What a joy to be back at RSPB Minsmere! With a  mild and still morning there was so much to see around the scrapes that we didn’t even venture to the Bittern Hide and Island Mere.

Early on we had a good view of a jay busy hiding acorns.

On the North Wall there were good sightings of bearded tit.

There was just one sighting of a meadow pipit near the beach.

On the scrapes the highlights were the little stints and, as always, the avocets.

The curlew were distant but quite distinctive.

The redshank and the black-tailed godwits too were at the back of the pools.

A juvenile gull looked majestic and stood out a mile’

A kingfisher was busy fishing undeterred by the presence of a nearby stonechat, robin and blue tit.

A starling looked quite stunning in the sunshine on a post.

There were loads of widgeon, teal and shelduck.

A little egret entertained as it tried to swallow the dragonfly it had caught.

There were pheasants everywhere …

… and even more lapwings.

Good to see a pied wagtail not in a car park.

Click to see the gallery of photos from this morning.

 

And a few extras: