A Quick Trip to Brandon Marsh.

When I heard the weatherman say that the weather would go even further down the pan by lunchtime I decided on a visit to Brandon Marsh for a quick walkround planning to escape before the snow arrived.

Met Mike Whelan on the main path and I joined him as he was keen to see the Bittern for the first time at Brandon.When we entered the East Marsh hide there was only one birder there and he had not seen it yet but right in front of the hide a female Goosander showed itself before flying off.

It was bitterly cold in the hide,a bit gloomy outside and smoke from a fire across the pond was drifting over but very soon a Bittern flew in from the back and quickly showed itself in the channel for a few minutes before going into the reeds. Soon I was left on my own and the Bittern showed well again a couple of times both times for at least 15 minutes but each time it let me down and did not catch a fish.

I had to leave the hide even though the Bittern was still in the channel because the damn cold had penetrated my thermals and that believe me you do not want that to happen.Just as I got to the car the snow started.

Click on the pics for a larger version.