RSPB Rainham Marshes: Snipe Taking Flight

Springier in large
Extra: Snipe in flight

Today was day 1 of my new job, and I had to head to head offices in Rainham for the HR part of my induction... My appointments were all in the afternoon, so I set off from home mid-morning, and went via RSPB Rainham Marshes.
It was chilly when I set out, but the sun was shining and it looked very spring-like, and it even felt rather warmer by the time that I was exploring the marshes. I saw lapwings, lots of wigeons, some little grebes, and a pair of great crested grebes doing their courtship dance. The chirrups of the wigeons and lapwings were wonderful, and I had a pretty jolly time.
A magpie fetching nesting materials scared a snipe off a distant edge, and it landed quite close to my position, so I waited a while and got to see it poking around for quite a long time before it eventually took off and flew away. Closest and clearest I've ever seen one!

Job started well too! Some of the more administrative induction tasks are ticked off, I met some friendly folk, and I learned a little more about the projects and strategies that we'll be developing over the coming months.

Others here (or right from Lapwing wings)