It was a staggeringly hot day yesterday, brilliant weather to go birdwatching, and what better place to go than the Wetland Centre (its a rhetorical question by the way!). As we walked to the visitor centre, frogs were croaking and there was an unusually high number of Six-spot Burnet Moths on the wing. They seemed to have a particular liking for a pretty purple flower, thats abundance around the reserve could account for the abundants of the Moths themselves...
Swifts were constantly skimming along the surface of the main lake in search of midges, butterflies and anything else they could fit into their gaping beaks.
Over in Wildside it was evident that 'flying-ant day' was approaching (eugh!) with swarms of ants gathering on the tops of fence posts and blades of grass. The highligh of the day came at Wildside hide, when I got a call from mum that she had a funny looking Wagtail out on the Scrape. Convinced it was just a Pied, I slowly made my way over to the hide. When I finally got there, she pointed out the bird and I immediatly realised it was a Common Sandpiper! It never came close and was, most of the time, impossible to tell apart from the shingle on which it was walking. Amazing shots, I know! ;)
A Common Tern flying over Dulverton Hide gave an opportunity for shooting into the sun and producing a slightly 'fried' image! And this Grey Heron was 1 of 8 fishing through the wader scape whilst Sand Martins darted past.
And finishing off with some slightly cuter images as another breeding season comes to a close...
A sudden shower meant mum had to act quickly and shelter her babies...
And at this 'teenage' age, it can be quite difficult to tell apart Coots from Moorhens... this youngin' being a Moorhen
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