Me and the boy skipped off across the county this weekend in an effort to go see some birds, and were pretty successful (albeit not as much as he might have hoped).
Considering the hangover and general sneering attitude towards my identification skills, I was glad to spot the pair of smew and a goosander on Abberton Reservoir while the company failed miserably. Hah. Was a bit miffed that after having being sold on a nice trip to Abberton and then to see the sea, I was then informed that the reserve was actually closed... So no barn owls for me but I at least managed to catch up on most of my waterfowl for the year.
After a quick pub lunch we then moved on to Mersea, which I've never been to before but thought was quite nice (despite the millions of dog walkers). Not a great amount on the sea other than piles of wigeon and the occasional bunch of knots. About 20 common scoter, 2 red-breasted mergansers and some brent geese were among the highlights. Well that and the incredibly rubbish and unfeasibly small dog which ran onto my lap with a "please help me it hurts to live" look in it's eyes while the owner giggled uncontrollably. Stop laughing and pick up your ratdog! Breeding animals that crap is just cruel, you could see it knew it was an embarassment to it's lupine cousins.
Not sure what the year list is after this trip, I'll update you when I can be bothered to count.
Morocco again, but calm
3 days ago
