A Day at RSPB Minsmere with David on Friday, 7th November.

The day started with fog patches here and there. The weather didn't hinder us, and David and I set off sharp at 7.30am (an unearthly hour in my book!)

The journey showed us the beautiful countryside with the autumn trees all changing colour, dropping their leaves, creating golden carpets below their canopies.

Arriving by 8am, we made our way through to the Island Mere Hide. The sightings were minimal, but hoping for some bearded tits or a bittern or two would have made our day.

 By 10am, we decided to move on elsewhere, slowly walking in the hope of catching a sight of bearded tits in the reeds. Reaching the Bittern Hide, we thought we would try our luck, as the week before, I had seen a small herd of red deer from this hide. It is the hide where Hamza had made some great recordings of bitterns, but it wasn't our turn today.

After a quiet time at this hide, we went to the Visitor Centre to have some refreshments. Retracing our steps, we went up the centre tracks to visit the two hides overlooking the scrape. Some lovely teal, widgeon, gadwall, gulls, etc. largely all hunkered down on the islands in the scrape.

Sadly, there was a dead duck on the water side being eaten by a magpie. I hope its fate was not avian flu. The Konik ponies could be seen in the distance, looking beautiful with the sun shining on them momentarily.

Although a quiet day with most wildlife in the distance. The highlight was a squirrel eating a chestnut! 

All in all, a very pleasant day as the mild weather did show spells of sunshine, David paid for refreshments and looking forward to better luck next time.