A lone Canada Goose seen from the hide - an infrequent visitor to the Reserve.( credit Robert Folder).
Little Egret from the hide (credit Robert Folder).
Although the day was hazy with some drizzle - it was certainly a little warmer than it had been recently. There was plenty of activity on the Reserve: visitors were out in force with plenty of bird action to observe.
A collection of about 40 Lapwings were on the now substantial amount of floodwater on the LHS of the Lonning. A single Redshank was with them. Also a few Teal were showing signs of pairing up.
Lapwing on floodwater . . .
. . . with Redshank.
Teal pairs.
300+ Wigeon could be seen grazing in the wet meadows surrounding the Meadow Pools on the RHS of the Lonning. Small groups kept flying in to join them as they grazed like a conveyor belt, rapidly across the field.
Wigeon coming into wet meadow beyond Meadow Pools . . .
. . . to join the conveyor belt grazing across the meadow.Later, having grazed for a while, they en masse took to the air, landing in the 2nd Meadow Pool.
Wigeon flock dropping into 2nd Meadow Pool . . .
. . . with a big splash.
Distant view of the flock across the Pool.
A solitary Pintail was feeding here, too.
It was late afternoon by now and a mist had started to descend. Viewing from the hide, suddenly a male Hen Harrier appeared and swiftly glided across the rushy meadows towards the Moss where it did a couple of circuits and then was gone.
Surprise appearance of the male Hen Harrier hunting over the rushy meadows . . .
. . . and then across the Moss.
On leaving the hide, the distant barking of a small flock of Barnacles could be heard. The sound got louder and eventually, making a right din, they passed overhead and headed SW towards the Anthorn masts. Then, within a minute, they were followed by another similar sized flock of about 50 birds.
Barnacle skein overhead.
Instead of returning along the Lonning, the Blue Route across the farmland seemed appealing. You never know what might be out and about there!
Sure enough, although the mist had thickened and the light was failing, a group of about a dozen Curlews could be just made out in the rushy meadows looking towards the Moss.
Curlew in the rushy meadows east of the hide.
Returning to the Centre via the Discovery field, a Little Egret was busy feeding along the margins of the dipping Pond. Although, only fairly recently established, it must be well stocked by now, as it was making a good number of catches.
Little Egret trying its luck on the Discovery Pool.
Have noticed that there has been quite a lot of activity at the Cley Dabbin in recent weeks, it now looks almost complete: doors and windows have been added and the outside screeded. The inside is complete with display boards describing the process involved.
The Clay Dabbin.