Well not many of us do if it is pouring rain! And so started the day when I stood in for Sarah, one of our regular volunteer guides, who was taking a well deserved break after working all weekend at Bird Fair 2015.
The North Brooks yielded teal, mallard and lapwing plus a large flock of canada geese and a few greylag. A single green sandpiper and two little ringed plover formed their own group and in amongst the geese were plenty of mallard and a sole mandarin (male) asleep in the rain.
Despite the poor conditions I was able to list 34 species in a couple of hours - ok I'm including some butterflies on the wing when there was a break in the rain. The standouts of the morning were a whinchat perched nicely near Winpenny hide and a yellow wagtail busily working the margins by West Mead. Every cloud has a silver lining and all that.
Thanks to volunteer John for braving the elements and for this post!
Yellow wagtail on the South Brooks (Photo by David Andrews)