20th April Bit of a Relaxing day at Minsmere.

Wednesday 20^th April fresh to strong NE Very sunny all day. Cool 8C with cold wind.

After a cold night I am up around seven and head down to the Island Mere hide. Despite the early hour there are a number of photographers in there and the clicks start almost immediately as three otters strut on top of a large pile of cut reeds. They eventually swim along the reed edge, causing consternation with a nearby greylag and disappear.

I walk off in the direction of the Bittern hide, stopping every so often to look for any migrants in the trees. Blackcaps and chiff chaffs oblige.

From the North hide overlooking the scrape I find two well hidden snipe and chat with a couple from Stoke on Trent, Nick and Helga who tell me that they follow my adventures on the Biking Birder 2016 blog.

The cafe closes and immediately a male pheasant, a red-legged partridge, a magpie and a number of chaffinches come down to search for titbits. I go to the west hide at the scrape. This I feel will be warmest place with a setting sun providing warm as long as the shutters are shut. 

I search through the larger gulls and find a yellow-legged amongst them

As evening falls and the sun sets, a large full Moon rises over the sea bank. 

Five common tern look almost chocolate brown in the fading light and a peregrine looks to have rosy underparts as it chases a bar-tailed godwit. The godwit survives, just, by diving into the water.

The Green Year list now stands at 216, still 30 birds ahead of this time last year.