Last night we decided that we would get up early, well, early for a Saturday and go down to the nature reserve.

In the car park a lady was loading her two dogs into the back of her car. They were a pair of Dogue de Bordeaux or French Mastiffs. They were beautiful and very friendly and the lady was obviously very proud of them.

In the first hide on Lapwing Lake there were two guys already set up with enormous cameras and lenses. The lack of greeting and their body language when we rocked up suggested that they didn't want anyone else to be there. So we stayed for quite a long time. We witnessed another fine courtship display from the grebes.

We then moved on to the feeding station hide where we enjoyed our bacon butties and a flask of coffee. There was a lot of activity there.

Next we walked round to Birchwood Pool. It was quite quiet and the wind was beginning to pick up. Just before we left this tufted duck led the group of drakes on a few circuits of the pool.

As we were getting cold we decided to head for home. No sooner had we got into the car than a shower of hailstones started. Timing is everything.