ANOTHER AFTERNOON AT COATE

It's always nice to spend an afternoon at Coate Water, a fifteen minute drive from my house, then another fifteen minutes stroll down to the hides. There is usually something of interest either on the main lake or viewed from one of the two hides, and often another birdwatcher/photgrapher to share information, advice or help with identification. Today was no exception.

After spotting a heron and a little egret  from the bridge, I went down to the first hide which  was empty, so I put out some bird food and waited to see what appeared. Well, actually, not much! While  I was eating my lunch, a squirrel appeared and proceeded to demolish most of the food, a dunnock popped in and pecked around around the tree roots, also a great tit and blue tit came and went. 

With not much happening there, I wandered on down to Hide 2, where I was welcomed by a couple of familiar birdwatchers. A selection of ducks were about, and we saw a kingfisher fly past three times, and a sizeable flock of long tailed tits, then a green sandpiper flew in and landed on a log, but was soon seen off by some gulls. There was also a sudden explosive call from a cetti's warbler right by the hide, but of course it didn't come into view.  

Birds  seen included, blue tit, long tailed tit, great tit, dunnock, shoveler, gadwall, tufted duck, mallard,  wigeon, teal, little egret, grey heron, swan, herring gull, black headed gull, cormorant, green sandpiper, kingfisher. 

grey heron

green sandpiper

wigeon

grey squirrel

shoveler preening