A cracker and a bad dip on a very wet day

The Safari was able to get to the nature reserve fairly early this morning. We walked in past a quiet and very wet wetland seeing very little on the way to our first stop at the Feeding Station. There was a bit of activity with several Chaffinches, Blue Tits and Great Tits coming and going. A bright male Pheasant displayed furiously to a non-plussed Woodpigeon while a pair of Dunnocks skulked around in the Brambles waiting for a lull in the fighting on the feeders to do a lightning smash and grab raid on the seeds.

A tidy male Reed Bunting (MMLNR #48) appeared briefly and Rabbit refused to come out in to the open for a pic. Just outside the hide there was a pile of droppings on a stump which looked rather Stoaty; a species we've not seen for far too long.

As ever we were time constrained and had to move on after a few minutes. Before we reached 'Ice Station Zebra' we stopped at the wet meadow for a quick can. The Cowslips are coming into flower but we were after Snakes Head Fritillaries, a couple of scans later and Bingo there was one with the flower about to open.

ICZ was warm and there were no druggy scrotes today thankfully. A Great Crested Grebe graced the water but there was no dancing today, no gulls were in view either; we hoped the Iceland Gull would put in appearance, assuming it's still about. A Cetti's Warbler sang loudly to our left but refused to show itself as usual.

Carrying on to the Bird Club hide the rain started and came down heavy for a good while so we were stuck in there so as not to get the camera wet. It wasn't a plan but it turned out OK. A Sparrowhawk (MMLNR #49) came wafting over the scrape flushing about 30 Teal, no Green Winged Teal today - as usual. A few Shovelers came out too as did two Snipe (YBC #97).

Unfortunately they didn't circle close enough for a decent pic in the dull conditions.

We kept hearing another Cetti's Warbler but it wouldn't come out of the reeds, and then we saw a dark brown shape flit across the gap. It went in deep but then appeared on the corner of the area of cut reeds. Arrghh - a Wren!

A pair of Little Grebes (MMLNR #50) kept us entertained while the rain continued to fall.

And then a movement in the cut between the reed caught our eye and we swung the camera round as fast as we could. We fired off a burst of shots roughly in that direction and hoped the settings would be OK and that the auto-focus had found something to lock on to.

With far more luck than judgement Water Rail (YBC #98) finds its way on to our Year Bird Challenge list.
The rain was still failing heavily and at last Monty had settled and laid down when a little bit of magic happened. A Cetti's Warbler (YBC #99) came out close to where the Wren had been and proceeded to put on a show for us!

Holy Shamoly they never come out like this for us especially when we've a camera in our hands. but when they pose like this once in a Blue Moon wil do us nicely. A Blue Moon when there's a bit of sunshine wouldn't go amiss sometime this year.

It was a relief to get a good pic of this tricky species that rarely gives good views, not here at least. It was a shame this white Grey Lag Goose wasn't the Great White Egret it superficially resembled.

Getting back to the car as quickly as we could didn't give us anything extra but there were a lot more gulls to look through from the new bench - still no Iceland Gull though.
Back at Base Camp we learnt that a Chough had been in the big Park for much of the morning only a few hundred yards from where we'd been. After lunch we headed out in the rain for a look. If it wasn't for the queues caused by the nearby bridge being out of action we'd have seen it missing it by only a few minutes. With a bit of luck it should be around tomorrow so we might get out before family duties are required.
Where to next? Hopefuly the Chough but failing that we might see something along the motorway network.
In the meantime let us know who popped out to say hello in your outback.