Woke up to glorious sunshine and a sharp frost, so instead of heading in to the office, I picked up the camera and headed down the Nunnery Lakes reserve instead. Recently, a couple of Water Rails had been showing well along the river so over the weekend I had tried baiting the best areas, and in the process getting stunning views of these normally skulking birds. Typically, today when the light was superb and I had my camera with me I didn't even see a rail, let alone photograph one!! Oh well, something to keep trying for...
Even without the bonus of photographing the rails, it was still a glorious morning to be out with the camera slung over the shoulder. There were a few good birds around, the drake Goldeneye was on E lake and the female Scaup was still on D Lake along with a Shelduck and adult Herring Gull, all local scarcities, and a few of the commoner birds like Coot and Greylag Geese did show well for a few photos.
male Shelduck
Coot
Greylag coming in to land
Happy with my morning wander round, I was sat at my desk a couple of hours later when we received news that a Short-eared Owl had been found down the Lakes. Chairs were left spinning as me, Nick and Dawn rushed down to join John who had seen the bird. After a short search, the owl flew up and showed well being mobbed before drifting off, a most unexpected but very welcome bonus and a Lakes tick for all present.
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