It was a funny day today. I was up and about before 7 this morning, the older you get the more difficult it is to lay in! My lovely wife of 36 years, Jenny, was off to work for the day so with the sun shining and breakfast scoffed and with the prospect of good birds and more out on Exminster Marsh I was on my way. Quite quickly I could sense it was going to be a good day. It was really quiet, I was almost on my own apart from those weird people who keep running up and down, I don’t know where they are going or who they are running away from but most seem really knackeded and they never ever look happy or look like they are having fun…..perhaps they are joggers. I never could see the point in that myself. The American Golden Plover was showing really well and I had a brief encounter with another pompous bird watcher/twicher type who seemed to be more interested in how he looked than what he was looking at. I naughtily suggested that there was nothing very special with the American Golden Plover and it looked just like a normal common-or-garden Golden Plover to me. He snootily mentioned it’s tertials and grey under wing etc. he was trying to baffle me with science so to speak. But anyway it did the trick and he packed his gear up and left the scene in about 30 seconds flat. Leaving me to the bird…..job done as they say!
The light was so bright yet diffused by a haze and the conditions for photography were the best. I took about 200 shots of this bird that has been on the marsh for the last 6 days. It was very easy to see and photograph. From time to time a Whimbrel or two would put in an appearance and I was excited at the prospect of actually getting some really good photos. At one point the Golden Plover took exception to the cattle grazing nearby and took to the wing. I snapped a few shots as it banked towards me and then headed back to my right.
It settled at a point nearer to the path and I got some of my best shots of it yet, heres one of them.

As I stood stock still a male reed Bunting perched on a bare branch only feet from me. This is the closest I have been to a Reed Bunting and I was thrilled that he had posed so well for me They are a very unusual bird and don’t always look tidy, this photo makes that point I think.

Later in the day I took this photo of a Willow Warbler, a first photo for me of this species which is really common here in the summer but I just hav’nt been able to fire off a shot until today. Willow Warblers are almost impossible to seperate from Chiffchaffs but this one was singing his head off so it was easy this time.