What a Surprise!

This morning I got a call from Bun, who'd had a call from Brian, telling of a multitude of Glossy Ibis on the Otter Estuary. Twenty no less! I had to see them because they were sure to be somewhat of a spectacle and I'd only seen Glossy Ibis once before when we had six on patch last September. I drove over to Beer to pick Bun up from work (it's alright for some) and this is when I had the surprise. "We'll have to wait for a few minutes coz Gav's coming along" Said Bun. I couldn't believe it! I needed those few minutes to regain my composure. It is true though. He did come! It's all there on his blog. He's more than welcome to come along next time too. Great cakes!..Oops! I mean company. ;-p

The birds were superb, showing really closely at times, feeding voraciously and having the odd little fly around too. In all the excitement I forgot to take any interesting people shots, ( and there was a good opportunity for an addition to my rouges galley of 'naughty birders' ) so I apologize if  my blog's a bit dull as a consequence of this. I'll try and remember next time. Got some shots of the birds though..

All TWENTY of them, second largest flock ever seen in UK. Apparently.

All twenty again, in flight above he cricket pitch. 

Allegedly after having been flushed by a naughty birder ;-)

A guy in the car park said " They look like Pterodactyls"

 I suppose they do have that look about them.

Coming in to land.

Notice the surprised looking cow in the background.

There. It does look surprised. 

You think I don't know a surprised looking cow when I see one?

Really freaky looking birds. 

Why when I look at them  do I always think of 'Gonzo The Great'?

Here's a short video showing the frantic feeding activity. It abruptly ends when a women passing by grabs my tripod. Well, we were all blocking the footpath. Twitchers eh?!

I hadn't been home much more than an hour when I heard that there was a Spoonbill on the estuary. Another bizarre looking bird. I love trying to get a decent photo of a Spoonbill it's such a challenge, they're either asleep or have their bill underwater, and they're white! Today it was more of  a challenge than usual. I'd flattened the battery on my digiscoping camera and so had to bring out the first reserve, the Fuji F30. I haven't had much practice with it really but it did okay.

When I downloaded these photos I found one I'd taken a while ago on Colyford Common, showing  that the new walkway to the platform is very popular with ....

Red Ruby Devons

When visiting Colyford Common one often has to negotiate one or more of these!

From this evening at Black Hole Marsh. 

One of five Little Stints.

(also taken with Fuji F30)