Languard, Trimley Marshes and Paxton Pits

Sunday we weren't quite so prompt - instead enjoying the 'all you can eat' continental breakfast at the Premier Inn, which was nice :) First stop Languard Point and the Nature Reserve. Judging by the conversations with the locals, there had been a 'fall' of Robins from France (how do they know they're from France !?!) and some of the more common warblers. My guess is this first bird is a juvenile Willow Warbler:


















Languard has a long heritage of military history, but we were there for the birds. Finally, I managed to get a Lesser Whitethroat on film this year:















As well as the Lesser and Common Whitethroats, there was a good number of Blackcaps too, including this female:















Languard was good but we got the impression there were no real rarities about so decided to head next for Trimley Marshes, having been warned that 'it's a long walk' from the car park to the reserve. They weren't joking. When your back and arms are sore from the previous day's exertions 2.5 miles can seem a really long way carrying loads of kit, with just pigeons breaking the silence.

We entered the reserve and could just see the first hides, when we bumped into another local. This chap was really quite excited. He'd seen a Great Grey Shrike, and thanks to his spot, we did too, this is the best snap (again it was a long way away) but that was two in two days :)

We tried to track it as it flew but lost it almost immediately. Made the five miles hard labour worth it though the trip back up the hill was slow and laborious.

We did spot a hovering Kestrel:

and a female Wheatear running around in front of us at one snack and water stop:

From Trimley Marshes it was time to start heading home. This time we decided to stop in at Paxton Pits on our way home. The Pits were very quiet, with the birds of summer gone and the birds of winter still far to the north. Apparently there had been a pair of juvenile Spoonbill on the reserve, all we found at the Washout Pits however was this Grey Heron (I like the reflection and symmetry in this picture):















By now my arms were about to concede defeat, the weight of the kit beginning to really be too much. We made our last stop at the Kingfisher Hide on the way back to the car, and watched this Cormorant, sat atop a stick in the middle of the lake, drying itself:
















As you can see by the next photo, the more he flapped his wings to dry, the further down the pole he slid. By the time we left he'd stopped flapping completely and was just clinging on :)













A fab weekend and, judging by the weather forecasts, well timed too as Autumn is coming fast, though frankly it reminds me a lot of Summer just a bit colder...