Ian rang and told me that he was going to go to NDC. I had to wait in for a parcel before I could join him. Luckily the parcel was delivered at the beginning of my time slot so I was able to be at NDC by 1030.
A couple of pictures to show the water level, and the fact that there was the odd spell of sunshine.
Water was still pouring in from the river.
Ian was sitting in the Geoff Smith hide when I arrived and after a short while we both walked down to Garganey hide. Plenty of water but not many birds. Most of the waterfowl were on Bubwith Ings.
Ian had been watching a ring tailed hen harrier and it soon appeared in view. We were able to watch the bird hunting for several minutes before it disappeared. After a few minutes it re-appeared, and this was the pattern for the rest of our stay.
We watched it catch a small item of prey, possibly a vole. The harrier was then attacked by at least two crows. During the chase the birds came close to the hide. I managed to get a few pictures, not brilliant ones due to the light.
At least 3 buzzards were in the area including a very light coloured one.
We saw at least 5 different marsh harriers, 4 of which we thought might be a family group. Red kites were circling in the distance and a sparrow hawk flew over putting the lapwings to flight. A kestrel was hovering over the end of the scrape, so it was nice to see 6 different birds of prey. There were at least 2 pairs of stonechats plus lots of fieldfares. A small flock of golden plover flew over bid did not land.
There were lots of starlings with the lapwings during the day and we wondered if there might be a murmuration, but just before we left we noticed that most of the starlings had gone.
A pleasant day with a good bird list and excellent company.
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