Sunday was the only half-decent day in the weather, so I decided a trip to the Wildlife Trust reserve of Lunt Meadows was in order. I know it is good for Whitethroats and so far this year I haven't really got a decent photo so that was my modest target for the day. Early on, there were loads of bees insects, so I spent a lot time getting those, but I'll put them in the insect thread later.
We had had two days of heavy rain, which may account for this lovely sighting late in the morning.
Eventually, I found a Whitethroat hunting in quite a small area by the river. I thought it would show sooner or later if I waited and then, I realised there were two of them and they must have had a nest nearby. Most of my views were a little frustrating being just glimpses or half-blocked by vegetation.
Lovely to watch ...
… but I wanted a photo with an unobstructed view. Patience tends to pay off though and when they had gotten used to me they started to show much better
I thought I was doing reasonably well, even if the bird was surrounded by a riot of chaotic vegetable matter
However, the birds then decided to reward me properly and came right out into the open and only a few feet away.
They even posed for long enough tor me to fill my boots with different poses
I'm happy to count that as mission accomplished!
The Avocets had a fair number of chicks (see young of 2019)
And there were loads of Swifts, sometimes coming in low and slow. Still difficult but under those circumstances, it would be a shame not to have a go ...
There were a lot left on the cutting room floor and there's still room for improvement but not too bad - just a shame about the one where the fly was in focus!
At least I managed to take advantage of the one good day amongst the many grey and wet ones!