Rained off - AGAIN!

The Safari headed up north to south Cumbria to our favourite reserve to meet IH. As soon as we parked up it began spitting with rain; the forecast hadn't been good but we hoped the worst of the rain would be over by late morning and sort of expected a wet drive up but it wasn't to be.

Our target species for our Challenge were the House Martins that nest under the eaves of the warden's house and the Spotted Flycatchers that should be nesting in the boxes around the back of the visitor centre. While waiting for IH to arrive we failed miserably with the House Martins coming out of their nest - we were far to slow with the shutter button! And there was no sign of any Spotted Flycatchers, no report of them in the sightings book either which is worrying. As the rain began to get heavier IH appeared, sporting an umbrella - he'd only gone and forgotten to bring a coat! The only bird visible was the very top of an Osprey's head as it hunkered down in the nest sheltering its chicks as best it could. A Willow Warbler sang from the woods and a Chaffinch flew over, that was about as good as it got as the rain drove up the valley in billowing sheets. After a while the rain eased and we chanced a wander down the boardwalk, no chance of finding any snakes today just too wet and far too cold, we didn't get far before the increasingly derilict boardwalk came to an abrupt end at a mud wallow for which IH was incorrectly shod in trainers rather than waders. Back to the visitor centre we went whereupon the rain started heavy again and we missed another House Martin opportunity by zooming in on the nest too much and not giving ourselves enough of a field of view to catch a House Martin in the bottom corner of the frame as it dropped out the nest...another schoolboy error! Enough was enough we decided to decamp to Leighton Moss where at least there would be shelter in the hides and birds to be seen. 

A quick look at the Green Woodpecker field revealed grass too long over much of it to see any woodpeckers although they are still about. From there we ensconced ourselves in Lillian's Hide where almost all the action was to our left. Here a sizeable flock of hirundines was whizzing around low over the water, mostly Sand Martins with a few House Martins.

Not the best pics due to high shutter speeds, low light, tiny subjects and distance but you get the gist of what was happening.

We got our Challenge House Martin pic (#151) when one came much closer, passing just behind the Black Headed Gulls' little island.

And then continued to blast away nat the hirundine throng in the corner

We were just enjoying all that whizzing about really and hearing a Bittern booming in the distance was an added bonus. Eventually we fluked a Swallow in the flock for #152.

As little else was on offer we continued to fire away at the flock.

Swifts have been all too noticeable by their absence/very late arrival thisc spring so it was good to see half a dozen or more drop in out of the rain and even better to fluke one - just! - much lower than its friends.

All this activity was getting too much for us so a break in the rain saw us trundle off down to the Causeway Hide passing loud and, as usual, unseen Cetti's Warblers but not a lot else on the way. from the hide not a lot was on offer although two distant Marsh Harriers were in the bins view at the same time and more Bitterns were heard booming. A Great Crested Grebe came out of the reedbed to our right

On a sunny day, or maybe just a warmer drier one, dragonflies would be patroling the small patch of reeds below the window - no such luck today although we did spot the empty shell, exuvium, of a dragonfly nymph where it had emerged into an adult and flown off. A bit of digging back at base camp revealed it to be from a 4-Spotted Chaser.

A female duck and her brood of 10 ducklings swam past but too close to the back edge of the reeds to get any pics of the little cuties. Something made us look twice; we wrongly assumed they were Mallards but no that second look showed they were a familty of Gadwall.

More rain, no Otters, no fishing Ospreys, no flying Bitterns for our Challenge, no close Marsh Harriers and strangely no low whizzing hirundines or Swifts - we stuck it out until the rain stopped then dashed back to the Grisedale Hide. On the way we enjoyed splendiferously 'end of your nose' close up views of a Treecreeper and heard the world's loudest Cetti's Warbler. At the hide we were lucky enough to get a seat in 'Photographers Corner' and saw probably/possibly the same Heron we photographed last time. It was unsuccessful today and look how much those reeds have grown, you can hardly see it now,

A male Marsh Harrier came into view, we'd only had a brief glimpse of one so far and that was down along the causeway.

It looks a bit bedraggled, but then so did we! At least it did us the favour of coming a bit closer even if the light was pants.

It drifted off into the distance leaving us to watch the Heron deftly stalking through the reedbed but to no avail, it wwas going to go hungry today. While watching it the rain stopped and a miracle occured - a small patch of blue sky appeared and with it some bird song. In particular a very close Reed Warbler, one we still haven't got for our Challenge. Practically hanging out of the hide window looking for the 'wasn't going to show itself in a milloin years' Reed Warbler we saw a very soggy looking female Marsh Harrier land on a dead snag in the mmiddle distance and spread its wings to dry like a Cormorant.

Something we've never seen before and she stayed up there drying off for ages. It just goes to show that even on the 'worst' of days nature can pop up with something new and exciting.
Whats more the afternoon had flown by and it was now time to leave. As we exited the hide - yes you guessed it - the sun came out and it was pleasantly warm - - if only we could have stayed another hour, the Reed Warblers would be singing from exposed perches and hopping around collecting food for hungry nestlings in full view. But hey ho, c'est la vie as the French say.

Where to next? We're trying to take you back in time but still processing deleting hundreds of pics from our voyage around Great Britain.

In the meantime let us know who's got the wettest in your outback.