For the first time I managed to photograph a Nightingale.
After the Nightingale had concluded its morning efforts I headed to Minsmere. Flooding made it impossible to walk around the reserves, and the wader scrape water level was incredibly high. The Marsh Harriers and occasional Bittern were performing well:
I was tempted out of the Bittern hide as a Wryneck had be relocated in the North bushes. It briefly flew very close before heading over to a rather distant sandy bank.
A walk to the beach produced several singing Whitethroats:
The flooded scrape was very different to its normal of birds at this time of year, with no terns or waders, and only a few Black-headed Gulls hanging on desperately to the few areas that remained above water.
At Hen Reedbed near Southwold only the Sedge Warblers were particularly active, singing within close proximity:
With rain coming down an interesting detour back to London through Suffolk to Great Livermore where a summer plumaged Long-billed Dowitcher had been present for a couple of days, although distance and rain made a decent shot of this bird impossible:
Interestingly, in an adjacent field on the way back to the car, I located two fabulous male Reeves's Pheasants feeding in a field.
A Brown Hare in a field made a brief appearance as it posed for a quick shot before going to ground:
Last stop was to find a Black-winged Stilt near Paxton Pits in Cambridgeshire. After a two mile walk, the bird was located eventually on flooded fields. Once again it proved to be a distant view of a wader, frustrating as this is one of the most spectacular looking rare waders to visit the UK. After a brief fly around one of the islands the Stilt went to sleep, and it was time to leave for London:
