One of the great things about Ham Wall is that, right from the car park, you hear lots of birds at close quarters. The loudest were the blackcaps and the garden warblers but, although I had fleeting views of them, I couldn’t for the life of me get a photograph of therm. I had to settle for robins and dunnocks.
It was nice to feel the sun too, although it was tempered by a cool breeze. I was also very heartened to hear my first cuckoo of the spring.
I spent a while trying for photos of a glossy ibis. I thought I had missed it when it flew over me early on but I managed to catch up with it feeding in the reeds close to a hide.
The sun also brought out the butterflies. I saw a few distant orange tipped butterflies and some peacocks at closer range.
The very best thing about Ham Wall at this time of the year is the booming of bitterns which you hear all around. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to see one. They are very secretive birds but it is amazing how many times I have managed to see them here.
However, I was compensated, at the Avalon Hide, by close up views of marsh harriers.
From the Avalon Hide I could see the weather was deteriorating and so headed back to the car park where I arrived just as the rain started.
On my way back I had a short stop to watch 3 hobbies hunting dragonfly. By then it felt too cold for dragonflies but the hobbies proved me wrong.
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 