Bank Holiday Weekend

Firstly thanks for the kind and amusing comments about the covers lately. Famous? Infamous more like!

The weekend started with an early visit to Jessops on Saturday morning, to pick up the latest toy, a Canon 50D. I had wanted another 40D to fall back on, should the other one fail again, but Jessops failed to provide a new one initially, and then when they couldn't source a replacement, they kindly made a deal on a 50D instead.

With some decent weather forecast for the Saturday I had arranged to meet up with Ian at Rutland, to catch up with any osprey action going on. As usual, Ian travelled light... not, with a backpack that would worry an army cadet! Some impressive kit he has though, and he's not wealthy enough yet to afford a butler to carry it for him. ;-)

Down to the hide by the reedbed, that used to be opposite the old nest site... it's further from the nest now, but there's more to see. Within moments of being sat down, we saw a couple of water rails dart across the channels, and the air was filled with the warbling of sedge and reed warblers. Occasionally we would also hear the distance call of a cuckoo.

The osprey, however wasn't very active, and unlike last year when there was a pair, this one seemed content to sit on or near the nest. In fact, during our vigil for most of the day, it flew only a couple of times, giving us a solitary flyby. Disappointing.

Fortunately we were entertained by sedge warblers and Ian enjoyed a flyby from a lapwing, or was it an osprey? ;-)

Still, Rutland isn't a million miles away, and I'm sure we'll go again.

Sunday was a golfing day - I really need to go to the range. My game was woeful, except one shot with a rescue club, when in anger, I managed to club it from over 200 yards to within 3 feet of the hole. Shame the other 100 shots were rubbish.

Monday turned out to be grey and I should have stayed in bed! I didn't and opted to try out the new camera down at Upton Warren, at the Hen Pool. Usually a good spot for warblers, if you don't mind the marsh smell and the small hide. It was quite cosy in there actually, especially given the occasional pitter-patter on the roof when it rained.

I did get to see both reed and sedge warblers, though the Cetti's never showed themselves, just blasting out their call, as the moved amongst the undergrowth.

The gutter for me, was that whilst I was sat in there, a female marsh harrier was hunting on the Flashes next door to me. Such is life!