After returning home and packing a picnic lunch, I made for Coate water where I'd read there had been some recent sightings of kingfishers, water rail, green sandpiper and snipe. I hadn't been there all summer but with many butterflies now gone, I thought it was high time I made a return visit. As expected the car park was busy as it was a gorgeous hot day, but I managed to find a space and then walked the 15 minutes to reach Hide 1. I spent 20 minutes there alone, so then decided to make for Hide 2 where most activity had been reported. But as I was about to leave, a gentleman arrived and told me that there was standing room only at Hide 2, and so I decided perhaps I'd stay and enjoy the peace and tranquility of Hide 1.
From the hide I saw many tufted ducks, one with a couple of ducklings, grey heron, cormorants, black headed gull, dunnock, great tit, blue tit, wren, mandarin ducks, great crested grebe, mute swan.
A couple of people I recognised then came back from the other hide, saying that although full, it was pretty quiet! After exchanging information on where we'd found butterflies over the summer,we then concentrated our efforts on photographing a bank vole that was being tempted by bird food put on a pile of logs, a kingfisher flew past and landed on a post but was only able to get a rather distant shot of it.
wheatear at Blakehill
view from Hide 1
Another view from Hide 1 - the bank vole was in the log pile centre of picture
bank vole
a selection of birds in the breeding raft
speckled wood in the sunshine
distant shot of kingfisher
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