A new record confirms Minsmere as the best
Yesterday, two of Minsmere’s volunteer guides set themselves a challenge. Their target was to see or hear as many different species of bird as possible in a day, from one spot. The idea, which is popular in the USA, is called a Big Sit, and is a more environmentally friendly take on the popular Bird Races that many people do in May.
Jon Gibbs and Scott Mayson will be familiar to many Minsmere visitors as regular guided walk leaders and guides in hides. They know Minsmere very well, so decided to set up their chairs and telescopes on the bank behind the visitor centre. From here, they could see the Scrape, the sea and across the north marsh reedbed, and hear birds in the woodland and scrub.
So how did they get on? They started at 2 am, and quickly picked out species such as bittern, nightingale, black-headed gull and redshank on call. By the time the reserve opened at 9 am they already had more than 80 species, including both fulmar and gannet flying north just offshore, and all of Minsmere key species.
As the day progressed, the heat haze became a problem, but by mid afternoon they had equalled the record of 93 species. They broke the record with one of our most familiar species – starling. When they reached their 100th species, shortly after 6 pm, with a sanderling in flight, Jon and Scott decided to call it a day. Other highlights included a buzzard, two wheatears, a flock of eight greenshanks and several other interesting waders.
With a new national record in the bag, Jon and Scott have once again put Minsmere firmly on the map as the best place to spend a day birdwatching. This was also underlined to me last weekend when I recorded an incredible 65 species by 6.30 am while leading a dawn chorus guided walk.
Come along and experience the magic of Minsmere – and don’t forget to bring a camera to enter our photographic competition.