Yesterday was the monthly walk at Paxton Pits and, unsurprisingly, only a small group ventured round the reserve. We did manage to record 37 bird species including Garden warbler, Chiffchaff, Common Terns hopefully nesting on the rafts, adult Cormorant ?teaching young about fishing and Great Crested Grebe pair. Back in the garden in the afternoon, many insects were sheltering on leaves and flowers while the spiders continued to monitor their webs.
I took my Full Spectrum camera (with no added filters) for a stroll around Toft on Tuesday in the sunshine. The Meadow Sweet is in full bloom at the moment and produces really delicate tones with this camera. 90 degrees to the sun seems best for scenes that include sky.
St Aidan's RSPB Reserve has been transformed from an old, open cast mine to a reserve with a rich variety of habitats including reedbeds, wetlands, meadows and woodland. It has a breeding population of Black-necked Grebe, which I was keen to see as I hadn't seen summer plumage birds before. There were lots of Bittern booming and several took to the air during our visit. Otherwise the numbers of singing Warblers - Sedge, Reed and Willow were very impressive along with Reed Buntings and all the usual water birds
