in Suffolk in September
  • red-flanked bluetail, several short-eared owls and long-eared owl all on same day in mid October, plus isabelline shrike on Dunwich Heath at same time
  • Suffolk's first sandhill crane missed Minsmere before being seen at North Warren and settling for a week at Boyton Marshes
  • second highest number of birds seen in any one year
  • bitterns passed 100 booming males in the UK
  • seven pairs of stone-curlews nested at Minsmere
  • lots of waxwings at both ends of the year
  • Fiona, the escaped greater flamingo became a media star and kept returning to Minsmere after travels elsewhere.
  • several sightings of purple emperor in summer
  • our new Area manager, Ben McFarland arrived
  • The RSPB launched it's exciting new campaign - Stepping up for Nature - and corporate strategy - Saving Nature

Of course, not everything went well. No sand martins or little terns nested this year, avocets had a mixed season and the woodlark population locally is in decline, but overall, 2011 should be considered to be a good year for the RSPB in Suffolk.

It finished in style too, with some excellent seawatching today, including minimum counts of 1500 red-throated divers, 700 great crested grebes and two gannets, plus a red-necked grebe yesterday. Bewick's swans remain (30 were counted on Thursday) along with two whooper swans. There was no sign of the tundra bean geese today, but they return. Likewise, white-fronts were down from 117 to about 15. Three otters showed well on island Mere this morning. On the Scrape, highlights were a golden plover, avocet, dunlin, snipe and four pintails.

Which just leaves me to say "Happy New Year to you all." Here's to another busy year and some excellent wildlife sightings in 2012.

And finally, a humerous picture to finish the year. I couldn't resist taking this shot on Tuesday - Minsmere's previously unknown eight-legged red deer!