Conservation is hard!
The nice start to the day deteriorated until, by end of session the rain had started. A quick loop in the hope of finding the two elusive White-fronted Geese was a damp birdless affair with a layer of ice ensuring no birds at all on the south brooks and just twenty or so Canadas elsewhere. Little Hanger provided shelter from one heavy bout of rain for a late lunch, yesterday's vegan wraps from the Blashford garage; sadly the local shops do nothing vegan and just the usual dull egg or cheese for veggies.
Luckily, on the way south to Arundel the wind eased and a gap in the rain gave a quiet hour and a half on site with only a handful of people away from the cafe and not many more inside. Swathes of water-level mist rolled around obscuring the view so the arrival of 25 ish noisy displaying Mandarins plus the ubiquitous Kingfishers provided some visual (and audible) relief from the monochrome scene. Around the reserve six Chiffchaffs, two good Water Rails, ten or more mostly distant Snipe, one Marsh Harrier just before closing time, a Peregrine perched up on a favourite tree and finally two softly spoken Ravens, close overhead and in to Arundel Park.
As always, a delight to get a few minutes with the ever-enthusiastic Sam for a chat about all things merganser, predatory mammal incursions and Stoat homing instincts!!
With so much mist it seemed fruitless to watch for inbound harriers from the pub carpark so back home and into typical rush hour jams with an accident on the last leg closing two of three lanes.
And finally the 10 year Puffin badge came home to roost after an extended stay ( since 2017!) in someone's desk; I'd forgotten all about it.
