High Fliers and an Egret

I’m starting to think making plans for my walks is as pointless as brewing tea in a chocolate teapot, I have seen loads of spiders sitting pretty on their webs of late so I though a walk around the patch to attempt to photograph them and maybe get a nice photo of a Robin was in order, the sun was shining, what could go wrong?

Well as always it didn’t work out, I couldn’t find a single spider, and none of the Robins were playing ball however the day was not a loss in fact it was a really great day, the migration over the patch seemed to be in full flow. Firstly you know it is a good day when the first bird you see is a Sparrowhawk hunting above the lake. This was swiftly followed by not one but two Great Spotted Woodpeckers flying over (I saw 4 in total today).

Although the birds were good I must say most were heard only, I had fly over Skylark (too many to count), Redwing, Linnet, Redpoll, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Chaffinch (and another unidentified finch, like a loud Redpoll?), Cormorant (13 in total?), Grey Wagtail (saw 3 more as well), 8 Eurasian Jay but best of all 2 Snipe (these being patch ticks for me) and a Meadow Pipit (also a patch tick). I imagine anyone on a decent migration path (at height) would have had a wonderful passage today.

Grey Wagtail in bushes (not a place you see them often)

Little Egret

It was a very pleasant walk made better by some superb views of Little egret (see first pic and the one that follows this). As well as fleeting glimpses of Kingfisher (which I would have photographed had I not seen it as it flew from the perch I was stood near waiting one to arrive!), and Common Buzzard.

Little Egret in a tree (flushed by a dog walker from the river).

Other than the birds there wasn’t huge amounts out. 1 Migrant Hawker; a Common Darter; 1 Peacock; and a very un-seasonable Small Copper (none of which posed for me). There were the odd fly and wasp still about but not in vast numbers (I do miss summer). All in all though a nice walk with some quality birds.