Macro Photography Course at Bradfield Wood - 23/4/2022

EARLY PURPLE ORCHID

With my photography needing some work on, I decided to enroll on a macro photography course at Bradfield Woods. Booked through the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, the course was run by Kevin and lasted for a couple of hours on a fine Saturday. Macro photography is the art of taking pictures of the small and close up, the focus on flowers and insects, and where better to take pictures of flowers, in late April, than Bradfield Woods nature reserve. Drifts of BLUEBELLS unfurl through the woods, the fading light of WOOD ANEMONES and OXLIPS, and newly emerging EARLY PURPLE ORCHIDS, it's a botanist's dream. A beautiful bounty of colours to amaze the senses, which made for some great photography.

The setup of the course was very informal, the teacher, Kevin, was a veteran of Suffolk Wildlife Trust photography sessions, someone I have worked with before at Lackford Lakes a few years ago. Kevin was very engaging, able to convey the art of photography very well and helped with my photography. Seven other people were on the course so it was fairly open, fairly intimate, and it meant the teacher's attention wasn't always somewhere else, he was always on hand when you had a problem. On the day we went to two different areas of the wood, areas which had very different flower communities, to give the best test to our photographic skills.

The flower of the WILD GARLIC, just now coming into flower. Common in stands below the coppice stools

Bradfield Wood is one of the greatest ancient woods, in the UK. This ancient wood has been in existence for at least a thousand years old, and there may have been tree cover here since primordial times. Its very much a working site, the trees are coppiced, which is the act of cutting deciduous trees to a stump, from which further shoots sprout afterwards later on. Ancient woodland is great for flowers, and in late Spring, they appear in their finery, before the leaves grow on the trees, which effectively cut off the light they so need. Above the coppice, the odd tree had been left uncut, and therefore grew taller, but there were few truly ancient trees, as the site had been worked for so long.

A ride through the woods

Bradfield is maintained as a working wood

Different parts of the forest had different flora, and often they appeared in large numbers. In the morning of this course we concentrated on an area of BLUEBELLS. Bluebells are great to photograph because they create such a spectacle, the wood hazel coppice stumps growing over a carpet of blue. Bluebells are tricky to photograph, as the camera's sensor often finds it difficult to catch the correct colour of the plants. Although they are called "blue" the plant is more a purple colour, and the camera finds this hard to fathom for some reason. To combat this imperfection, you need to tweak the white balance slightly to get the colour correct. Using a low F stop number and a middle shutter speed gave good depths of field, a requisite in macro photography, which gives nice close ups of the flowers in focus against a blurry background.

Because the bluebells were so numerous, there were so many variations, in the individual flower and in the larger scenery. Therefore each shot could be completely different just by changing position slightly, or adjusting the focus. Bluebell drifts are a wonder of nature, one that is confined in Europe predominately to the UK.

We delved further into the woods where a large stand of WILD GARLIC was growing, but unfortunately the plants weren't quite in flower, however the sea of leaves gave off the whiff of garlic on the still wooded air. There were a few white WOOD ANEMONE around but they were just coming out of flower, slightly tatty now, they tend to peak earlier in the month.

After lunch we went to a different part of the wood, a place where no bluebells were growing, but instead there was the bonus of EARLY PURPLE ORCHIDS growing there. The orchids are ancient wood specialists, and although they don't grow in large numbers, and were still emerging, they were still very much a great subject for photography. Little spikes of purple flowers would push up from the green undergrowth, beautiful colours only nature can produce. However they didn't provide quite the photographic opportunity the bluebells did. Yellow OXLIPS were growing in this part of the wood, but unfortunately the flowers were going over. A woodland version of the cowslip, they are very restricted in this county, found only in western Suffolk, eastern Cambridgeshire and Essex. This is a plant I've always wanted to see, and being so rare had never caught up with them until now.

OXLIP

The strange thing about plant photography is that with the subject standing still you only need to take one photo. Also the subject is  not likely to be spooked and stands still so you can frame a shot as you want. So from today's session I only had several hundred photos. Compare that to bird photography, where the bird is moving constantly, you try to sneak up, constantly try to get closer, and can take a lot of photos of one subject, to hopefully get one good result, often not. As a result you take so many more photographs. But like birds plants wax and wane with the seasons, so what you may see at a site on one visit will change on another. Such are the wonders of nature and the bounty which she gives us.

