Minsmere mornings

After my recent trip to Derbyshire, I was anxious to get to Minsmere Bird Reserve. I knew that at this time of year it is the best time to try to get pictures of the newly arrived springtime birds as they are more likely to show themselves in the open while looking for food to regain weight and fitness for the breeding season, and to claim their territory. With that in mind, I arrived nice and early before sunrise to see what was about.

Marsh Harrires were already up and about starting to quarter the reedbeds. This bird has made such an amazing recovery over the last decade or so, so much so that if you do go to Minsmere as often as I do, you hardly pay them any notice! The first thing I came across that I wanted to try to photograph was a Nightingale. Every so often, it would come out into the open briefy and sing its heart out. I could never get quite close enough to it though before it went off into dense cover. This was partly due to the fact that I was moving to it very slowly so as not to disturb it. I had a feeling that I would probably have more success later in the moring when the sun was up. So I decided to try for it later.

I made my way to one of the hides to see what was about around the reedbeds and was rewarded almost immediately. I had not been in the hide more than five minutes when a Reed Warbler came right up to the hide and started to sing in what appeared to be the only gap in the reeds! The early morning light on it was superb and I was extremely pleased with the resulting shots! After about an hour, I decided to head back up the path to see if I could find the Nightingale again. It was just up the path I had my second piece of luck that morning. Three Cetti's Wablers were in a dispute over the territory and this was causing them to be very bold.

Anyone who knows these birds know that what you normally get of a Cetti's is a burst of song and if you are lucky, a brief glimpse. Because of the dispute that was going on, I spent about twenty minutes or so getting perfectly clear views of them as they sang in the open and chased each other up and down the path, sometimes just missing me! Sometimes, one of them would sit so close to me that I could not focus in on it through the camera lense. When they had settled down a bit, I moved off to find the Nightingale.

I wasn't dissapointed. It was now really in full song and being very obliging. It was evident that it liked three or four places in particular to sing from. By being patient, still and quiet, I was able to concentrate on two of these places and get some lovely shots. After this I wandered around for another couple of hours and then headed for home when the crowds started to appear. It had been a very good and rewarding morning. As well as what I had photographed, I also saw plenty of other things that I could not get pictures of. These included, Red and Muntjac Deer, two Hobby, three Bittern, Bearded Tit, a male Garganey and a Common Lizard.

The following week I was back. I wasn't so sure that I would find everything out in the open as much or singing so much, but it was worth going to have a look. So it proved to be. I did see some of the Warblers about, but by now they were well into nest building so it was more in the way of brief sightings as they flitted to and fro. By no means though was it to be a waste of a morning. Just the sheer fact I was out and about in such surroundings made it worth while. I did get some nice shots of the Marsh Harriers hunting the reedbeds, and also a nice close shot of a Little Grebe.

It was while I was in one of the hides photographing a Heron which had caught a sizeable Rudd, that I had the best sighting of the morning. Ripples against the far egde of some reeds caught my eye. It didn't look right for a water bird to be causing them, but before I could get the binoculars onto it, whatever it was had disappeared. I had seen ripples like that before though and had a goood idea what had caused it. I kept one eye on the spot and carried on with the Heron. A short while later something moved again and this time I was onto it.To my delight, it was what I thought it may have been.

An Otter! Unfortunately though, it was to far off to try get a good enough picture of, but I was able to see and enjoy its antics through the binoculars well enough! Another chap had by this time turned up in the hide and I think it was the first time he had ever seen an Otter, and of course he was over the moon! He was just about to be spoiled though, as then there were two! And as we watched, a third!It looked to me to be a bitch Otter with two well grown cubs form the prevoius year.

For about twenty minutes or so, we watched them hunting and then playing out on a pile of reeds before they eventually just disappeared into the reedbeds. I also saw a Bittern in flight from that hide too. A little while later, I decided to head for home, but just before I did, I just popped into another hide and I was glad I did as I saw my first ever Spoonbill there! It was just in range to get a couple of acceptable shots too. So all in all it had been another memorable and worthwhile early morning start. Two good mornings to be out and about.