The Red Fox.

 I was delighted in early April to get an invitation from my good friend Phil, to visit his new woodland hide that he had built. He had been getting regular visits from a fox, and he hoped that I would get some opportunities to photograph this handsome mammal from the hide.

The day looked to be pretty much perfect, as it wasn't too sunny, which would have given harsh shadows in the woodland setting, but also it wasn't heavy clouds which would have made it too dark.

We spent a couple of hours in the hide together and during that time we had three seperate visits from the fox. To start with it was a little wary, but with each visit it relaxed more and came closer.

Red Fox.

Between visits we were also treated to watching some of the woodland birds at close range, with Great-spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch as well as a couple of birds that I rarely bother with, a Robin and Pheasant!!

Male Great-spotted Woodpecker.

Nuthatch

Robin.

Pheasant.

My thanks as ever to Phil for giving me another unforgettable experience.

Black-necked Grebe.

 For just over a week a Black-necked Grebe was at West Rise on the outskirts of Eastbourne. The bird wasn't quite in full breeding plumage, but it was getting close and was a beautiful bird.

I visited the site on several occasions hoping to get some nice images, and to also just enjoy watching the bird. As it was also a new species for Lisa, she was also keen to see it. The bird spent much of its time well out in the middle of the bay, well out of reach of the lenses we had, but occasionally it came within range.

A small selection of images of the bird over 4 visits below, which really show off the gorgeous red eye. In America the bird is known as an Eared Grebe due to the golden ear feathers which become more prominent in full breeding plumage.

Black-necked Grebe in sunshine and choppy conditions.

The bird was mainly fishing, but occasionally spotted a fly on the surface.

Black-necked Grebe feeding on a fly.

Black-necked Grebe.

Large Tortoiseshell.

 The only drawback with our Norfolk holiday, was that I was expecting the Large Tortoiseshells in a local woodland to come out of hibernation around the time of our trip.

For the past few years, it has been pretty clear to some of us that the Large Tortoiseshell were breeding in the woodland, and as the butterflies come out of hibernation on the sunnier days in early spring, I was hoping to photograph them before they started to show wear and tear.

The week before our trip would have been ideal, but the two really good warm and suuny days I was busy with a doctor's appointment on one day and the car MOT on the other. Hence, I missed seeing them during that first week of emergence, and by the time we were back from Norfolk, the woodland was very busy with butterfly watchers. I did try the local woodland during the first two weeks back from Norfolk, but the weather on the days I was able to get there, was just not quite warm enough.

Not wanting to miss out totally on the Large Tortoiseshell, I did visit the main Kent colony with David. There we had no trouble at all in finding some to photograph, with around 7 seen, although it would have been nice to get them in slightly better condition.

However, I certainly wasn't worried about missing the best of the Large Tortoiseshell, as we had such a great time in Norfolk, seeing species that we rarely see. After all, I have now seen plenty of Large Tortoiseshell in the UK since my first one in 2020.

Large Tortoiseshell.

Large Tortoiseshell.

Elmley Weekend.

 A few days after our Norfolk trip, and with Lisa still being on holiday, we decided to spend the weekend at Elmley.

Staying overnight on the Saturday gave us two pretty full days at the reserve, and despite it being a weekend, it was reasonably quiet.

On the drive along the long track to the car park, it was very evident that it had been very dry in recent weeks, with very low pools, this meant there were very few waders along the track. However, not long before the car park there was plenty of Marsh Harrier activity. Several Brown Hares were also hunkered down in the longer grasses. 

Male Marsh Harrier on the direct approach.

Male Marsh Harrier.

Brown Hare hunkered down.

The above Hare then moved away from its form and followed another Hare onto the field behind the rough grass area. As we were now in mid March, we were hoping for a bit of boxing action, and as the two hares reached the field we were treated to a little bit of the mad March Hare action as they started a bit of boxing. It was a shame that there was some longer grasses between us and the Hares, so some of the images were affected more than others with a hint of out of focus grasses.

Boxing Brown Hares.

And the winner is!!

All across both days we came across more Hares. I have always had a soft spot for Brown Hares, so I really do love seeing them at close range, and Elmley has to be one of the best spots for seeing them like this, especially in southern counties.

Brown Hare.

For both days the weather was lovely. Slightly breezy at times, but mostly sunny. The Blackthorn was well in flower and we saw several early season butterflies around the reserve. At one spot we were on a seat looking down on a large Blackthorn bush that was full of blossom. Several Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock were taking advantage of this nectar source. It's very rare for me to use a 600mm lens for butterfly photography, but as that was all I had with me!! Surprisingly though, the lens worked really well for these shots.

Small Tortoiseshell on Blackthorn.

Peacock on Blackthorn.

We also got lucky with a few smaller birds on the walks to the hides, with several Reed Buntings seen, as well as some gorgeous Bearded Reedling. Lisa did better than I did with the Reedling, although I did have a couple worthy of keeping.

Male Reed Bunting.

Male Bearded Reedling (Tit).

Both afternoons we spent some time using the car as a hide as the Marsh Harriers were nest building, so they were often flying nearby. We were also surprised when the male brought in prey for the female a couple of times. This then resulted in the male mounting the female to mate. We saw this three times over the weekend. The prey item was actually a Mallard duckling. 

