Avian Delights

If you've got the choice of doing the ironing or this.....which would you choose?

I'm afraid the domestic trivia got postponed until the evening in favour of a visit to the local nature reserve whilst the weather was so glorious.  It would seem that Lady Luck wasn't on our side though as we managed to miss the kingfishers darting around by a matter of minutes each time we moved on from one hide to the next. I'm sure they were just beyond our eyeline chuckling away. Thankfully, the heron played ball and as if on cue, appeared on the far side of the millpond .

As we left to continue our walk we felt though that our fortune had changed for who should be nosing about in the reeds just a few feet away from us on the path.....

We always wind up at the woodland hide at the end of the visits. It's probably my personal favourite....obviously nothing to do with the fact that I stand more of a chance of correctly identifying the different avian species then! The exotically coloured plumage of the Woodies and the Goldfinches always seem at odds with the majority of our subtler shaded birds in the UK somehow...not that I'm complaining.

Fired up with enthusiasm when I got back to GBT I went and filled our feeders. We've not had any cover in our garden since last year when we had to remove our diseased buddleia so the bird visitors have been few and far between. Thankfully the cutting Mr GBT struck has taken and we now have a big and healthy bush for the little garden birds to shelter in....it was with much joy and excitement that I saw my first ever flock of Gold Finches and a Coal Tit at the feeding station on Monday morning! Much as I enjoyed the reserve this experience on home turf knocked it into a cocked hat!

Arilx