Alton Water - 21/4/2022

CORMORANT and GULLS on one of the tern rafts

Being the largest body of freshwater in Suffolk, by far, Alton Water has that tendency to attract unusual birds. However at the same time it there can also be barren, there have been winter days when I've spent hours desperately trying to find something only to end up with distant views of a solitary coot to show for it. Compared to other large bodies of water in the country, like Abberton, just over the border in Essex, it can be quite quiet. However Alton Water is one of the best birding sites near to me, so I'll keep going back, birdwatchers are gluttons for punishment. 

SHOVELLER and GULLS

Star bird today was a SLAVONIAN GREBE, one of a pair that has been hanging around for a couple of weeks, that had reduced to a single bird after the other one had left. Alton Water has to be the most difficult place to find and see birds anywhere, with large areas of the reservoir completely unwatchable. Viewing places are limited, and the birds dispersed, with no congregations of birds to view. I was told the grebe was at the Tattingstone point on the reservoir, near the large country house, consisting of miles of shoreline, with few viewpoints, pretty vague directions to be sure. I was only able to catch the grebe because I caught hold of a local birder, who showed me where the bird was, directly. It was around the middle of the reservoir, but kept moving which was annoying as the views were from little gaps in the trees, so I  had to keep moving viewing points to keep watching the bird. Often called "horned grebes", the slav grebe was in its summer plumage, a copper underbelly, with a black head with distinctive yellow tufts on its ears, the bird was very handsome to look at, as are all grebes.  

Pair of GREAT CRESTED GREBES

As is usual with Alton, there were lots of GREAT CRESTED GREBE around, this is the county stronghold for this species. Some strayed near the slav grebe, and the great crested was noticeably bigger and much more slender. Some had already started nesting in the trees growing round the edges of the reservoir, but most were establishing territory and pairing up. Aside from the grebes, other waterfowl were in small numbers, Alton Water is poor for DUCKS, with only a handful of SHOVELLER, GADWALL and TUFTIES scattered about today, birds which may nest in small numbers here. As you would expect there were a few COOT and SWANS on territory, but not in large numbers as you would expect for the size of the lake.

The northern hides which look over the tern rafts

From the northern hides, accessible from Lemon Hill North, four COMMON TERN had arrived, prospecting the rafts put out for them. These artificial nesting sites are created for the terns to nest on, and are surprisingly affective at attracting them, so much so the colony is now the second biggest in Suffolk. Unfortunately BLACK HEADED GULLS had arrived early and had already taken up some of the nesting space, as well as some GREYLAGS, with several already nesting, limiting space for the terns. 

A friendly ROBIN

As you would expect Alton Water is best known for its waterbirds, but it is also be good for the smaller birds, our songsters. When the reservoir was created woodlands were planted around the edges, and are now reaching a decent age, such that its becoming attractive to nesting birds. The bird I was hoping to see, well hear really, was the NIGHTINGALE, as Alton is one of the county strongholds for this bird. Today I wasn't disappointed as I heard two different males singing, and I had only covered a small proportion of the large area of woodland. One was seen from the main track near the Wonder car park, and another was on the dog's tail near Lemon Hill North. To hear a nightingale is to hear a bird like no other in the country, a sound so exotic it takes you to another place in the world. And then you see the bird, however briefly, and its just a simple brown and white, one of our plainest looking birds. Like a lot of our most iconic birds its population is under threat, and for this one its quite strange. With the boom in the deer population, all the trees in the understory of our forests are being browsed by them, the thick cover that nightingales like. As a result the understory of our woodlands is being left quite bare, unnaturally so as the deer have no predators, and so are free to feed as they like, eating nightingale habitat. And our countryside is now becoming plainer, our most gorgeous of songsters is slowly disappearing, and as a result a bird that has been a key part of our culture, inspiring artists and musicians alike, may soon disappear. It is now restricted to the eastern counties, like Suffolk, and is now concentrated to a few sites, like Alton Water.

GREYLAG nesting on one of the tern rafts

A bit of a hit and miss day at Alton, with a bag of goodies, but also lamenting the fact that little else was around. Certain birds were noticeable by their absence. I didn't see any hirundines about, the swallows and martins, when you would expect to see large flocks of them hawking over the water at this time of year. Summer visitors are still not really arriving in the quantities you would expect for April, but this maybe down to other factors affecting migration, such as weather and wind directions. Anyway spring is creeping up on us at what may seem slowly, but before you know it summer will be in full bloom.