Male Marsh Harrier with Mallard duckling.

Male Marsh Harrier hunting.

As the time came for us to depart, as the reserve closes at 4pm at this time of year, we were just leaving the Marsh Harrier area with just enough time for the long slow drive to the exit. We wanted to have a couple of minutes spare just in case we spotted something good on the way out.

I had just pulled away from the Marsh Harrier site when Lisa shouted for me to STOP!! The next thing she said was 'There's a Bittern right by us',

As it was in the small ditch running alongside the left side of the track, and I was driving I couldn't see it. However, I pulled over and looked out of the open window, and there, just twelve feet away at the most, was a superb Bittern, standing as they do, bolt upright trying to blend in with the surroundings. Luckily, we had both got the spare cameras handy with a zoom lens on. This was just as well as the Bittern was right at the nearest focal point for the 600mm lenses, and we could only just about fit the head, bill and top of the neck in the frame with the big lenses. At this point, one of the wardens pulled up by the side of us and told us we had to get a move on as the gates would be closing in just a few minutes. When I told him what we had right by us, he was also very keen to see it so he pulled in behind us so he could also photograph it as soon as we left it. We were however, trying our best to get some shots quickly as we had to get to the gate quickly. What a shame we were not able to spend quality time with this special bird. However, we did both get some great shots of this gorgeous Bittern.

Almost the full frame with the 600mm.

The amazing eyes facing down.

I doubt that we will ever get that close to a Bittern again. Despite the rush at the end, it was an amazing weekend, and as ever, we look forward to visiting Elmley again in the near future.

Norfolk Sensation.

Our Norfolk trip continued with a trip to Holme Nature Reserve, hoping to see a small party of Snow Buntings that had been seen in the area over the past few weeks. As we walked away from the car park towards where the birds had been reported, we followed three other birdwatchers. They arrived at the site just ahead of us, and although we saw a small group of Snow Buntings, unfortunately they were not too keen on being watched and they soon flew away. Despite further searching we didn't see them again.

We then went down to the sea where we caught up with more Turnstone, including one that allowed a close approach. Following this we headed to Holkham hoping for Shorelarks. This year though had been too mild for the birds to come down this far south, so we wandered around seeing very little, although several Deer were out in the meadows. Pink-footed Geese too were seen quite close. 

Turnstone.

After a slightly disappointing day, the only one of the trip, we headed the following day to Cley. A very long walk around the reserve was very rewarding with great views of many species of wader and my best close views of Marsh Harrier.

Pied Wagtail.

Male Marsh Harrier.

Female Marsh Harrier.

Avocet.

Last summer our favourite day had been at Hickling Broad. We were keen to head that way again just to see what an early spring day would bring. Obviously there would be no signs of the Swallowtail, which had been our main target last year, but I was hoping for lots of Small Tortoiseshell coming out of hibernation. As it happened, we did see Brimstone and Peacock, but that was about it for the butterflies. We were very surprised though to find a ride with several Adders in it. One female Adder was very tolerant, totally ignoring the footfalls from us and a few other people that walked past it, While I was photographing the snake, Lisa walked further along the track and found a Grass Snake. We ended up spending most of the morning along this lovely ride. 

Female Adder.

Grass Snake.

 After lunch I stupidly decided that I wasn't going to carry my heavy lens all around the reserve, so left it behind. However, after entering the Bittern Hide, to be told that two Bittern had just been seen flying into the reedbed, I began to question my decision. About ten minutes later a Bittern appeared at the back of the reedbed and I kicked myself. A further ten minutes later I really started to regret my decision as a Bittern made a fabulous show. Lisa of course had her 600mm and when she showed me her results I made the decision to walk quickly back to the car a get my 600mm. All the way back I was cursing myself at being so lazy. After the half hour walk I thought I was unlikely to see any more Bitterns now I had the big lens!!

The Bittern along the reedbed.

Entering the hide again I was sort of relieved to find that I hadn't missed any action, but also worried that my walk was going to be in vain. However, as the sun lowered and gave a fabulous evening light, another Bittern appeared. Further away this time, but with the longer lens, that was fine. It walked slowly away from us but also stopped several times where it posed beautifully. An absolutely superb bird

Bittern.

Whilst we were waiting for the Bittern action we were also treated to a distant fly-by from a pair of Common Cranes. A beautiful Grey Heron also flew in and spent time fishing in front of us.

Grey Heron.

Also joining us was a Great White Egret.

Great White Egret coming into land.

Hickling Broad once again delivered the goods for us, on such a beautifully sunny day too.

Our last day in Norfolk proved to be the only damp day. Fortunately it wasn't raining all day, and it takes a lot to stop us going out. We headed back to Titchwell as there would be plenty of hides to use if the weather did get worse.

I was lucky to find a Woodcock hiding in the cover. It was extremely difficult to get a clear shot of the bird, but by looking through the camera and moving slightly about I did manage to find a small window in the Bramble to get a reasonable image. We were so pleased that we had both found a Woodcock on the trip. A species that we had been hoping to see, as there are lots more in Norfolk than in our local Sussex woodlands.

Woodcock.

Once again Norfolk had given us a trip we will remember for a very long time. This trip had been to celebrate Lisa's birthday. We now have my birthday trip to look forward too later in the year when we head to Bempton, a place I have never been to before.