A Busy Day!

Today we decided to cover a number of local spots in the hope of seeing a variety of species. We started off at a local spot where I found Dartford Warblers recently and we saw at least 3 Individual birds including one stunning male, but no photos unfortunately! We then moved onto Henley Road GP in hope of seeing the recently reported 4 Smew. We immediately picked up 2 Smew ( a Drake and a redhead) on the far side of the GP but for the next half an hour it was like cat and mouse trying to get near them! We then discovered that there were in fact 5 Smew (though still just the one drake) all constantly as far away as possible. At one point we managed to get a closer but very obscured view of the drake.

We then took a quick look at Dinton Pastures where we got some nice views of a female Pheasant.

Our final trip of the day was to see the Short Eared Owls at Papercourt Meadows. It's been over 6 weeks since I last visited so I was unsure whether they would still be there but luckily, there were still at least 3 birds showing well, a fantastic end to a great day!