Small is good.

Being alot smaller then the black-headed gulls helped me identify this juvenille little gull. The size difference can be seen in the first photo.

Gorgeous Garganey.

Another tick for my year list today, was this gorgeous Drake Garganey that was at the Hythe lagoons. Every time he dipped his head to feed, i would move nearer hoping to get some better shoots.

Quick stint !!!

Arrived home from work to discover that a Temmick's stint had been reported by the local Essex birders group, and that it was at the Hythe Lagoons, Colchester. After an hour of searching i finally found this very small and well camouflaged wader. Due to the evening light fading fast and the distance that the bird was, these are my only record shots, that are any good. BUT hay still a great tick for the year.

Another nice meeting ?.

The Marsh Harrier was on the same bush again. Although i reckon he is here to upset the lapwing family that have breed on the field.

Catching the Mussel picker.

Present around Mersea island, which is famous for its oysters, but strangely enough the oyster is not part of Oyster catchers diet,the bright orange bill which is strong and works like pliers and prizes the mussels off the rocks and opens shells of cockles to remove the food without any trouble.

Meeting with a Marsh.

What a surprise i had when this male Marsh Harrier was perched up on a bush, as i walked round my local patch this evening.

Couldn't see the wood throw the trees.

Had a phone call from one of the local birders telling me that two Woodsandpipers had arrived on the local country park at East Mersea. But with the sun in the wrong position, and trying to find an ideal spot between the Hedgerow and trees to photography these waders was hard. Here are my efforts.

Discovering the Doves

One of the first birds that i learnt to identify the Turtle dove. It has no collar like its cousin the collard dove, but a finger print pattern on its neck instead. This pair were on one of my local haunts.