Jack Snipe at Strumpshaw Fen

Having visited the Post Office, I thought I might as well take a quick walk around Strumpshaw to see if the reported Penduline Tit might decide to come out to play. It didn't!

However, the ninety minutes in Fen Hide weren't by any means wasted: firstly it was good to bump into old mate Mike 'Red' O'Hara, who reminded me that we've known each other for thirty years this year! Then a wing-tagged Marsh Harrier (P3) flew by: this, I seem to recall, is a Buckenham bird.

Frustratingly hard to find (let alone photograph!) were four Jack Snipe, huddled down in the dead reeds twenty yards out from the hide. Thanks to some very patient visitors and their 'scope, I eventually located a bird that could be imaged. OK: not great - but see if you can find the bird in the wide-shot!

Other odds and ends included Water Rail, Chinese Water Deer and a pair of GC Grebes displaying on the river. Incidentally: half the reserve is unavailable at the moment, because of bank improvements on the riverside path. This seems a strange thing to do, since the lowest part of the bank between Buckenham and Brundall is now the frontage of the reserve between Sandy Path and Tower Hide. I would have thought this would guarantee salt incursions on a spring tide...