North Duffield Carrs

 My view from the Garganey hide about 11am this morning.

 A few minutes later!  A day of rain showers and sun showers.

Still a few Whooper swans in the valley.

The white dots are Whooper swans in the field to the left of the hide, I took this photo from the footpath on the way to the hide. If you stop too long the swans fly away. However several came near to the hide.

Lots of birds sheltering from the wind, including this lapwing.

Shelduck, teal, mallard, wigeon, pintail,tufted duck, shoveler and gadwall were all present, but a peregrine had chased them into the far corner of the reserve. I guess it was more sheltered there as most of them did not move.

I saw 1 Black-tailed godwit, several curlews and some redshank in the distance. A pair of mute swans were getting acquainted.

A Cormorant was resting on top of the bund and this "Granada goose" appeared.

During one of the spells of sunshine I walked to the Geoff Smith hide. I did not hear or see any small birds on the way, which is quite unusual.

Now that the water level has dropped the area of the scrape is more defined. Another pair of Mute swans are building a nest on the island, Canada geese look as if they too are nesting. It will be interesting to see if the Mute swans allows them to stay.

A Marsh harrier was hunting along the river bank.

Suddenly a Red kite appeared.

It had caught something with a long tail!

Mr. Gadwall was hiding in the vegetation.

A pleasant 4 hours with a day list of 36 birds.