Two firsts in one evening...

Thursday 5th June
It just doesnt get much better than having 2 firsts in one evening!! Slight change of plan after work. The plan was to go and see if the shrike was still up in the long nanny as we missed it yesterday...but an alert to say that there was a Spoonbill on cresswells south pond made us re-think the route a little..so cresswell had to be the first port of call. Sure enough...the spoonbill was still there, and showing really really well feeding from the side of the pond. The pics below arent very clear as there was a heavy freth starting to come in from the sea. We spent about half an hour watching as he was fascinating, and in case it vanishes before we get the chance to go back again tomorrow...well worth the visit. Also there was 1 chiffchaff in the tree next to the car park singing, a pair of shelducks with (i think) 9 chicks, but they were a little hard to count as the female was understandably being very protective and shielding them from view. A single grey heron was being attacked by 2 lapwings because it came a little too close to thier young-ones, so he ducked into the reeds to avoid any further confrontation. Wouldnt you think a bird that size would stand its ground against a bird so much smaller? Onwards to newton-by-the-sea and the long nanny. There was already (not suprisingly) quite a few birders still there viewing the shrike..and were obviously in awe of this magnificent little bird who showed himself so well for everyone there tonight. There was a steady flow of people coming back and forth to look, and who could blame them. Couldnt take any photos as the batteries ran out on my camera....aagh. But not too worry though, the main thing was that we saw the shrike and that was the most important thing.