Reed Pheasants

We arrived in glorious sunshine and no wind.  The local man in his little buggy drove down the main path blowing his horn, so we had relatively few birds at the start.  There were Teal, and 3 Snipe flew up as we approached the hide.  From the hide there was a single Avocet, and a lone Spotted Redshank, plenty of Lapwings, a few Black-tailed Godwits, further off were Shelduck, Shoveler, more Teal and a few Curlews.  Later, a group of Golden Plovers flew in to join the distant Lapwing.  Skeins of Pink-footed Geese could be seen heading over distant hills, and also manoeuvring along the Humber.  We kept a good look out for 30 minutes, and then decided to make a try for the distant new stilted hide.  

Male Bearded Tit

 Reed Pheasants

 ditto

 Lapwing & Teal

 Ruff & Lapwing

 Redshank

We hadn't been long on the way before we heard the distant 'ping-ping' of Bearded Tits.  Suddenly a group of birds flew vertically above the reeds, and then flew along the reed heads towards us.  Luckily, they perched near the top of the reeds, so we managed to see the individuals well before they move on again.  Overall there were a dozen birds in this group, but we went on to see more parties of either a couple of birds or 3.  We also heard others in the reeds which we never saw.  

Not long after leaving the first party of Beardies, Pam saw a bird of prey, which turned out to be an unexpected Red Kite.  We saw a Green Sandpiper a couple of times, but didn't manage to obtain decent views.  During the walk we saw hundreds of Golden Plovers twisting and turning in the air, but apart from a Sparrowhawk at one time there didn't seem to be a reason for their discomfiture.

Very Recent Otter Prints

 Golden Plovers

 Kestrel

 ditto

 Elder Bush covered in Gossamer Threads

 Pam's Sparrowhawk & Crow Encounter

Pam pointed out a crow and a bird of prey, which turned out to be another Sparrowhawk, and then it's partner also turned up on the scene.  Meanwhile, a pair of Greenfinches, were lit up by the sun in the dead trees, which held the Peregrine last week. There were 2 old blokes with telescopes at the best side of the stilted hide, so we didn't see an awful lot from there.  On the way back we saw the same as we had going - only the Little Egrets really let us down.