Late this afternoon with the weather reasonably bright I had the opportunity to go and do a bit of watching for a couple of hours before tea. I chose Cockwood mainly because I could travel via Powdeham and see if the Cttle Egrets were still around by the Church. The sheep have been moved out now but the field still held about 10 Little Egrets. I didn't see ay Cattle Egrets though. I notice that they were reported "west of Powderham" on the Rare Bird Alert web site so perhaps they are going to stay and breed in the park. I really hope so.
At Cockwood the tide was on the way in but still out quite a way. I walked  to the shoreline and sat in the Chair Hide. It wasn't ideal due to the tide rushing in much quicker than I was expecting. I re-positioned the hide further away from the waters edge, There was a few interesting birds around including Brent Geese, Greenshank and a few more Little Egrtets again. They really are very common here around the River Exe. When they are feeding in the water they are very interesting and I am always hopeful that they are are going to catch something worth photographing. I wa joined by a nice bird in front of the hide and after a bit of fishing he caught a really big mullet as you can see in the photo. 

He flew with it in the hope of making to "dry land" but before he could make the few feet he dropped it but not before I got a nice shot.
So back to the car and the short journey home which turned out to be an event to say the least. I went home by the back lanes and close to home as I was about to join the roundabout by the Devon Hotel a police car was parked up almost blocking the road. I wasn't sure if it wa parked or he was making a turn. It tured out he was parked and doing what policemen do. I sort of scowled at him as I went past, annoyed that I had been forced to divert around him. This was a mistake because now I was beig followed be this predatory beast who probably knew he was in the wrong and himself illegally parked.  Ayway, he stopped me and issued a fixed £30 penalty for not wearing a seat belt . I dont like being told what t do by anyone and tried to point out to him that he should be prosecuted for blocking  a junction. Like that worked, I even told him that I was going to make a citizens arrest which almost made him smile and he pointed out that it was not an arrestable offence.  It was fun anyway and almost worth the 30 quid to toy with him for 10 minutes. Money is the least imprtant thing in my life so fining me £30 is about as much use as hitting me with a feather.

In the garden today we have had the usual Chaffinches  and Siskins and a couple of Starlings flew over which is the first from the garden for a few days. Just around the corner there are a few large trees and a small colony of Rooks are nesting. Rooks are one of the earliest breeders in the UK.