To say the least it was 'hold on to your hat' weather at Minsmere today - it was a very windy morning and it was forecast to rain heavily in the afternoon. For once I had got my backside in gear and made it to Minsmere early enough to accompany David (one of our guides and an incredibly knowledgeable bloke) around the Scrape. I didn't manage to get a good photo of the lovely male marsh harrier which was flying over the North Marsh but I had better luck once we were in the East Hide:
These striking shelducks were coming in to land.
What is it with rampant mallards performing for the camera?
I initially thought this was a black-headed gull when I saw the suggestion of a hood on my camera - it's actually a common gull.
A graceful herring gull flies across the Scrape.
It was clearly having a whale of a time scattering the ducks!
This female mallard does her best to ignore the exhibitionist behind her.
The Godfather keeps a stern eye on his protectorate.
This cormorant had some striking markings.
A distant pintail. There were several of these about.
This crow flew across with a suitable nibble.
These gadwalls were showing their beautiful feathers near the Public Viewpoint. David then suggested having a quick look at the beach to see if the glaucous gull was about. Naturally, the herring gull was the first gull I saw:
It looks rather handsome with the waves crashing behind it!
Woo Hoo ............ I finally got the glaucous gull!
Inevitably David saw it first - his casual 'there it is' didn't exactly match my excitement at seeing this gull for the first time!
I think this is a first winter herring gull but please correct me if I've got it wrong.
EDIT: I've since been told it's a great black backed gull as the size of its beak is impressive. Whoops!
A visit to the South Hide yielded this lovely little dunlin.
Two ringed plovers pottered about amongst the ducks and lapwings.
Our final hide was the Wildlife Lookout. David spotted these curlews - I would have needed to see their impressive beaks.
Finishing with this snipe. It took David ages to try to get me to see where they were!
What a lovely walk we had around the Scrape - and we were back at the Visitor Centre before the heavens opened!
Phew.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.