The afternoon went along un-remarkably until we got to the Carlton Hide. There the crowds had gathered to watch the kingfisher parade around the various vantage points. Significant lens were pointed and triggers pulled with sharp repetitive bursts of shutter actuations filling the air. As a finale we watched a green sandpiper feed in the shallows right in front of the hide. On the right-hand edge of the pool significant numbers of reed warblers sped along the reeds, occasionally accompanied by the odd linnet.
Our species count for the afternoon totaled 40, including: blue tit, great tit, reed bunting, bullfinch, magpie, feral pigeon, chaffinch, collared dove, swallow, house martin, woodpigeon, carrion crow, robin, blackbird, greenfinch, buzzard, grey heron, mallard, lapwing, oystercatcher, greylag goose, common tern, coot, black headed gull, tufted duck, canada goose, cormorant, ringed plover, starling,
little ringed plover, teal, great crested grebe, moorhen, lesser black backed gull, mute swan, whitethroat, linnet, kingfisher, green sandpiper and pheasant.Our favourite of the day though has to be the kingfisher; from the numbers in the Carlton Hide, we were not alone.
