Needed some fresh air so gave Sedgy a ring and 15mins later we were off to Big Waters. Passed Mr Alan J in the village and waved, bumped into Ian D on the way in as he was leaving, they both must have had premonitions that we were coming and skedaddled. We dropped into the first hide for a looksee and there was nothing on the island, tree or the surrounding water as a fair bit of the pond was frozen. Plenty of stuff around the edges and in the reeds, including lots of Teal, Mallard, Tufted and a few Gadwall and Pochard. Mr Sedgy gave me a nudge and pointed North, WOW, a Little Egret flying E to W along the Reed Line and it eventually settled down to Preen and have a nod for a couple of hours. A couple of guys then joined us, they were not skilled mechanics as they spent the first 10minutes trying to get the shutters open (thank god Alan J wasn't there). We then headed up the main hide and the walk along the boardwalk was full of small birds enjoying the sunshine, just like us. We spent about an hour in the main hide, being joined by the 2 guys from the 1st hide and saw plenty of the usual stuff which in itself was just great including Shoveller, Goldeneye, Pochard, Willow Tit and the very hard to see Yellowhammer were on view. A Water Rail was heard a few times but only one brief view of it was seen. Thats enough typing so here are a few pics from the day.
The first 3 are of the Little Egret
This was the island when we arrived surrounded by ice
Half way through with the ice half melted although the flock of Canada Geese arriving helped break up the ice also
Finally a shot from the Boardwalk Viewpoint when we left
A couple of other birds that were around
Three Robins were seen together with a short display going on, not the normal squabbling
Finally a short video of some of my visitors to the garden who are devouring food as fast as I can put it out for them
No comments:
Post a Comment