Cresting

Because it was a nice(ish) day today, and it felt as though I'd been stuck at home for ever, I went out and about in search of birds. 

I began the day at Brandon Marsh, which sadly more than lived up to its name: when the Wildlife Trust volunteer on reception told me that "all the interesting stuff is happening down in Central Marsh", he neglected to mention that you can't currently reach the hides there, because the six-hide walk that goes through the middle of Central Marsh is entirely submerged under flood water. This didn't stop me logging thirty two species around the areas I was able to visit, but none of the birds was close enough for decent photos, and if I'd known at the outset that only two of the hides on the reserve were accessible, and only one of these was actually worth visiting, I'd have moved on immediately and ended the day less tired than I am now.

To add insult to injury, the Brandon Marsh café is currently closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, which in itself is pretty much a sacking offence in my book. I hadn't been to Brandon in quite a while - checking my photos, it looks as though my last trip over there was nearly three years ago - and after today's experience I doubt I'll be returning any time soon.

I had better luck at Draycote Water, where my species count for the day was twenty nine, and I got a really good, long walk and a decent cup of coffee. There's still upgrading work going on to the reservoir siphoning system, and the circular walk hasn't yet reopened, so after I'd walked more than half the way round in search of Black-throated and Great Northern Divers I had to turn and retrace my steps to the visitor centre and car park - but after many months of this inconvenience Severn Trent has just announced that the full walk will reopen on the 29th of this month, which is very good news. Also, right at the end of my walk I noticed a reed bed with what looked like a viewing blind quite close to the car park, but by then it was too late for me to do any extra exploring, so on my next visit I'll start by checking that out.

I'm posting two photos tonight of the same male Great Crested Grebe, resplendent in his breeding tippet. He was one of several Grebes of both sexes that were busily fishing all the way along Farborough and Toft Banks - though I didn't see them catch very much prey. There were some redhead Goosanders there too, but they weren't as spiffily photogenic as the Grebes. R prefers my second image - and he's probably right that it's a better photo of the bird - but I like the swirl of water here, caused by a couple of waves colliding with each other and with the Grebe, and the play of light on the water and on the Grebe's head plumage.