Hollesley & Boyton Marshes - 16/4/2022

Male REED BUNTING, a common bird often seen perched out in the open.

Being an Easter Saturday, the grumpy part of me needed to go somewhere quiet, somewhere off the beaten track, because I knew those big reserves, those honeypot sites would be too busy. Minsmere, Carlton Marshes, Lackford Lakes etc. would be heaving with people, little brats running about, hides so full so I have to wait outside until I can go inside, get rubbish views and rub shoulders with someone I didn't know. Not really what I go bird watching for. So I headed down to the relatively under watched sites of Hollesley and Boyton Marshes, two small and relatively obscure RSPB reserves.

Snoozing GODWIT and TEAL

And they were alright. Of course they don't attract the numbers of birds the previous stated reserves do, but I had a satisfactory day out. For some reason summer visitors are still lagging into our shores, April is the prime time to catch up with the first returning birds of the summer, so it has been a fairly disappointing bird tally at the moment.

Hollesley Marshes

Today the Marshes were looking good, full of birds gearing up for the breeding season, although there wasn't anything unexpected present. The centrepiece of the reserve is the scrape, a shallow pool lying within an area of rough grassland, which is attractive to wetland birds. Its not as productive as the Scrape at Minsmere, but is in the whole a decent place to find birds. Being an underwatched reserve the facilities are pretty basic with views of the scrape being from a little viewing screen on one side and on the other the river wall which forms a boundary at the back of the reserve.

Looking across the scrape from the river wall to Hollesley prison

There were lots of DUCKS present, mainly SHOVELLER and GADWALL, two species that will stay the summer and nest here in small numbers. There was still a remnant of wintering birds present, plenty of TEAL, small numbers of WIGEON, and around five PINTAIL, birds which will soon leave in the coming weeks.

Preening AVOCET

Breeding WADERS were in good supply, with plenty of LAPWING tumbling through the air to ward off a passing crow, REDSHANK descending from the air in song, and of course AVOCET, with thirty five present, all in one small part of the scrape. However migrant waders were in short supply, with virtually no movement of this type of bird, something which you would expect from a scrape. A single SNIPE was a leftover from winter.

Pill box on the river wall at Hollesley, looking over the river. On the other side is Hollesley Marshes

The marshes butt onto the River Alde, an estuary at this point, which soon meets the sea. The entire time I was at the Marshes the tide was high and the current was first racing into the sea over at Shingle Street. Further along the river is a small Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve called Simpson's Saltings, which is an area of shingle and saltmarsh. Not many bids were present but a WHMBREL was a good find, a smaller version of the commoner curlew, it has a noticeable dark brown eye stripe, and a bent rather than curved bill. Because of this its a good bird for the intermediate birders to get a hang of. A summer visitor, it was my first of the year.

SEDGE WARBLERS have just arrived from Africa and are now singing frenzily from every ditch

With all the rough grassland, scattered bramble bushes, and reed fringed ditches, small birds were in good supply today at Hollesley. My first SEDGE WARBLERS of the year were here in song, their energetic, insect like song sung with agitated energy, desperate to keep hold of the prime nesting sites they were in. CETTI'S WARBLERS  were, as usual, exploding from any area of dense cover, whilst a few REED BUNTING were perched from the top of some reeds fronds here and there.

The scrape at Hollelsey

In the open grassland, SKY LARKS were present in huge numbers, constantly battling with each other, often with birds ascending into the sky to sing their complex and beautiful song. Slightly rarer were the MEADOW PIPITS which fly into the air and then descend with their wings puffed out as a parachute, calling out their single note song. LINNETS were everywhere, in pairs or small flocks, the males are in full breeding finery, with their pink chests. A male STONECHAT was going to be passing through, they winter here but don't nest, they prefer the areas of heath elsewhere in the county.

Boyton Marshes

As Hollesley isn't big enough to fill a day, it was an obvious choice to go to its sister reserve at Boyton, another small and overlooked reserve, just up river. Like Hollesley, Boyton was busy with birds getting frisky with the warmer temperatures, and was full of birds. New scrapes have bee created on the reserve, adding to the birdlife. When I first came to Boyton at the end of the nineties, the area was just a series of dry grassland, occasionally flooding in winter, and held few birds, so I seldom visited. Now its tip-top and worth a visit at any time of year. Although its not big enough to take up a whole day, its a good way to while away a couple of hours.

