It was a glorious day at Oare, although the temperature did drastically drop when the clouds were over so it was on and off with the jumper all day. We usually find Oare pretty good for waders but there weren't that many around, just Avocet, Oystercatcher, a few Redshank and plenty of Black-tailed Godwit.
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| Snoozing Oystercatcher and Black-tailed Godwit |
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| Oystercatcher yapping at each other |
We go to Oare hoping to see Turtle Dove as it has proven a good place for them in the past. This does unfortunately mean stopping the car for every semi-obscured/fluffed up/odd looking Collared Dove on the road up to the reserve. Sigh. Luckily, two other birders had spotted one just before the car park and here is the lovely birdie.
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| Turtle Dove |
We also saw a lovely little Yellow Wagtail sitting happily on a wire and this Swallow landed right above us.
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| Swallow |
I was amazed at the number of Little Egret around and also delighted by the lady who came up to us with an extremely old book which she had identified the Little Egret from. The map in the book didn't have the UK included so she was very happy when we said the bird was definitely what she has thought! There were a few Swift, a couple of Hobby and also a Kestrel.
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| Little Egret |
Other notable birds were a few cygnets (or swanlets as I like to call them), gorgeous Marsh Harrier, Linnet and a well showing Sedge Warbler. I say well showing, upon investigation, all my photos are out of focus. Ha! The Bearded Tit were on fine form with at least 3 showing and a lone Teal and a lone Shoveler were on the pools. The main excitement of the day however was a lifer for us, and one which Stuart chose to not believe when I IDed it! I spotted a tern from the hide that looked a lot smaller than a Common and just didn't feel right and so I thought it must be a Little Tern. A lovely gentleman confirmed the ID later, so thank you for that! We also had a year lister in the form of Mediterranean Gull, also spotted by the aforementioned gentleman so extra thanks!
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| Cantharis Rustica |
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| Cygnets/swanlets |
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| An amusing looking goose |
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| Oldest flying Tiger Moth in the UK! |
Trip list: 50
Year list: 164
Lifers of year list: 19
