Sometime Soon My Picture Upload Will Work Properly

More good weather this weekend despite the BBC telling me it wasn't going to be. Hadn't looked at the forecasts since Thursday so when I arrived at Big Waters early morning the sweat was already rolling down me from the clothes and amount of gear I was carrying. Never mind there is always plenty of room to put your stuff down there along with hangers. When we arrived the first thing that was shoved in front of our faces was a camera showing a Water Rail along with a comment about it was here until it heard you walking along the boardwalk (some mention was made of my delicate tones). Actually I felt guilty and saw his point for about 30 secs then we started taking the mickey out of each other again. It was a beautiful morning and I wonder how he got the pic of the Water Rail as this was taken about 5 mins after we arrived.

At least 2 Greater Spotted Woodpeckers put in an appearance during the morning and instead of heading straight for the Peanut Feeders they both did a bit of posing first.

After checking the Great Crested Grebes a few times at last the 2 Adults and 2 Juveniles were all in view and just then another 2 Juveniles (although much more advanced than the resident 2) circled the lake and landed. They never got close to each other but no animosity was shown at all and they were still there when I left (fingers crossed)..  

Still quite a few Willow Warblers around despite the SparrowHawk trying at least twice to reduce the number. The Sparrowhawk always seems to come in the same way heading directly for the area where the Warblers and Chiff Chaffs congregate but havent seen them get one yet.

Thanks to Alan's contribution a few years ago of a designer drinking receptacle (dustbin lid) and John D occassionally washing it out several species now use it. The picture shows a Greenfinch and a couple of Tree Sparrows (for those that don't recognise the species) having a drink/splash around.

As we left the hide just after midday with the sun shining unfamiliarly (is there such a word and cant be arsed to spellcheck it) a lovely Peacock Butterfly and a Common Darter were tanning themselves on the handrails.

Finally can someone tell me what this tree/bush is. The thought was a species of Hawthorn as there is hawthorn either side and the leaves are quite similar if a bit darker but this one has never flowered/bloomed/berried or are the little growths on it as good as it gets. If Phil reads this I was gonna send you an email as I suspect that you will know what it is but couldn't find your email. Or is there an Ornithilogical Consultant and Naturalist out there who might know ???????

As some of my many fans will notice I have changed the Blog Format yet again, this is to accommodate the problems of uploading photos as I get "Server Rejected" so many times I have lost count and have to change settings continously.