Brandon Marsh 11 April 2024

It's been long overdue, yet again, trying to get a morning out without having to dodge the threat of inclement wet weather. My last visit to Brandon Marsh was 13th March, though I didn't do a report with all the tech glitches here.

Starting with a sunrise, something of a rare commodity this year so far....

A lot of photos had to be discarded due to the low light, though I did persevere with the Egyptian Goose editing to try and get a half decent photo.

Mr Reed Bunting eventually decided to spend a second away from the reed heads, enabling a half decent pic.

What was observed, was a very interesting moment between a pike, possibly two, and a coot.

Yes, you read right, a fish and waterfowl.

The pike, along with other fish, had been enjoying feeding on the insects on or just above the water surface.

The telltale tail.... A bit fishy nonetheless

A territorial coot decided it didn't like the constant water disturbance in such shallow water, decided to investigate, and challenge. Yes, that's right, the coot challenged the pike. It will come as no surprise the pike didn't hold back, much to the surprise of the coot which momentarily ended up head under water! Sadly, I was not set up to capture video, but I did manage to salvage some of the photos of the moment.

The end result, a rather put out coot swam off and the pike continued fly catching......

Species observed

  • Blackbird
  • Blue Tit
  • Canada Goose
  • Carrion Crow
  • Cetis Warbler
  • Chiffchaff
  • Coot
  • Cormorant
  • Egyptian Goose
  • Gadwall
  • Great Tit
  • Kestrel
  • Lapwing
  • Little Ringed Plover
  • Mallard
  • Moorhen
  • Mute Swan
  • Oystercatcher
  • Pike
  • Robin
  • Sedge Warbler
  • Shoveler
  • Tufted Duck