We've had a friend visiting for the weekend, and she's into birds, so today we went to RSPB Minsmere. It's a lovely place, many different habitats, well marked out routes around the site, and numerous hides to stop and watch all the many species of birds (and some other wildlife). I saw 21 different species (mostly identified for me by my friend, including several I had never even heard of before):
- near the start around the shop and restaurant:
- robin
- wood pigeon
- pheasant
- large birds on the water:
- greylag goose
- mute swan
- black headed gull (millions of them!)
- smaller birds on the water (mainly ducks, often in pairs)
- shoveler duck
- teal
- shelduck
- garganey
- gadwall
- mallard
- coot
- waders
- avocet (about 10 of them standing in a neat row)
- oyster catcher
- redshank
- turnstone
- in the reed beds
- little egret
- heron
- bittern
- circling lazily above the reed beds
- marsh harrier (several of them)