During a short visit to my old home town of Lowestoft, to see my daughter & stay with some old friends and neighbours, I took time out to visit Minsmere, a superb RSPB Reserve on the North Suffolk Coast. I was particularly keen to see Bearded Tits having read that they were being observed regularly in the reeds along the North Wall path.
Bearded Tit - panarus biarnicus
Sure enough I came across a few other birders staking out the site where the birds were located and within minutes was rewarded with some excellent views of this fantastic little species as they flitted around in the reeds. I assume they had nests in there but we were unable to see precisely where, however there were several pairs foraging around, busy collecting food and material to take deeper into the reedbeds.
Bearded Tit - panarus biarnicus
This striking adult male captured everyone's attention and the sound of clicking cameras did not seem to faze him, he was seemingly oblivious to our presence. The females were a little less brazen but I did capture one image with the pair of them together. I was well pleased with the photographs, it was a beautiful sunny day and I was concerned about the light and shade contrast, but with a little manipulation in Photoshop they turned out as well as could be expected.
Bearded Tits - panarus biarnicus
I dipped on my other target bird, the Bittern which is resident here, but Avocets were visible and I was very pleased to spot a Whinchat in the scrubland behind the beach. The photo is not great but it's a worthy record shot of a nice little bird that we see only occasionally on passage in Spain.
Whinchat - saxicola rubetra
I took no other photographs worth posting but I was delighted to catch a sight of a Weasel on the path approacing Bittern Hide. Unfortunately it had slunk away before I could get my camera into position.
