What a day!

For once I actually got a day where a large chunk of it was spent outside.
First up was an early morning WeBS count. Nothing special but it was nice to be counting waders. 16 spotshank, 70+ dunlin, green, common and wood sands and 12 spoonbill.

I hadn't been back in the office when Dave radioed to say there was a spotted crake showing well from Island Hide. A dash down the path and a wait of 20mins the bird showed well. A cracking adult out in the open. A couple of water rails in the area was nice for comparison.

Middle part of the day was spent on the inevitable paperwork until the 'other' Dave called in to say a skua with a long tail had been seen on the beach. Before I had really had chance to get my bins ready he was radioing again to say it was over the fresh marsh.
Its been a long time since I have run down the path but I legged it until I could see the saltmarsh to see the bird very distantly. A futher dash to Island Hide and the bird flew straight towards the path almost going over our heads onto the lagoons before heading towards the sea. Such a stunning bird with its massive tail and graceful flight. My 1st ever adult and what a bird.

Back out for more after work. The skua was spending all of its time with a group of 16 Arctics and it was great to watch the different flight and jizz of the bird.
Rounded of the day with a flyover turtle dove and more of the crake.

One of those 'red letter' days