Grey Heron ( Ardea cinerea )

At least today was dry, so I headed back to the Stavely reserve.  Rather than revisit the part I had already seen I headed in the opposite direction towards another mere.  There I found a palatial pentangle shaped hide.  I thought to myself this is going to be crowded, I was mistaken I had the place to myself.  I chose a good viewpoint and amused myself by trying to get shots of bickering Black headed Gulls.

Eventually, I decided lunch was called for and went back to the car.  After lunch I had a while relaxing and reading before going out again.  This time I decided on the short route that I had used the other day, as I had to be back in Harrogate for 3:00 to pick up Clickychick.  As I wandered along the path between the reeds I noticed a part where the reeds looked grey rather than yellowish brown.  I stopped and looked more closely and it was a Heron.  I have never before noticed how camouflaged they can be.  It stayed still while I took shots and walked to another view point then eventually on my way.

A good day!

The species list included:

Heron,
Cormorant,
Black Headed Gull, 
Widgeon,
Shoveller,
Teal,
Mallard,
Gadwall,
Tufted Duck,
Goldeneye,
Hundreds of Lapwings,
Oystercatcher,
Mute swans and last years Cygnets,
Moorhen,
Coot
Greylag Goose,
Canada Goose,

 not to mention the woodland and other land birds seen on the walk through the woods to get to the hdes.