As it was such a lovely day yesterday I managed to get my backside in gear and escaped from the house nice and early to have a good explore of Minsmere before my afternoon reception shift. One of our neighbourhood crows clearly approved and let me have a good view of his subtly gleaming feathers:
I made it to Island Mere Hide by about 9.30. Most of the usual suspects weren't about but a few gulls adorned the preening pool:
There were no less than 7 marsh harriers in the air, though my photos of them weren't exactly as good as I would have liked! This little grebe came so close to the hide, though, that even I could snap it:
After a while I headed to the Visitor Centre for a quick catch up and then off I went for a walk around the Scrape. As I came through the picnic area this lovely female pheasant posed for me:
As I made my way up the North Wall I noticed a few things lurking. This pair of stonechats weren't as close as I would have liked:
There were a couple of marsh harriers about as well:
The greylag geese very kindly announced their arrival:
Couldn't resist this herring gull on my way to East Hide:
I was very pleased when I reached East Hide as there was plenty to see, and lots of it was near the hide! There were a good number of black-tailed godwits about and they were making some adorable noises as they pottered about:
A lone Canada goose enjoys some me time:
A beautiful redshank:
I couldn't resist the gorgeous green head of this male mallard:
It wasn't the only lovely green head on view:
Shovelers are lovely on those rare occasions when they actually lift their huge beaks from the water!
There were lots of lapwing about:
Great black-backed gulls are absolutely huge - not that this bothered the herring gull or the common gull nearby:
Some seriously hostile noises were coming from this shelduck:
On my way down to the sluice I spotted this - a female stonechat (thanks, Robbo!):
The West Scrape had some lovely things about as well. Wigeon:
One of our Konik ponies:
'What do you think you're looking at?)
As I neared the Visitor Centre a few more birds posed for me:
Two of our cheekiest - a lovely robin and this handsome magpie:
A chaffinch politely waiting his turn on the feeder:
One of our friendly pheasants:
Finally, a female blackbird:
Hope you all enjoy these. Merry Christmas!
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.