A long stay in a hide at Brandon Marsh.

Whilst waiting for the bakers to open when doing an early morning shop in Knowle on Tuesday morning I had a quick look in the churchyard to see if anything was about.There was.My bogey bird a Goldcrest.Well two of them actually and they were feeding in a tree only 10 feet away and of course the camera was at home.When I came back 30 minutes later I couldn't find them but in fairness I didn't look for long as I was on route to Brandon Marsh.

Got to Brandon just after 10.00AM and after a short stay in the EM hide where a couple of Water Rails were seen flying across the gap in the reeds and the male Pintail was still about I went down to the Carlton hide.Because an Otter, a Barn Owl and a SE Owl had been seen and a Tawny Owl had been heard the day before by birders willing to stay till the evening I planned to have a long stay there.

Got there not long after 11.00AM and joined 4 friends who had already been there for a few hours.They told me 2 Bitterns were in the reeds at the back of the dead tree which was nice to hear.I then started for me, who cannot usually stay in a hide for no more than an hour, a marathon vigil which lasted to just after 5.00PM.The only break I had was a quick visit to the cafe for a cup of tea and a brief chat with the attractive waitress looked particularly stunning before I raced back to the hide hoping I hadn't missed anything.I hadn't.

So did I see loads of great birds that the marathon stay warranted ? No I'm afraid not and it was only the chat in the hide that made the stay worthwhile.The only bird that got the cameras whirring away was a Kestrel that made a few visits and that was it.Mind you I did leave too early for the Owls to show but I was fed up by now.No stamina!!!