Sunday 22 April 2018

Another Early Morning

I was on the reserve by 06.30 this morning and with blue skies and sunshine beginning to quickly disperse the early mist, it looked quite superb.
This is what it looked like when I turned up.


Quickly the mist burnt off and as it did so, from the reed beds on the reserve, came the "booming" calls of a Bittern, a sound like somebody blowing across the top of a bottle, but amplified.


 Not a breath of wind and total calmness, with the variegated foliage of Milk Thistle in the foreground.

 The Flood Field looked as it should do, with a few white birds in it........

 ........which turned out to be these Avocets.

 The Tower Hide

The Coot's nest from yesterday's blog had increased to nine eggs!

Ellie, looking as lovely as ever,

7 comments:

  1. Looks perfect, Derek, what a wonderful morning on the reserve. Ellie is a lovely dog. Did I tell you we got a rescue puppy back in December? Clove is doing well and is very happy. Quite an improvement over the starving, mangy, wormy little thing she started out as. Not quite the beauty that Ellie is, but perfect in her own right.

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  2. Wonderful Wilma, nothing like giving a rescue dog a loving and happy life - well done.

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  3. The Reserve looks back to normal. I am ao glad Derek and I am sure it has always been thus - times of crisis, times of change, times of normality.

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  4. Yes, you are indeed right Pat. we've had all manner of severe conditions over the years and everything has turned out OK in the end.

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  5. Lovely pictures Derek. The reserve looks so peaceful and you must be mightily relieved to see that at last water is attracting birds back to the place.

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  6. Oh Derek - everyone knows you're not an old curmudgeon - welcoming Royal babies is a much pleasanter thing to think about given the state of the world. Not everyone can see, feel, smell, the sights you have before you in Sheppey. Your sharing of such things can only come from the soft heart of an old puppy dog. And speaking of puppies - well, I can't find any words to speak about Ellie - she's a heart grabber for sure!

    It's wonderful to know your weather is more like it should be this spring. Here in our little corner of the world it rains every other day, making farmers late putting in crops. The weather gives us all a turn at its quirks.

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  7. Unfortunately Ruth, if you read my latest posting, you'll see things are not as pleasant.

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