Yes although I've never visited
Godie, I'm familiar with Martin Mere. All the WWT reserves are worth visiting if you happen to be near them since they all attract their own specialties
Thanks
Wurzel and
Neil, I thought I'd make 'Boomer' easy
to spot by making sure it was in the center of the image. I can't take credit for finding him though Neil, the hide was already being camped out by the twitchers who had discovered him earlier that day, and were most likely still there watching his every twitch at closing time
!
Anyway, bit of catching up,
4th February, Essex again
On Sunday I went back to Two Tree Island, this time in the company of my Padawan. It was bitterly cold again, but enough blue sky helped make the day worthwhile. High tide was 3pm so getting there around 11.30 gave us amply time to wander around and wait for the birds to be chased in by the rising water. The birdlife on display was as expected much the same as previous visits but still plenty to point a camera at.
- Wigeon (and the odd Teal)
- Several flocks of Lapwing flew over
- Teal
The tide starts to push the birds closer
- A mixture of waders, Curlew, Dunlin, Turnstone, Sanderling, Knot, Grey Plover
- Brent Geese
- Lapwing, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Shelduck, Avocet, Oystercatcher
- Mostly Dunlin came into the Lagoon today
- A trio of Black-tailed Godwit having a skirmish whilst a fourth tries to stay out of trouble.
5th February, Walthamstow
On Monday I had a half day and not wanting to waste a pleasant afternoon I spent a few hours birding on my local patch.
The Blackthorn here always flowers exceptionally early, nevertheless it is a sign spring is just around the corner.
In the middle of the Marshes is a riding school and the paddocks provide rich pickings for any birder all year round, I regularly see Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail during passage and it’s the only place I know locally where Linnets are resident. During the winter, Meadow Pipits, Pied/White Wagtails and the winter Thrushes always set up camp here and it was the latter that kept my attention today. In fact, the paddocks were teaming with Thrushes, all five species were clearly visible through my bins, not quite so through my camera (one day I may invest in a lens more suitable to this kind of photography
).
- Pied/White Wagtail
- Redwing
The Mistle Thrushes did let me down slightly by not allowing me to get all five in one picture.
One did make up for it though by coming nice and close though, deciding that the fence was plenty protection from me.
On the way home a Goldcrest attracted my attention and I managed to grab a few shot as it darted from twig to twig in search of morsels of food.
The Marshes back onto a water treatment works, the reservoirs of which attract large numbers of water birds. One of the reservoirs has two Island on which a large Cormorant colony breed and as can be seen, they’re already staking out nests for the coming months.
6th February, Bookham
Long overdue a wander round here so it was an early start to catch the best of the days weather, and almost immediately I was finding things to capture, a Pheasant surveying his kingdom
And a couple of Goldfinch dropping down in front of me to snatch a quick drink.
As one would expect, Brown Hairstreak eggs numbers are diminishing but there’s still enough around to find without too much effort.
I disturbed a Collared Dove having a sip from one of the many streams that flow here at this time of year, who was quickly joined by it’s mate in the tree.
In the wood catkins drip from every Hazel tree and closer inspection reveals the tiny spiky crimson female flowers, amazing to think this will be a Hazelnut in 6 months’ time.
- the 'male' Hazel catkins
- female Hazel flower
The Red Admiral eggs I'm keeping an eye on were all still eggs, one of which is now at least 59 days old. The colour does seem to be changing though, a slight pale olive tinge perhaps showing some form of development.
For lunch today I settled down in a hide that overlooks one of the small lakes/big ponds which were a hive of activity. Mostly Gadwall with some Mallard, a single Shoveler, some Swans and couple of Dabchick (little Grebe if you’re not old enough to remember the superior common name for the species) all being watched over by a Jackdaw.
Moving on I found my three Purple Hairstreak eggs were all still in place and a walk round Banks Common found both Brown Hairstreak eggs I witnessed being laid last year are still intact.
Before leaving I wanted to check out a path I’d only been down once before, at the end of last year, which I’d penciled in to exploring further, since it seemed like a good new place for Brown Hairstreaks. Now that the leaves had fallen the eggs started popping out all over the place, half a dozen in 5 minutes and double figures without much effort.
Interestingly the hedgerow also has several medium sized Elm suckers which were also searched avidly. WLH eggs however proved more illusive but that doesn’t mean they aren’t present, and a visit during June this year is definitely on the cards.
All this searching in the bushes didn’t go unnoticed, I was being watched from the neighbouring field
and a Long-tailed Tit boldly dropped in and foraged within touching distance, only scared of by the sound of my shutter for this picture.
They all seemed quite bold today, here’s another one probably fattening up of Purple Hairstreak eggs amongst other things.
A good run of days, just hope this is the last cold spell of the winter and I can get out looking for butterflies soon, we're all gonna get told off by King Pete soon if we keep putting up bird pics
I reckon your waders in the distance are Dunlin as they seem so much smaller than the Oystercatcher and darker than Knot, there could be some Sandering in there as well but they usually come across as a blur as they race in and out with the tide 
I enjoyed playing 'Where's Boomer?' 
Spying a Bittern in the reeds is a bit like those 3D pictures, you stare at it for long enough and suddenly the bird appears 
I reckon your gull is either a 3rd winter Less-black Back or a 3rd winter Herring Gull. Ring-bills are only slightly bigger than Common Gulls but noticeably smaller than Herring Gulls, plus a lot of different species have rings and dark blobs at the end of their bills during the winter and the bill looks really heavy and substantial - Common and Ring-billed are more pointy and stabby 
