A lovely bright and almost windless day for an early start, 6am(early for me anyway). I didn't see much through the woods and reedbeds but once I got to the public hide I saw this Common Sandpiper and a little way off a couple of Spoonbills.
A move to East Hide gave me a closer view of the Spoonbills and one of them took off and gave me a fly past before settling at the back of the lagoon.
The Common Terns were very active and diving reasonably close to the hide, this one came up with a tiny something or other.
A couple of Dunlin and possibly a Ruff?
When the Terns caught fish I thought I might see them feed their young, but all they did was wave the fish in front of the youngster a few times then fly off. I assume this was to encourage them into flying which at least one of them did while I was watching.
A Lapwing looking it's best in the sun.
On leaving the hide I found lots of activity in the bushes and reeds at the start of the new board walk.
First a Sedge Warbler.
Then a Reed Bunting flew from the path onto the rails and posed for me.
The greatest amount of activity was from Reed Warblers.
A youngster being fed, sadly missed sharp focus but I did nail the Ladybird.
Searching for food.
If you zoom right in you can see a tiny something or other in it's beak.
Something a bit bigger this time.
Out in the Dunes a brief glimpse of a Whitethroat.
Then a Stonechat provided me with a take off sequence courtesy of Pro-capture.
At this tine of year no visit is complete without a wander along Digger Alley.
A Pantaloon Bee.
A Beewolf with unfortunate Honey Bee.
Many thanks Whistling Joe and Mrs WJ for the in depth narrative of the goings on in Digger Alley and thanks WJ for the valuable chat about cameras and accessories.
Best Wishes,
Trevor
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
(Pardon the Scottish Accent)