OysterCatcher............

Today was the day i was going to get a memory card full of images to fill up a flickr account, if i actually had a flickr account.........

So, arrived at the shop to get my ticket for the "Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve"......The lady who sold me my ticket was ever so helpful, gave me a map and showed me what was what, and where to go.

The reserve actually straddles a river, so you can't actually walk around the reserve in a loop, you have to walk up and back along either side of the resereve. She pointed to a list on the wall, which is compiled from the start of every working day, it lists the different types of birds seen on that particular day, and in which part of the reserve.

The river that splits the reseve pretty much runs North to South, so the list was split into two columns, East and West.
With no word of a lie my friends, the list for the West side of the reserve had around 25 to 30 different birds while the Eastern side had a mere 10 or so.
No Brainer. I made my way to the entrance of the Western side of the reserve, unpacked my Canon, and engaged stealth mode.

There are 3 hides in the western side of the reserve, which give fantastic views of any "Waterbirds" that may be there, fantastic views providing you've got a large pair of binoculars or a scope of some sort.
Not having been in a hide before i ventured into the first hide i came to, and to the reserves credit there were hundreds of birds there to look at and enjoy, all be it at some distance.........

Personally, i was more interested in seeing the Kingfisher, wrens, short eared owl, long tail tits, fire crests etc etc, that were on the list.......

I left the hide and carried on along the footpath, in the distance i could hear the waterbirds, but there was plenty of birdsong coming from the trees and bushes around me. I found myself a spot in a small copse, crouched down and prepared to fill my memory card............

I hadn't bargained on the people who'd come solely to use the hides, groups of 2, 3 and 4 people all talking loudly, exchanging stories, laughing while they walk between the hides. Apart from the waterbirds i'd seen at the first hide, in the 2 hours at the reserve i managed to see 3 long tail tits, and a wren, and they were all in amongst branches and twigs, so no images at all........

On the plus side, the fresh air and the sunshine were great.
Once back at the car, it was out with the flask, and wait a while to see if anything would come my way...........!!!!
And here we are..............OysterCatcher.
View him large here.....

I'd guess that, to really appreciate the reserve, and get the full benefit of it, i'm going to have to spend lots of hours learning the routines of each particular species and their prefered habitat.............!!

As they say, you're never too old to learn......!!

Thanks for stopping by.

j.