Bitterns, owls and harriers

A fantastic day out yesterday on the wonderful Somerset Levels (even if it was very overcast and a bit on the cool side).  The haul was as follows:

• Bittern (x2)
• Marsh harrier
• Short-eared owl
• Peregrine falcon
• Water rail
• Pair of goosanders
• Great White egret
• Teal, wigeon, pintail, gadwall, G-C Grebe, lapwing, little egrets
• Lots of small birds.

The light was poor and the birds were usually too far away for photos, but I recorded them anyway.  The bittern and short-eared owl flew right over head, but I only had my camera ready for the former.

I decided to make a long awaited return visit to Westhay.   This is now one of the quieter reserves in the area, and I hoped that I might just see an otter.  This was not to be, but the species count was exciting anyway.

The day started off with a plopping sound in a rhyne as some frogs hid in the water.  The spawn giving away their location:

Frog spawn

Male goosander

Gadwall

Bittern

Bird sculpture

Marsh harrier and scared ducks

Short-eared owl

The day was characterised by a lot of patient waiting.  Some friendly fellow birders and I waited for the owl to reappear - it didn't.

Lemsford Springs, Hertfordshire

THIS extended weekend saw a visit to the Cotswolds, then on to my ancestral home to see the folks and celebrate mutual birthdays.  This provided an opportunity to make a return visit to the small, but perfectly formed, Lemsford Springs nature reserve which is run by the Herts & Mid'sex Wildife Trust.

The reserve is the site of an old Watercress bed and the water rarely, if ever, freezes as it is spring fed.  This makes the site very rich in shrimps, which in turn feeds the locals (birds).  The highlights were snipe, teal, green sandpiper, little egrets, grey wagtail and lots of small woodland birds.  Unfortunately we just missed out on the Jack Snipe and did not see a water-rail or kingfisher this time.

I had my camera with me as usual (at least on our second visit of the weekend), but was struggling to get good images of the distant birds.  Another birder sitting nearby very generously let me try out his lens on my camera...and what a difference it made.  However  I suspect the lens and extenders probably were more expensive than my car.  The green sandpiper images were taken with his lens:

Lacock - snowdrops and aconites

WE popped into Lacock on Sunday to potter around and admire the village.  Now that we are National Trust members, we were happy to go into the Abbey, its grounds and the cloisters (those of Harry Potter fame), as we did not have to pay the rather high entrance fee.

The snowdrops were out in profusion and for once really had snow around them.  The golden yellow flowers of the aconites were a rare splash of colour for this time of year.  I always consider these two flowers to be the heralds of spring - even if that feels rather optimistic just now...

 

On the return trip back home we were treated by this breath taking sunset.