A BITTERN OF A TWITCH

Today there were two rare birds reported, neither of which we had seen before. One was 39 miles north and the other 40 miles south. We chose the northerly Broad-billed Sandpiper at Nosterfield and though distant and small, we did get to see it.

But I could tell what was going to happen if we did not see the southerly bird today. We would be off birding again tomorrow and I would never get my blips on. G needed no persuasion and we turned south.

A plodding struggle along a very muddy path round the reservoir and we arrived at the Little Bittern twitch. He was well worth the plod. What a gorgeous bird. We continued round the reservoir and took the easier path back to the car.

A good day out, and 2 life ticks.

My photos of both birds are desperately poor, so here is a snail in the boat house letter box instead.