Nesting SWAN among the reeds

Boyton is a working farm with cows present grazing the higher, drier land. Later in the year they'll be released onto the marshes to graze. On the marshes, the best bird was a SPOONBILL, which flew onto one of the scrapes. Its a large white bird, although not as tall as a heron, it uses it spoon shaped bill to sieve through the water. They have started to nest across the river at Havergate. Large numbers of GEESE and GULLS were present, which after pheasants the most despised birds in the country. DUCKS were on the areas of water in large numbers, with a quantity and species similar to Hollesley. A large herd of 45 SWANS was present, with several pairs nesting in the larger dykes, huge structures obscured in the reeds. A pair of EGYPTIAN GEESE were present, a bird which is still fairly rare on the coast, but will probably colonise in the future.

Curious Cow

On the Avocet pool fifteen AVOCETS were present, the iconic bird of the Suffolk Coast. GODWITS were present in their breeding season finery, having turned a nice copper colour out of their winter greys. However despite the tide receding their weren't many waders present, some CURLEW on the flooded scrapes was about it. A HARBOUR SEAL was in Butley Creek, watching me in a bored manner, he had seen too many people wandering this stretch of the river to care about me.

Large GULLS were present in the area in huge numbers

With the beautiful sunny weather, large numbers of birds of prey were on the wing, with good numbers of BUZZARD and MARSH HARRIERS on the move, using the thermals to rise in the air. There was even a clash between a harrier and a buzzard, similar sized birds there was no victor, both birds moved on relatively unscathed. Its a good time for these species of bird, because without persecution they have now colonised every corner of our countryside.

LINNET are common in the grassy areas of both reserves

Being a similar sort of habitat, there was a similar range of small birds as at Hollesley. It shows that when areas areas suitable for birds they will colonise. Our countryside isn't completely dead yet. A YELLOW WAGTAIL was in the cow field by the car park, feeding on flies around the cow pats. This is a bird that has declined massively within my life time, and even places where there is large amounts of habitat for them, those places don't have any birds. Its a similar story across the country for many species. A SWALLOW was my (late) first of the year, a sure sign of summer, up there with the cuckoo, which I haven't seen or heard yet.

MUTE SWAN

An enjoyable time down at the RSPB's smallest and least known Suffolk reserves. Of course being so small they don't hold the same amount of birds as the larger reserves, but as you can see are still pretty impressive. Lying along the river wall the area is popular with walkers, and so many non birdwatchers walk past without knowing what the land holds. I wish there is some way I could make people realise what hardships our wildlife is under, how although it looks a green and pleasant land on the surface, underneath there is something dying.

Benacre Broad - 9/4/2022

Male KESTREL

Having Minsmere fatigue I decided to find another site to go to, somewhere I haven't been to for a long time. So with that in mind I chose to have a look at Benacre, a place I haven't visited for some years. In fact my last visit was in January 2020, a long time ago, and so another visit was in due order. Benacre consists of three coastal broads, with large amounts of surrounding reedbeds and woodland. Its a good place for birds, if somewhat overlooked compared with the other birding sites on the coast.

Covehithe Broad

With Benacre, its not that obvious you're actually in a nature reserve. Parking is at Covehithe, a little hamlet which is gradually falling into the sea. Its a short walk down the coast to the first lake, Covehithe Broad. The thing with these coastal lakes is seeing how much still remains between each visit, as this is one of the fastest eroding coastlines in England.  The footpath leading down to the broad had been partially eroded away, ending in a cliff top falling down to the beach. A small number of wildfowl were present on the remaining area of water. Eight TUFTED DUCK, eight LITTLE GREBE, four pairs of COOT and a pair of GREAT CRESTED GREBE were on the broad. A pair of OYSTERCATCHERS were on the beach around the broad, but with the amount of disturbance by dog walkers, their chances of raising a family don't seem positive.

Dead tree fallen onto the beach

To get to the main and largest broad, Benacre, it is quite a slog north up the beach. Along the walk, towering over the beach were cliffs of sand, constantly being eroded into the sea, and were often jutting out at odd angles. The beach is interesting as it is littered with the remains of debris fallen off the eroded cliffs. This can include trees, bits of fence and even the odd second world war pillbox. 

