Moore (or less...) impromptu mud-puddling...

 

With the raven-haired one, settled on the couch, pampering said raven and with dinner in the oven, the boy and I headed to the reserve for an impromptu splash and tally at some of the pools at the east end. We had an hour and the tides were all wrong to head west and so we drove to Pumphouse Pool, parked up and kicked his little blue ball chase-ily all the way to the Eastern Reedbed, picking up 4 Redwing and a female Chaffinch at the entrance.

As we rounded the path to the screens we spied a lone scope on a tripod. Somebody was there... and they were clearly there for the birds too! Well that was unexpected. Imagine my surprise then when there, looking out over the Reedbed, was my old birding buddy, young Mullholland with his other half. Last time we 'spoke' was by Wazzappp, 2 years earlier and before that, Christmas 2019 (just before COVID hit) from opposite ends of the earth... Costa Rica(?) and Paris respectively. And yet today could have been any birding year in the past two decades - it felt no different. Some things, in the nicest possible way don't change - even modes of transport to and from the far reaches of the reserve.

It's Funny. My last couple of blogs have been about how the reserve has changed in the years since my last birding visit, but it suddenly struck me, chatting with Mully, that the vibe had not. It was still our patch. Yes, there may not have been much around (see below), but thinking back it was often like that... and that never stopped our enjoyment of the place and I left feeling re-balanced and optimistic - not for a long list of birds that frankly, I think is now beyond the patch, but for the joy of looking.

Bring it on :)

Eastern Reedbed - 2 Coot (and rumours of a potentially hidden, thermally imaged Bittern)

Mill Brook Pool - pair Shoveler, male Gadwall, female Tufted Duck, 1 Moorhen, 3 Coot, pair Mallard

Pumphouse Pool (from Colin's) - 5pair Gadwall, 10 Coot, pair Mallard, pair Teal, 1 Oystercatcher