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Kingfisher |
This morning was a rather wet one. I was walking around the woods when it suddenly lashed down a downpour. I was slightly soaked in minutes as I made my retreat to the Reception Hide. I soon dried up under the hide's heater as I watched the wildfowl on the broad. A kingfisher made a brief visit in front of the hide and an otter showed up, but was a bit stealthy for me and my camera. It appeared along the reed bed edge at the near left channel of the broad, then I lost track of it as I reached for my camera. By the time I located the otter again, it was heading down the far left channel and disappeared.
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Gadwall |
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Greylags |
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Coot |
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Pointing out wildlife on a guided walk |
Today, I was asked to help out with a guided walk. It appears I was the popular choice as wildlife expert for this walk, so of course I helped out. The rain eased off to begin with as we made our way into the woods and as a precaution, I kept my camera hidden to keep it dry and so I didn't use it much during our walk. I showed them the snowdrops and the fungi that I knew as well as pointing out the bird sounds we could hear. There weren't as many species calling as I had expected, but the group enjoyed hearing birds such as song thrushes, dunnocks, robins and long-tailed tits.
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Snowdrops |
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Blackthorn blossom |
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Hazel catkins |
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Stonechat |
But then, as we left the woods and were walking along the river, the rain drizzled heavily for a few minutes before easing off to a near halt. We were a bit wet, but at least we had some great wildlife to look at. The meadows adjacent to the pump house provided us with views of stonechats, a brown hare bounding to cover, two Chinese water deer, two grey herons, a meadow pipit flying past and two mute swans. I was more pleased in seeing the hare, but everyone else seemed to be more at awe with the stonechats.
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Snipe |
At Fen Hide, I showed them a couple of marsh harriers, another Chinese water deer, a water rail and a snipe. They were very impressed with my spotting skills with the snipe as it was well hidden in an area of reed stubble. No one even knew it was there, even a pair of my regulars who were in the hide before we invaded did not see it before I pointed it out. The snipe was no surprise to me, though, as there's usually one hiding in the stubble, it is just a case of knowing what your looking for. The thing about snipe is that their movements while feeding always gives them away.
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Pochard |
We returned back at Reception Hide to end the walk. While some members of the group disbanded, others stayed on with me in the hide, hoping that a kingfisher would arrive. Sadly, the kingfishers did not show up for them in the end, but they weren't disappointed. They praised me for giving them a great experience and for teaching them all I know about the wildlife we saw. The weather may have been rubbish, but at least it has been a great outing at Strumpshaw for them.
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Marsh Harrier |
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