More Black Hole Marsh Beauties

I've got about 3 posts to do but struggling with time at the moment. Here's the first of them though. These pics were taken over the last two days; the LRP has been on Black Hole Marsh since Monday rather than yesterday as other reports have implied. I managed some quite pleasing pics of this little one! Pretty distant but decent light has meant I could crop the shot in post-production and maintain acceptable image quality. Enjoy :)

Little Ringed Plover

Common Sandpiper

Redshank

Gull-filled evening

I was feeling a bit rough at work this morning so I booked this afternoon off to have a rest. By rest I mean cycle to Black Hole Marsh (motorbike is out of action) and take some wildlife pics. There wasn't anything particularly unusual to see; the best was 7 Dunlin, 2 Greenshank, 4+ Common Sandpipers and a few dragonfly species. I'll post some pics of these in the next day or two.
I then spent the evening out at sea with some work colleagues, and what a lovely evening it was too! The sea was nice and calm and the air was a pleasant temperature with the boat-speed induced breeze. However, it didn't take long until some of us were sporting interesting patterns of Mackerel blood and poo on our legs and clothes etc. Delightful! The fishing did give me opportunity to take these Gull pics though:

Black Hole Marsh Brilliance

After having an enjoyable late evening at BHM last night I thought I'd pop down again tonight. It turned out to be good decision as there was a nice partial summer plumage Ruff there, along with 2 Little Ringed Plover. It was also nice to see my first Emperor Dragonfly of the year. Other birds of note on BHM were 2 Common Gull, 1 Shoveler and 1 Mediterranean Gull. I'm sorry that this is turning into more of a photo diary rather than a blog; I've got a very busy few weeks but will get back to saying more soon!
In the meantime enjoy these...

And so it begins!

A text from Tim Wright had me get straight on the bike and cycling to Black Hole Marsh. Med Gull, juv LRP, Greenshank, Green Sand, Common Sand and more. I didn't get there til gone 20:30 so most of the pics were taken after sundown:

Pic of a lovely Kestrel (River Coly)

Another gone midnight post with work in a few hours but this beauty is worth it!

Wren family

I went for a brisk walk along the River Coly after work today and saw this family of Wrens:

Wagtail Photos Galore!

I was disappointed to miss the female Mandarin which Ian M found this morning, but hey a man's gotta work. My first two Common Sandpiper of the season was a small consolation (pics unbloggable). Here's some Wagtail pics from the weekend:

Close crop just for fun.