Before I start to tell you about my very special day, I thought I ought to talk about my hide. As you can see from the photo below it is a very crude affair. It has been in position on the Alphin Brook for the last 10 weeks and in spite of originally hiding away amongst the reeds, covered as it was with vegetation to match the surroundings, it is now just a tarp rapped around 4 poles. The reeds and water plants have died back leaving it alone and conspicuous.  This does not appear to worry the wildlife which  totally ignores it, and once I am inside, me too!

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You can also get a good impression here of the little watercourse which is so productive in terms of sightings and species. The branches protruding are rammed in to the bank and provide perches for the Kingfishers. A Grey Wagtail regularly uses these perches as well as a Wren – Troglodytes troglodytes. The little patch of dead grasses and mud just in front and to the left of the hide and opposite, is just inches wide. This is where I had my encounter with a Jack Snipe – Lymnocryptes minimus.

 As you can see…….. what a smashing,delightful, unusual little bird!  The full account is interesting. I arrived at the hide at exactly 8 o'clock, a little later than the last few days but as it is too dark to  photograph before that anyway, it wasn't a problem. I sat for only a matter of minutes before the Kingfisher was there in front of me as usual and he returned repeatedly with prey. Things were interesting Kingfisher wise and my attention was distracted by him. Here he is again, that would distract anyone wouldn't it?

I became aware of an unfamiliar little noise behind me and had a quick look out of the side hole to see what it was. There in front of me was a splendid Drake Teal just deciding whether to run the       gauntlet past the hide. These birds are truly wild ducks, over-wintering from Northern Europe. They have inherited a very wary nature being the object of desire by just about every duck hunter in the Western World!  As I watched him, his partner had skimmed quickly past and I enjoyed  her now, took her picture and waited for him to join her.

He did eventually but I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a twitching, bobbing movement in front of me on the edge of the reeds sitting on the frozen mud……….. I knew immediately what it was because the bobbing is diagnostic of a Jack Snipe. Their behaviour is so weird, they continually bend at the knees and bob as they move around and feed, very odd but diagnostic. I watched him and took lots of photos. In the meantime, the Teal had slipped by to join his mate and disappeared behind cover. My feet were starting to cause me real problems, so much so that I began to feel sick, they were that cold! But I took more and more photos. 

Then suddenly there was another, this time bigger and not so golden looking a good look at the head confirmed that this was a Snipe – Gallinago gallinago. I had been trying for photos, close-up of this species for ages and now here he was and a jack Snipe to compare him to.

Compare the head markings, the Jack snipe has a double stripe above the eye whereas the Snipe has a single one. Seen side by side the Snipe is larger with a longer beak. But the real clincher if you see them feeding is the Jack Snipe does that crazy insane bobbing up and down, continually!!!! 

Later on in the afternoon, a walk with my wife Jenny along the Brook revealed, at the far end, massive flocks of Fieldfare, a Lapwing, repeated sightings of "my" Kingfisher  and the best and closest look ever of the resident Buzzard……. I had no camera with me and he seemed t
o know it because I went within 10 feet of him! The birds, being hungry as they obviously are, are very tame and you can get very near to them, a photographers dream. I don't like seeing birds suffering but it is rather nice to  be around wildlife that is suddenly so confiding.