It was actually our first visit to Sculthorpe in almost four years - I didn't think it had been that long! Once we'd admired the gorgeous harvest mice in the Visitor Centre we headed out on to the reserve.
Harvest mice are unbelievably tiny:
This one looked barely bigger than my thumbnail!
To my utter joy the bullfinches were visiting the Woodland Hide feeders with abandon! Mrs Bully tucks in......
.....along with Mr Bully and Little One.
A common lizard on our way to the Fen Hide.
I'm not sure what kind of duck this is but the colours are beautiful.
A distant little grebe.
Mr Chaffinch looks warily at me from the cover of the woodland.
This dunnock was less shy.
There was plenty of feeder activity at the new Tower Hide. This young blue tit is showing the first hint of an adult blue feather.
A lovely young great tit.
Robins are brilliant at radiating sheer attitude!
Mr Bully looking absolutely stunning.
A collared dove from the other side of the hide.
From Victor's Hide, another beautifully marked but unknown duck.
I wish this kestrel had come closer.
A beautiful reed warbler eventually allowed itself to be snapped.
I was pleasantly surprised that any of my shots came out as it would just not sit still!
We stopped again at the Woodland Hide on our way back to the Visitor Centre and were rewarded with this young robin.
I'm terrible at identifying butterflies but I'm posting this anyway as it's not one I see often, and it's beautiful.
A dear little field mouse under the feeders.
Finishing with a young chaffinch.
We had a lovely afternoon here but I would very strongly recommend that anyone coming here bring a small lens with them. The bird table at the Tower Hide can only be snapped with a small lens - Limpy, to his enormous frustration, could not get any snaps at all as he only had his 600mm lens with him. I just about managed with my 150-600mm lens at its shortest setting, though I had to sit some way back (and diagonally) from the table. It is certainly worth bringing a big lens if you have one as I would not have got the kestrel or the reed warbler without one.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
A lovely variety there, Clare. Your Flutterbye is a Speckled Wood, a female I suspect, (the cream patches are generally larger than those on the males).
My bird photos HERE
Thanks, Paul! Glad you enjoyed the selection.
A lovely selection, as usual, Clare. You are so good at spotting them, and IDing too. Thank you.
Birdie's DU Summaries 2018 https://www.imagicat.com/
What lovely variety of wildlife you found, Clare. I like the ducks! But I'm not very good at ID either, if they're not common ones.
Looks like you had a good day, apart from Limpy's problem with too big a lens! Glad to see you found some Bullfinches - I remember you saying that you didn't often see them. Nice idea to have Harvest Mice in the visitor centre for people to see.
__________
Nige Flickr
Lovely variety there. Your unknown ducks look like 'Manky Mallards' to me. Very nice they are too.
Unicum arbustum haud alit duos erithacos
(One bush does not shelter two Robins)
Zenodotus (3rd Century B.C.)