Out Early on the Marsh
Today I decided to go down to the marsh early as I had seen some Glossy ibis down there when I passed in the car yesterday.So I packed -up all my gear into the car and headed off.
The first birds to come into sight were about 150 Ruff then some 50 or so Wood sandpiper mixed in with 25 Black- winged stilt,12 Curlew sandpiper and the ever present flock of Little stint/Kentish plover.
As I scanned the far reedbeds I could see 8 Glossy ibis feeding and some Terns dive -bombing the adjacent corn fields.The only way I was going to get anywhere near these Ibis was to crawl the last 50 yards through the reeds.It's been 80f for the last week so at least it was'nt going to be soggy.
Just as I was about to focus the scope, to try for a shot, I noticed a large heron looking back at me from about 20 yards away.I zoomed in to see a lovely -looking Purple heron preening itself in the early sunshine.
 Curlew sandpiper |  Wood sandpiper |
I just got the scope focussed as the Glossy ibis were looking a bit "twitchy",but got a few shots in before they flew down the marsh.Then three of the terns decided to stop for a rest so I managed to get a half -decent shot of them as well.
 Glossy ibis |  White-winged tern |
The Spotted redshank seemed to have me "sussed",I could'nt get anywhere near them.Whether it was because the female Marsh harrier was quartering the fields opposite or whether it was me, or those noisy Ruddy shelduck passing overhead we'll never know.
So that shot will have to wait.
All in all not a bad two hours wandering around one of my favourite places. I'll be back in the morning though thats for sure!!
