2nd day of spring at Blacktoft

 

Marshland lagoon early on Saturday morning. When I got out of my car I could hear whooper swans, so walked down to Townend hide in the hope of seeing them. However as I was about 10 yards away from the hide the swans flew overhead in a southerly direction.

I just managed to get 1 shot of them, not a brilliant one but you can see the swan with a bend in its neck.

Spring was in the air. Little grebes were chasing each other about, ducks seemed to be in pairs

I assume that the wigeon will be heading East soon. There was a group of 10 pochard, and some of the males were showing an interest in the females.

The marsh harriers were very active

The weather forecast was for rain all day and soon the sunshine gave way to a heavy shower of rain, then a bit more sun before a long shower of hailstones. This resulted in lots of rainbows.

The sun was shining again as I checked the hides before I locked up. The island in front of Townend hide had 27 sleeping snipe on it.

Tree sparrows were occupying a nest box near reception.

The view from Singleton at the end of the day.

No sign of the 2 otters which were there earlier, or the bittern in flight. But a pleasant day with lots of visitors going home after witnessing some spectacular marsh harrier displays.