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| Grey Heron |
It was a quiet yet windy morning at Strumpshaw. I had enough time for a quick visit to Fen Hide before I started my shift, spotting a sparrowhawk along the way, but there wasn't much about apart from a heron, some house martins and the odd mallard. As I left the heron behind to wade about in the water, I came across two small common lizards trying to warm themselves on the path's wooden border despite the wind and the lack of warm sunlight. Continuing my walk back to Reception Hide, I stopped to notice a Chinese water deer in the pond dipping pond. It saw me and we stood like statues, eyes staring at each other. But just as I pressed the button to get a photograph of it, the deer turned and ruined the shot.
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| Common Lizard |
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| Another Common Lizard |
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| Grey Heron at Reception Hide |
At Reception Hide, there was barely anyone making a visit, only a few people came to say hi. It was a bit quiet on the bird front too, with no harriers and only a single kingfisher fly-by. I did see a little egret, a little grebe, a great crested grebe, a common tern, a couple of herons (one was with us all morning), cormorants, a couple of mute swans, the odd coot and moorhen and lots of mallards and woodpigeons. By midday, the heavens opened and a heavy downpour made it a horrid end to a slow morning.
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| Male Mallard in eclipse phase plumage |
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| Male Mallard looking handsome again |
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| Female Mallard |
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| Taking a bath! |
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| Cormorant |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Little Egret |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Common Tern |
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