A decent morning at Brandon Marsh.

Before I get onto this morning trip to Brandon Marsh I would like to post a shot of a Jay that visited my neighbour's garden yesterday.Not a great shot but it's the first I've seen in my garden and as such I was pleased to get this shot.

I got to Brandon Marsh this morning at just after 10.00AM to find it cloudy but quite warm and not windy.A visit to the Steetly hide was a waste of time as it was very quiet there so I was not too confident as I set down in the Baldwin hide half an hour later but as it turned out it was pretty good in there.

A flock of at least 40 Golden Plovers turned up and whizzed around for a minute or two but didn't land but I did get a rather gloomy shot of them.

Best of all the female Smew which we had been told had settled down on the River Pool suddenly appeared fairly close to the hide.

Even better she paid a short visit to the little island near the hide.

A little later as I was walking to the EM hide I was turned green with jealousy when Keith Yates and Martin Durkin showed me their shots of a lone Waxwing that they had just got along the path to the Carlton hide.I of course didn't see any sign of it when I went down there.

If that was bad news I received what can only be described as devastating news when I started to chat to the very pretty waitress in the cafe.When she let it slip she might leave I burst into tears and dropped onto my knees pleading with her to stay.This of course had no effect.It will not be the same having a cuppa in the cafe!!!!!