Yesterday has got to have been the best day of the year so far.
It started off with Emma and I up to our elbows in water on the fresh marsh collecting mud samples to monitor the amount of invertebrate food that is availble to the feeding wading birds! On our way back a grasshopper warbler was 'reeling' from the reedbed near Fen Hide and the bittern was booming well. At the grazing meadow pool were were stopped by a visitor and shown a cracking drake garganey and a red necked grebe. All this before 9am!
Just after lunch, a local birder came into the visitor centre to say the the Iberian chiffchaff was showing well on the Meadow Trail but he had not heard it singing. Although very similar to a 'regular' chiffchaff, the song is completly different and is like a cross between chiffchaff and willow warbler with a mechanical flourish (I am rubbush at describing songs!) at the end. This is the first record for the reserve and the second one in Norfolk so far this spring. It had probably moved up from southern Europe in the last few days together with a woodchat shrike near Norwich and another Iberian chiffchaff in Kent.
The best however was left until last. Rob and I decided to have a look around after work to see if the rainstorm had dropped in a black tern or red rumped swallow. There were a few 'new' summer plumaged dunlin in and the drake garganey had hopped onto the fresh marsh. As we walked back my phone rang, BEE-EATER OVER THE VISITOR CENTRE, Dave shouted and we were quickly scanning the treeline. After what seemed ages, Rob picked up the bird hawking over the edge of the trees. We 'legged it' down the path and had fantastic views. A small group of visitors had gathered and we put out the news but unfortunatly the bird only stayed 10 minutes before flying off strongly west. Rob was very pleased he had stayed late as it was the first time he had seen a bee-eater in the UK.
If you haven't heard of a bee-eater they are truly stunning birds as you can see.