Does what it says on the tin

Being on the coast I did some sea watching but not much turned up. Having grown up in the centre of the UK, I'm pretty lousy at sea watching and find it difficult. A lot of sea watching can be seeing distant specks on the horizon and determining them to be a species based on how they fly. I was hoping to see some terns flying about, but maybe it was a bit early in the month, and so nothing much of note was present. Three GANNET flying north in a tight squadron just below the horizon was about it.

The beach and cliffs at Benacre

Benacre Broad had much changed since my last visit at the beginning of 2020. No longer is it a freshwater lake, but now a tidal estuary, connected to the sea. Its here now I have to have a rant. A very stupid woman north of the broad walks up to the broad and allows her dogs to run over the entire area, disturbing rare birds like AVOCETS, which could potentially breed here. Avocets are very rare nesters, restricted in where they can nest, mainly on brackish lagoons and scrapes, and if there is any disturbance a whole colony may desert the area. I was some distance from the woman and I kept shouting for her to control her dogs, but she had lost control. It gets me angry that people like this do so much damage when they don't need to. They come to these special places, yet couldn't care less about looking after it. The thing is there are no signs, no fences to let people know its a nature reserve, and maybe then you won't get idiots like this one causing unnecessary disturbance.

Benacre Broad

On Benacre Broad a nice colony of AVOCETS was forming. Around 35 birds were present when not disturbed. Several RINGED PLOVERS were present, with a pair on territory on the beach by the broad. Two SANDERLING were  also on the beach, while the usual estuarine WADERS were present, although they were far away, and a heat shimmer was on the broad causing poor visibility. Because of seeing it at distance and in poor visibility, I thought but couldn't determine if I saw a curlew sand, it would have been bit early in the year for one, they are most common around mid May. Around seventy TEAL were also present. Two female MARSH HARRIERS were fighting over territorial rights in the reeds behind the broad, its that time of year, the best, most exciting time of year for birds.

Dead trees Benacre Broad 

The walk north from Benacre involved jumping over the tidal inlet which connects the broad to the sea, fairly narrow, but try jumping with a heavy telescope on your shoulders! The broad is surrounded by dead trees, before changing to arable land on the cliff tops where I was hoping to see a wheatear, but nothing showed up, its a bird that has become scarcer in Suffolk in recent years. In fact summer migrants were totally lacking around the reserve. Its still a bit early but I was hoping for something to have turned up today.

HOODED CROW, Beach Farm, Benacre

The first sign of civilisation was Beach Farm, a nice thatched house and barn, a hodgepodge of different architectural styles formed over the years. It was in an arable field next to the buildings that checking an odd crow I discovered something a lot rarer. My gods, a  HOODED CROW was present. This is a northern version of our black carrion crows, the divide between the species runs along the Great Glenn of Scotland. Its the size and shape of our crows, except for a grey back and chest. Its a very rare bird in Suffolk, less than annual, so was a great find. It stayed for ten minutes before flying north east towards the gravel pits. Ok so some people who look at the bird in the photo may think it looks like a hybrid with a carrion crow. So I put it about on social media, and roughly two thirds of people were sure the bird was a pure bred. Unless I get a blood sample there is no way to be one hundred per cent sure, but I'm counting it as a hoodie. One of the joys of  bird watching, no one can deny me this one.

Not sure what this is, it had pipes protruding from it, bits of string tying it altogether, so it had some kind of use

So the walk back to Covehithe, was a long trek, inland through arable land. This area was a mixture of crops with tightly cut hedgerows, a not very hospitable landscape for wildlife. However there were a lot of tree belts, old woodland divided by agricultural land. In the UK habitats stop abruptly woodland stops and arable begins, with nothing between, creating a totally artificial look to the landscape. In a natural environment habitats grade gradually almost unnoticeably so. Not much was seen in this part of the walk, the usual farmland birds, but I was serenated by the constant sound of SKYLARKS ascending.

So a fairly quiet, if enjoyable day at Benacre. Although its a good reserve, there's often not a lot present here. Suffolk has such a remarkable coast, with such good bird reserves, places can get overlooked. There's a lot of walking between things at Benacre, and although its nice countryside it can be a bit tedious at times. The most enjoyable part of the walk is finding what has fallen off the eroded cliffs onto the beach, things waiting to be washed into the sea. But with the HOODED CROW it just shows any bird can turn up anywhere, so search those crows, those larks, those finches, because there may be a rare bird hiding in plain sight.

