Having explained to you all yesterday  about the symptoms of Mantitis, today I had some particularly nasty symptoms, grumpiness being the worst! My day started at 6.30.  When the alarm went I had the usual feeling of "oh no" , quickly followed by  "get up you fool, it's fun and you don't work anymore". Work or not, it still takes me ages to come round, can anyone explain why you feel worse in the morning after a nights sleep than you did when you went? I sat on the top step of the stairs to pull my socks on, the ability to bend was still hours away, and then stumbled downstairs to get my camera and struggle into my waders.  I had made a decision last night to take a smaller lens to the hide today, that way I would be able to capture more of the scene in front of me and give myself a better chance of getting that elusive diving shot that I am now pursuing. What a disaster that turned out to be! She arrived at 7.17 with one of those big minnows. I knew that when she had eaten it she would bathe, she always does, so I was ready. I widened my field of view and  started to snap away. I got, what at the time, seemed a good shot as she left the perch and I kept shooting trying to anticipate where she would enter the water. After a while she just kept preening and seemed to have stopped diving, and she had only done it twice, usually she has around half a dozen splashes. I couldn't help myself, I just had to check what I had already got, after all I have a million photos of Kingfishers preening…… then in she splashed again!  I missed it, and deserved to. Cardinal sin and rule number 1, don't check your pictures in the field incase you miss the action.  I broke the rule and missed the action… idiot (I said to myself). When I got home and looked at the pictures, they were awful so,  back to the drawing board.  

Speckled Wood at Exminster 

It was still only  around 9 when I then decided to go out to Exminster Marsh, I haven't been for ages and I thought I would take a look. I was not impressed to say the least, can you believe they were actually mowing it again. I just don't agree with the way they manage that place, always chopping things down and "weeding".  It was very tidy and smart but sterile!  Gone were the nice little muddy pools and sedges amongst the grass. Obviously now its just like a farm field there is less insect life and less birds to feed on the insects……. why am I the only one that seems to think this.  If it was a good environment for wildlife and birds then the car park  would be full of people wanting to witness the spectacle but the fact that I was alone speaks volumes. My Blog is massively popular and I have hundreds of readers every day. Perhaps someone from the RSPB could explain to us all why they are doing this and what their motives are. My guess is they are manipulating the environment for one individual species at the expense of all others….. never right in my opinion.