Duck on the Menu at the WWT Cafe - 16th April

A nice surprise at the WWT Cafe in Barnes - after arriving I queued for a much needed coffee.  Something behind the counter looking familiar.  Being pre-coffee it took a while before I realised the WWT had very kindly taken my recent winning Shoveler photo and created a canvas for the new enlarged Cafe.  It is currently hung where the menu used to be!  Thanks very much WWT!

Out on the reserve, a beautiful warm day meant Spring was well and truly in full flow.  Several Reed Warblers had clearly arrived during the week, and were singing all over the site.

A lone Green Sandpiper was present:

A single Little-ringed Plover and a few Redshank were the only other waders seen:

The resident Lapwings were defending their territories from the usual numerous Crows, allowing some nice flight shots to be captured:

Other signs of Summer, apart from the weather, were a good number of Sand Martins and even a few early Mallard and Coot chicks (more of which later):

On the way out a nice Mistle Thrush indicated a nearby nest and posed well as it collected food around the entrance area: