3rd Young blackbird in the garden today. for the next few days mainly blackbirds and sparrows in the garden at the moment.
8th 3 young blackbirds in the garden with 2 collared doves. Do you like the picture it made me laugh.
We watch a marsh harrier hunting just above the line of the reeds - under the tree line.
Marsh Harrier ( curcus aeruginosus)
similar to a buzzard in size the male is paler than the female who is chocolate brown. Often seen hunting low over a reed bed as in the picture. They feed by dropping onto its food from the air, feeds on small birds, ducklings, mammals especially rabbits.
He posses for us on the marker posts before flying off and out of view.
In the island hide we eventually get a good view of a bittern who flies right across the windows to the other side of the hide. He is beautifully golden brown in the sun.
Bittern (botaurus stellaris)
This is a small golden brown heron. It is very secretive and hard to spot until it flies - as I can testify .They live in fresh water, swamps and marshes feeding on fish, eels, amphibians mammals and small birds.
At another hide I get my first sight of an Avocet ,the emblem of the R.S.P.B. A striking black and white bird with an upturned beak sifting to and fro in the water for food.
Avocet (recurvirostra avosetta)
A medium sized black and white wader with a long upturned bill. they are a social species breeding in loose colonies. In England most nest near shallow brackish coastal lagoons. They feed on insects, worms and crustaceans. In 1947 four pairs were found nesting at Minsmere and the R.S.P.B then leased the area.
