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.