Juv. Bittern.
I had a very pleasant few hours this morning / early afternoon at Grove Ferry , i started of at the viewing ramp where there were approx. 250 Lapwing with equally large numbers of Teal , there were a scattering of Shoveler, Gadwall and Mallard among them , several Bearded Tits were " pinging " nearby giving glimpses here and there , then i picked out among the Lapwing a very elegant Spotted Redshank , smart , from here i headed out to the Marsh hide in pursuit of the recently fledged Bitterns , i bumped into Steve Ashton and another couple of birders in the hide and we all enjoyed a couple of hours watching these delightful juvenile Bitterns .
Bittern.
These were great to see , and very interesting to observe , they were feeding well and and at one point the adult bird joined them with all 3 juvenile birds flying to her , the adult bird did not stay long before flying off over the path and out of sight , there were at least 2 Green Sandpipers around plus a Ruff flew into a distant pool , a Little Egret put in an appearance as did a couple of Grey Herons.
Grey Heron .
There were a couple of Common Snipe around plus several Stock Dove were seen over the adjacent fields , from the marsh hide i headed back to Harrisons hide for a quick look which did not produce anything to be honest , however i did see a Common Darter on the path .
Common Darter
A final look from the viewing ramp produced a single Black Tailed Godwit plus several Swallows over head and a Cetti's Warbler blasting away in the distance , a really enjoyable visit with good company and excellent birds .