Minsmere - 2/4/2022

SNIPE in reeds in front of Island Mere Hide

With only a short time to spend at Minsmere today, I chose a leisurely stroll round Island Mere and its reedbeds, rather than a mad dash around the Scrape. And with a beautifully sunny day appearing out of the snows we previously had, it was a very nice experience. Being early April, this part of the reserve was brimming with the rising life of Spring, with so much bird action happening round here.

Island Mere

Island Mere is a large lake in the extensive reedbeds of Minsmere. Great views can be had from the top of Whin Hill above, but the birds are best seen from the hide which overlooks the Mere. Reedbeds are a habitat, like heathlands, where although bird numbers might be smaller, large growths of them support species of birds found in no other habitat. And Island Mere is probably the best place in the country to see those species, rare lurkers that they are.

View from Bittern Hide overlooking the extensive reedbeds

Further down from Island Mere is the Bittern Hide, a viewbox built up in the trees that looks over the extensive reeds. Its well made and even in the strongest winds doesn't sway or even creak. Unlike Island Mere the small pool in front doesn't attract many birds, but you can see some of the reedbed specialists, usually flying about.

MUTE SWAN

The variety of birds were good today on the Mere, although the number of birds were low. Star birds were the pair of long staying SMEW, which had been here since February, although they weren't very active, being asleep in the glare of the sun. The males are stunning, a monochrome black and white, with the females sporting a red head. What is strange about the smews is that they are birds of midwinter, bitterly cold days in January, yet the birds today have stayed on through a warm winter, into a warm spring, totally against their nature. This is my first April record for this species, the latest I have ever seen them stay on, and its got me wondering, what is nature making of this off kilter weather.

Reedbeds

Two WHOOPER SWANS were also present, also midwinter birds staying on for some reason, its been a good winter for a bird at Minsmere that used to be rare here. Two pairs of GREAT CRESTED GREBE were around, and will probably nest here, as well as several COOT battling over territories, and small numbers of TUFTED DUCK, which you would expect at this time of year.

A tame ROBIN by Bittern Hide

In the cut reeds in front of the hide two SNIPE were present, initially hiding in among the reeds, before coming out into the open and close to the hide, providing great views of a difficult to see bird. In the surrounding reedbeds MARSH HARRIERS were busy, with many birds on the wing, male and female, birds battling over territories, for nesting rights in among the reed fronds. One male bird corkscrewed down into the reeds, to its mate, an action known as sky dancing, something all harriers are famous for.

A nice steam punk statue near Canopy Hide. an unexpected find in the woods

Excitement was added by a pair of BITTERNS on the wing near the hide, flying in the air for an extended time, before one flew across behind the Mere. Its always difficult to see this bird as it usually lurks at the bottom of the reeds and its only when they rarely fly that you see them. Another bird was also seen on the wing from Bittern Hide, but only briefly. It was good to see them today as the birds tend to hold tight when establishing territories at this time of year. Today a few birds were heard booming, that fog horn call of the bittern, the unique sound this brown heron of the reeds releases, which is  the loudest sound emitted by any bird in the UK, a sound which carries right over the reserve.

BLACK REDSTART by the Café

So having enjoyed the reeds and the birds which lurk there, it was a stop off at the café for a well earned coffee to end the day. As luck would have it, by the Sand Martin bank just over the shoulder from the café, a BLACK REDSTART was lurking, first just a head appearing, before it flew up and perched on a fence showing itself off to the birders watching. Despite its name, its more of a charcoal grey bird, with a red tail which is noticeable in flight. Its a very rare breeding bird in the UK, usually in urban settings, with a couple of pairs down south at Sizewell power station, but its a common bird on the continent., seen in most villages A scarce migrant at this time of year it was a good bird to end the day on.

Grizzled tree deep in the woods

Well what can you say about Minsmere? It just offers so much for the nature lover, the sheer amount of wildlife that lives here is mind boggling. Such a large juxtaposition of vast, rare habitats attracts nature in great numbers, common and rare. And visiting it is such a treat, its always exciting to dream of what  I'm going to see on my next visit, something which gets me through the hard times. Just one of the many things that reserves like Minsmere offer is that ability to leave the world behind, for me to immerse myself in nature, to get away from the modern day world.