It's stopped raining.

After raining for the best part of two days it finally stopped at lunchtime today so I went across to Marsh Lane just to get out in the open air if nothing else.

Saw the Water Rail on the causeway again but it was so close and so quick I failed to get a shot off before it dived into the reeds.

As I couldn't see anything special from the hides and having recently been upgraded by the BIF committee from level 9 (dreadful) to level 8 (poor) I thought I'd practice some "birds in flight shots" and try for another upgrade soon.

Some of shots taken above which can be clicked to get a larger version.

Marsh Lane visit.

Surprise surprise Sunday morning was dry and the sun was out so I popped across to Marsh Lane to see if anything was about to point the camera at.

Luckily a friend was already there and he was photographing butterflies on the banks round the car park.Normally I wouldn't bother taking shots of butterflies but he is a bit of an expert and he made it very interesting and pointed out some great looking ones.There were loads of them about including at least 40 Painted Ladies and some Common Blues.I must get into butterflies!!!!!

A quick walk around showed both the main pools had masses of birds on them but nothing of note that I could see.No waders were seen.

The best place was the causeway where the Linnet family showed well,several Reed Warblers were about and a lone Goldcrest that landed close to me but soon shot off.Best spot was a quick view of a Water Rail with two very young chicks (another brood???) from the northern causeway screen annoyingly too close for my lens.God knows how many Water Rails are on the reserve now as to my knowledge two pairs have had 8 chicks.

Some butterfly shots above.

Blimey it's not raining.

I was surprised to find on Friday morning it was not raining and the sun was shining so I raced over to Brandon Marsh to see if anything was about for me to point the camera at.

As expected it was very quiet.The walk round past the wind pump and by the golf course produced more aeroplanes than birds my only spot being a Willow Warbler.It took me nearly two hours before I met up with another birder and he was so depressed with the lack of birds I could see tears in his eyes.

The water was high everwhere so little was on show from the hides but at least the Carlton Hide was a little better with the photogenic juvenile Little Grebe and a Green Sandpiper showing well but there were no KF's and no Hobbies.

Poor day for taking pics.I even started to take shots of dragonflies.

A quick visit to Marsh Lane.

The weatherman told me that the weather would be OK after lunch so I thought I'd make a quick visit to Marsh Lane.Of course when I drove into the carpark the skies opened up and I was trapped in the car until the shower from hell finished.

Very little about of interest other than the family of Linnets on the causeway,a Kingfisher fly-by also from the causeway,4 Common Buzzards over the carpark and a couple of Kestrels near the Oak hide.

Decent weather for a change.

The forecast was good for a change so I thought I'd better go out birding but where to go?Decided on Brandon Marsh again not because I expected to see much there but because I knew some of my birding mates would be there.

As expected there was not much about to point the camera at but I soon met up with Jeff,George and Kath and the chat made up for the lack of birds.

Things did look up as a long stay in the Carlton hide was rewarded with the fine looking juvenile Little Grebe performing again near the hide,a short visit by a Kingfisher which,although it didn't come close,was nice to see as it was the first one I'd seen perching this year.It was also nice to see a few waders (several Redshanks and a Green Sandpiper) on the pool which was no doubt due to the water level being lower.

A few pics attached including a couple of nearly decent flying KF shot.

A couple of local trips.

On Wednesday, having been told by the weatherman that the strong wind would abate,I popped across to Marsh Lane only to be greeted with a gale that blew my hat off in the carpark as soon as I got out the car.

The bad news continued with very little around of note and I missed the Yellow Wagtail on the car park pool.The only things that cheered me up a little were a family of Linnets on the causeway,a lone Tree Sparrow on the feeders and a Kestrel trying to hover in the strong wind and failing.

Thinking the weather was going to be better on Thursday morning (What a fool) I headed off to Brandon Marsh.A long walk round produced very little to point the camera at even the Hobbies didn't make a visit.The gloom was lifted for a while when a snake (Grass ?) swam across the Carlton pool and excited a pair of Moorhens.

Oh Dear not good on birding front!!!!! Some pics attached but I had to scrape the barrel to find something to post.

Brandon Marsh visit.

In the last week or so I've been to Marsh Lane and Brandon Marsh and found nothing to take a shot of at all so I was not confident I would not do any better when I arrived at Brandon Monday morning.

My misgivings were proving to be correct because I saw hardly any birds at all in a 2 hour walk round the reserve.It was very quiet!!!!!

It wasn't till I got to the Carlton hide and spotted a Hobby sitting in the tree to the right of the hide that I saw something any good.The light was all wrong of course and it soon flew off but I was very pleased to see it.I did notice it had a broken feather hanging down from it's wing.

Funnily enough when I got to the Teal Pool hide another Hobby (a juvenile apparantly) was sitting in the tree to the left of the hide.Annoyingly you would have needed a 800 lens with a 2X converter on to get a decent shot but through a scope it was a fabulous looking bird.

A few pics above which you can click to get a larger version.