-Woodpigeon
We past Welney on the way to the caravan site but going to it now it seemed like quite a way double backing on ourselves. When we got there, we learnt that there had been a pair of red-necked phalaropes the night before and that the bluethroat had not been seen all week. Never-the-less I was optimistic, I often am, and set off in high spirits whilst my family had a cuppa. I only went to the first hide for a few minuets because I wanted to get on and try and see a bluethroat. However, in those first few minuets I spotted a whooper swan, which is a bit unusual for this time of year.
-Whooper swan
At the second hide I learnt from the other birders that the bluethroat had not been seen or heard this morning so I decided to stick around in that hide for a bit, after all, the guy said that there was a male gargany hiding in the reeds, which would also be a first for me. Before that though I heard one of my favourite noises, and a noise that at the time I had still yet to hear-a snipe drumming. It was great to finally hear this weird noise and then the gargany came out of the reeds giving us decent views through the bin's but way out of range for the camera, so no pictures at this visit. Also to add to the atmosphere, there was a sedge warbler going absolutely berserk just outside the hide. It just would not stop singing.
I decided to move on to the next hide to see if I could get any better pictures of the gargany from a different point. The next hide sticks out into the marsh so you are walking between two banks. Then I heard the snipe drumming again and looked up to find that it was directly above me, in the perfect position to take some photos of it, its a pitty that you can't record sounds through the photo but even so...
-Common snipe
When i eventually made it to the hide after about 15mins of snipe watching I was gutted to find out that you couldn't even see the gargany pool from it. There were a few other things around. For example, when I turned around I found that there was a pied wagtail inside the hide, with a mouthful of food. Its Ironic that our structures designed to hide ourselves from the birds are so good that the birds actually nest in them!!
-pied wagtail
And on the underside of one of the Beams one of the other birders spotted a small magpie moth roosting for the day.
-Small magpie moth
Looking over the other pond, there was a rather obliging reed bunting sitting and singing from and emergent reed. If I had a better lens The photo would be better because i could bring the bird closer, but sadly that is not the reality.
-reed bunting
Outside the hide on the handrail there were some swallows. They were just sat there and they were quite close too. So I decided to take some photos, as you would probably have guessed.
-Swallows
At the final hide, where I went next, I was delighted to see some avocets. This is where i saw my first avocets almost 8 years ago. There were not that many there today, but there were some adorable chicks, even at this young age using their beaks to filter the water for meals.
-Baby avocet
Luckily there were some adults there too, and they made their presence felt when a coot strayed too close to a chick. Luckily that brought the adult closer to the hide and sort off in range of my camera.
-Avocet
As I made my way back to the gargany hide for a better look I encountered the sedge warbler on the tree next to it. It was still going crazy and it still didn't stop even when I stood about 2m away from it.
-sedge warbler
Back inside the gargany hide, the gargany had come round and into the pool in front of us, so I could get some record shots. its great that it was a male, otherwise I would have been unable to decipher between the handful of mallards that were loitering around the main pool. There was also a rather cute coot family being shuffled across the pond by the two adults. Sadly the coots had the wrong idea and attacked the gargany. I was afraid that it would fly away but luckily it landed again in the same pool. Please excuse the quality of the photos!
-Male Gargany
so there we are then, the first new bird of the holiday. Whilst I was watching this bird I got a text from my mum saying that there was a yellow wagtail in the main hide. This would also be a new bird for me, so I set off for a look. When I got there my mum said that it had left but that it would probably come back. So I watched the shellducks and their chicks and the black tailed godwits while I waited. And my mum and dad were right. the bird came back within 10mins of me appearing. I know the photos are shocking but that gives you an idea of how far away the bird was to me. However through the binoculars then you got really good views and you could watch it doing all the things you generally associate with wagtails.
-yellow wagtail
After about 10mins the bird disappeared and so I scanned around for a few minuets prior to its re-appearance. Whilst I waited I spotted a pair of somethings on the far bank. Binoculars showed the somethings to be little ringed plovers so I took a photo, which leaves a lot to be desired, and then watched them for a while.
-Little ringed plovers (find them if you can!)
As we were leaving I spotted a teal having a wash.
-Male teal having a wash
After that it was lunchtime, so that meant heading back to the car. By the time we re-entered the reserve the sky was seriously grey, and soon it began to drizzle. I headed off towards the final hide, but I was not really impressed with it, as it was really only overlooking an area of reed, or grass so there wasn't much happening really, except for the usual assortment of reed birds such as the reed warbler.
-reed warbler
On the way back to the path it started to rain, rather then drizzle! I also spotted a wren cowering from the rain in the undergrowth
-Wren
I made my way back to the gargany hide, as that was where I had seen most stuff over the course of the day. I made it there, just in time, as then it really started to rain. Inside I found my parents, and there was also a swallow nest inside the hide, so there you go-another bird using a hide for a nesting place.
As I watched the birds getting rained on, a group of about 5 sandpipers flew in, and through the binoculars appeared to be dunlins. I grabbed a photo, a record shot for the day, as some kind of proof, note also the black-headed gulls in the foreground, curiously the only gulls we saw all day!
-Dunlin (background) and black headed gull (foreground)
As the rain continued to pour, you could see all the birds in the reeds with their feathers ruffled. Because there was so little movement due to the rain, it was easy to pick out unusuals from the view, for example in the field to the left of the pool there was a pink-footed goose associating with the greylag geese. Don't even try to tell which one it is from the photos, its another poor shot on my behalf!!
-Pink-footed goose with greylags
My dad decided then that we were going. Even though it had not ceased to rain. Luckily it was not desperately far to the car, but even so, given the conditions any distance was too far. walking back my mum spotted this family of swans in the river, with three cygnets who were climbing on their mums (or dads) back!
-swan with cygnets
as we wandered back to the car my dad spotted a curiously familiar shaped bird heading towards us. Even though I had never seen one, you can easily identify it when you see it-a cuckoo was flying towards us. It flew straight over us, giving us decent views, but it then did a loop-de-loop around the trees and flew back over us. Its great when you see a new bird, especially one of sure calibre as the cuckoo. Its a pity that it didn't land and give us a really proper view but even so...
-Cuckoo
we arrived back at the car and after a few town stops we headed back to the caravan! incidentally, it didn't stop raining at all. I went to sleep and it was still raining, so at the time I was wondering if the weather of the holiday might follow suit. But even so, its been a good holiday so far...
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