Pretty Pictures

Time gets away so easily.

You can be grateful for this as I again don't have time to prattle on inanely.

Instead I shall let pictures paint thousands of words [and not all of them "Aaaarrrgghh, my eyes..." this time, either]



So, from the Nose, while a Clouded Yellow got away from me, a Painted Lady was less cautious;

Yarner was light on the butterflies, but there was many a fungus busy fruiting away. Here be a couple of examples for your delectation;

Artist's Bracket

Bitter Bolete, 

growing in a mossy stump

Ok, enough of those, time for today!


After making what was arguably a very wrong call in not being at the Black Hole on Sunday afternoon, I resolved to correct matters today and showed up for the morning tide.


I was not alone. Many of Devon [and zumerzet]'s finest were on site in the vain hope that that wagtail had hung around. With plenty of Backwater birders unsurprisingly present too,  this concentration of talent produced early results in the form of an alleged Spotted Crake and a theoretical Wryneck. Plus a bunch of Wood Sands, many Ruff, and a Little Stint.

Little? Looked  pretty big to me;

Big Stint

After much looking, Stoney managed to see the Crake from the corner it was hiding in [don't blame it, those Moorhens are vicious..]. Eventually the crake gave up cowering in the reeds and started showing very well indeed. So well that even I, with my 3 pixel phone camera, was able to do this;

Walking puffball

Crake. Spotted.

"Beep! Beep!"

It's the Reedrunner!

What an utter star of a bird.


The soggy juv Blackbird Wryneck proved typically invisible after the first encounter, but I wasn't so bothered. Yeah, would have been nice, but that Crake... I may have seen more of them in cornwall, but the two I've now seen here have both been utter beauties.



Speaking of things wonderful, have you seen the Black Hole recently? They just keep on adding things! The RSPB really need to take a look and then pull their linguistically incorrect socks up - this is how you do a reserve!

A couple of things;

This is for looking at dragonflies!

It has a roof and seating!

WOW!

This is the Sand Martin and bat bank, seen from a comfy bench.

In front is another great dragonfly pool, 

behind it a visitor centre, a third dragon pool, and loos.

Loos...

::Faints::

It was all I could do to stop myself going 'I'm not worthy..', I tell you. No wonder there are so many great birds here, this place deserves them.